Help! Pasty Butt

[enola]

Is she drinking? Will she eat on her own?

 

[mpchick]

my chick had pasty butt before. It's pretty simple to take care of if you catch it before it gets bad. use a washcloth dampened with warm water and slowly work the poo off. DO NOT PULL. It will pull out his/her feathers. Then put some oil on his/her bottom. My chick got it really bad so i washed (just her bottom) in the sink and put her in the heat right after i washed her. when washing them in the sink make sure to use a washcloth and rub it as you run the water over her bottom. Use warm water (not too hot or too cold). it can cause death if not taken care of.



-mpchick

 

[ckingbailey]

Will there necessarily be a little plug of poo if a chick has pasty butt? I treated a poo plug in a RIR last night with a warm, damp towel. When I checked her vent just now there's no visible poop, but I haven't actually seen her go to the bathroom since she squeezed out a big one right after I cleaned her vent last night. I think I've seen her assume the potty posture today, but nothing came out. Again, no visible poo plug today. Is she ok then?

For prevention/cure I put a little ACV in their water, gave them a dish of sand, and a treat of boiled egg yolk, yogurt, and crumbles. I have four chicks: two RIR, a Barred Rock, and a Gold Sex-Link.

I also have a handling question. When I've culled old chickens in the past I've held them so they're on their backs at a head-down incline because I am told it helps to calm them down. I tried the same handling for the chick whose pasty butt I treated last night and she did not seem to like it, peeping loudly and struggling. What's the best way to handle a chick when I'm treating pasty butt?

 

[esme13]

Will there necessarily be a little plug of poo if a chick has pasty butt? I treated a poo plug in a RIR last night with a warm, damp towel. When I checked her vent just now there's no visible poop, but I haven't actually seen her go to the bathroom since she squeezed out a big one right after I cleaned her vent last night. I think I've seen her assume the potty posture today, but nothing came out. Again, no visible poo plug today. Is she ok then?

For prevention/cure I put a little ACV in their water, gave them a dish of sand, and a treat of boiled egg yolk, yogurt, and crumbles. I have four chicks: two RIR, a Barred Rock, and a Gold Sex-Link.

I also have a handling question. When I've culled old chickens in the past I've held them so they're on their backs at a head-down incline because I am told it helps to calm them down. I tried the same handling for the chick whose pasty butt I treated last night and she did not seem to like it, peeping loudly and struggling. What's the best way to handle a chick when I'm treating pasty butt?

How old is your chick? When I dealt with pasty butt (pretty bad case). I held the chick firmly and put warm running water and rubbed it off. I let her air dry, but the next day it happened again. I did offer robotics and electrolytes. My chick was a silkie and over 1 week when this began. Some chicks seem more prone or have bad luck with pasty butt. All you can do is keep and eye out. Is your chick acting different or still seems to be active? if she is being active, I wouldn't worry to much, just keep an eye on her bum.

 

[knblewis]

Hi, First of all I want to say thank you so much to everyone for all the great advice. We are proud first time parents of 13 baby buff orpingtons and they are great!!!! We started seeing a lil poo on a few of their bottoms and only after reading your posts did we know why and thanks again. We started by wrangling up the poor poo bottoms and off to the bathroom sink we all went and after a few awkward (lol) moments. We found that if I cupped their lil body in my hands and let just their lil head stick out while running some warm water over their bum for about 45 seconds to a minute depending how bad it was and in no time the poo mostly went away itself and any remaining poo I gently wiped away with a warm wash rag. It seemed to be less stressful for them as well as us!!!!

 

[Eggcessive]

Hi, First of all I want to say thank you so much to everyone for all the great advice. We are proud first time parents of 13 baby buff orpingtons and they are great!!!! We started seeing a lil poo on a few of their bottoms and only after reading your posts did we know why and thanks again. We started by wrangling up the poor poo bottoms and off to the bathroom sink we all went and after a few awkward (lol) moments. We found that if I cupped their lil body in my hands and let just their lil head stick out while running some warm water over their bum for about 45 seconds to a minute depending how bad it was and in no time the poo mostly went away itself and any remaining poo I gently wiped away with a warm wash rag. It seemed to be less stressful for them as well as us!!!!

Welcome to BYC. It's great that you are taking such good care of your new baby chicks. Pasty butt fortunately usually goes away after the first week or 10 days. It mostly affects chicks who were shipped, even from feed stores, and happens due to a little dehydration, chilling, but also can happen from too high of brooder temperatures . So keep a thermometer right under the warmest part of your heat lamp, and that should help. Good luck with your babies. You will enjoy them.

 

[newhobbie]

Hello! I was wondering is it okay to scramble the eggs? Everyone keeps saying hard boiled but I would rather scramble if that's also acceptable? Not adding anything to it of course just a different cooking method.

 

[Gunlover57]

Got my chicks from Meyer's Hatchery, Never any problems ! !

 

[kittykat007]

My tiny silkie has pasty butt. I've just been cleaning her bum with a warm paper towel frequently.

When I first got her, she was weak, drinking but not eating and her poo was clear. I gave her some sugar water and Pedialyte which seemed to perk her up. Made her feed into mash by adding water. Tempted her with oatmeal. She's much better now but still requires a lot of bum care. She's now 5 days old. It should resolve in a week or so

 

[LadyIsadora]

How is that Silkie doing? Hope all is well with her.