How to prevent pasty butt?

MotherHen1313g said:

I have been reading thru this thread. We just got chicks a week ago and two of the three had pasty butt. Cleaned them all. change and clean the water daily. One of the chicks is still suffering with a pasty butt/constipation situation. I have cleaned her 4 times today. have been applying vaseline, ran her butt under warm water for about 15 minutes earlier tonight and dried her very well. 1/2 hour later she was chirping rapidly and here we go instant replay. Again lots of poop she cannot pass. What else can I try to clear her up? I have adjusted the temperature of the heat lamp, and increased the size of the brooder. I also added a chunk of backyard - grass/dirt to introduce a natural probiotic source.

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Welcome to BYC..sorry you're having troubles.

Pasty butt and constipation are different.
Pasty butt is usually caused by loose stools sticking to the down around the vent.
Constipation could be from not drinking enough water or feeding treats too early without grit or some physical malformation.

Make sure it's drinking...maybe hold a soaked Qtip next to beak, water should seep into mouth and it should swallow.
If it'snot drinking out of the waterer.

Is vent swollen and red?
Swelling could make the problem worse, honey can help reduce swelling.
Some folks use preparation H to reduce swelling but I'm not sure you can use it on a tiny chick.

Maybe reading thru these threads will help.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/ne...&order=descending&Search=SEARCH&Search=SEARCH

Personally i clean the butt with warm water, then put some vegetable oil around the vent.

Not sure how to prevent it tho.

Yesterday was my worst day with this little Orpington. I must have cleaned her 10 times and at one point she was able to pass a large amount of poo. One hour later the frantic chirping again. Went and picked up chicken grit (ground granite) and probiotics. She continued to have episodes until early this morning. At 4:20 frantic chirping and I cleaned more poop. At 5:30 frantic chirping. I was getting up soon so I waited. When I went to check on her before I left for work it was a miracle. She was calm and resting and not frantically chirping. She must have been able to finally pass it herself. Just got home from work and she is still clean and not distressed. Keeping my fingers crossed that she is getting past the pasty butt phase. Thanks for all the advice. My first chicks so we are nervous new Mother Hens.

We just got our first chicks today. I have been constantly checking them for pasty butt and haven't noticed anything yet. How long until looking for pasty butt isn't something to be concerned about?

CV seemed to help us with our chicks.

flip097097 said:

We just got our first chicks today. I have been constantly checking them for pasty butt and haven't noticed anything yet. How long until looking for pasty butt isn't something to be concerned about?

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Some never get it.....usually the first few days is when you'll see it.

Out of 12 3 day old chicks one had pasty butt today as a new chick owner it is kinda nice to know what I am looking for after checking them for three days but now I'm on the lookout to make sure she (hopefully) gets better or if I need to do something I have ACV here but she has been ok for a few hours of diligent watching.........

EileenC said:

I've got a question for everyone. I got 8 chick's last week and my 2 of my Easter Eggers chick's had pasty butt. I got one cleaned off with no problem but the other one was so bad I had to use a warm wet paper towel and soaked it to get it off. I didn't think to check their butts after I first got them. The one I had to soak now has a puffy rectum so I put some antibiotic ointment on it. Was that a good idea to do that? Is there something else I can do for her? Here is a picture of her butt.

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One of my light Brahma chicks had a prolapse vent. ?she? was given to us maybe two or three days old. It hard to tell from the pic but looks similar to ours at first. Although ours did look worse and got worse. She would squat under the heat lamp and chirp like she was in pain. We had to buy prep h for her and my wife had to push the vent in a few times. I thought she would be the fist chick I had to kill. Gladly she pulled through and after 3-4 days she was eating normal, pooping normal, and playing with the rest of the flock. Hope yours is just swollen and doesn't get worse.