Big pile of poop

Hello all,

I have 8 new chicks. 4 white and 4 brown. Don't ask me what kind they are, the country store told me they are a hybrid breed for laying eggs ( I frowned at them for that answer). This is our first attempt at raising chicks so bare with me for not knowing some of the technical stuff.

The chicks are 10 days old now and I thought that they had pasty butt at 3 days old. I now don't think that this is it because they are all pooping regularly. The thing is, that the 4 white chicks have a big build up of poop stuck just below their vents, so when they poop it lands on the dried up poop making it bigger and bigger.

I'm probably going to get kicked off this forum for saying this, but I've tried washing it off with warm water but it's not coming off. So I could see that the poop was not sticking to their skin but to the feathers, so I carefully snipped the poop with some scissors where it was attached to the feathers. I only did this to one of the chicks and left the others because I thought, "what did I just do?". I don't want to kill it, I just want to take that extra weight off its behind.

The thing that puzzles me is that it's only the white chicks that have this, none of the brown chicks have this issue. It's odd. They're eating the same food and drinking the same water.

I'm looking for advice on whether I did the right thing by snipping the lump of poop off and will it affect the feathers from growing back or did I just sign the death papers for this chick?

I'm really concerned now. The warm water didn't work. I'm getting frustrated hoping for healthy chicks.

Stussy

Don’t worry about being new or any of that. We all have to start somewhere.

I don’t know what bin those came out of, hopefully a pullet bin if that is what you want. It’s quite possible the person you spoke to doesn’t know a whole lot about them. You’d need to talk to the person that actually does the ordering to get a straight answer. Those brown ones are probably what we call red sex links. Those are not a breed but a hybrid especially created for good egg laying. I don’t know what the white ones are. They could be many different things. I don’t know why it is only the white ones doing that.

You have not harmed that chick in any way. If you want to wash them off with warm water, that’s fine. Just don’t let it get a chill. Put it back in the brooder so it can dry off in a warm spot.

Chicks go through a few molts before they reach adult size. They simply outgrown their feathers and have to replace them. Their first molt is to shed the down and replace that with feathers. Go ahead and clip that down if you wish. In a few weeks it will fall out and be replaced by feathers.

Thanks for your reply Ridgerunner. I'm can rest easier knowing that the chick will be ok.

People are so friendly and helpful on this forum. I've learned so much and I can't wait to be able to return the knowledge to other newbies.

Thanks again.
Mike

I did the same with my Faverolles. They kept getting poop buildup under their vents, and it was difficult to wash off at times.

I ended up doing a "brazillian" on them and smeared a touch of vasoline under their vents and the stripe below.

Smooth sailing after that

Yes, I checked on the chick when I got home from work and it seems fine. It was running around, eating from my hand, drinking and no poop on its behind. I can sleep easily tonight.