Help! Pasty Butt

[colowyo0809]

we started this thing after we got pasty butt where every morning for about a week we put a small amount of probiotic into their feed, and then we went to every other morning, and now its just once a week. also, to stave off pink eye and such i've started putting a little powdered kelp into their feed every morning. It helps that I have an insider in the health store business

 

[AshleyFishy]

The boiled hard boiled egg seems to help along with cleaning them up. Also its really funny to watch them, its like a tiny pack or raptors.

 

[mmaddie's mom]

wouldn't "snip" anything... warm water will do fine with a little patience... yes, feed suggestions above and after she is cleaned off put a little vaselin/baby oil to help it not stick next time.

 

[mycitychicks]

I raised my chicks on organic feed while a friend of mine raised chicks on regular medicated feed. We bought bought our chicks from the same place and they all had pasty butt the first day. My friend's chicks continued to have pasty butt but mine never had it again after I cleaned them off the very first day and started them on organic chick starter feed. They are 6 months old now and my chicks grew up healthy and filled out much quicker than my friend's chicks. After the first 2 months they went outside to the coop and were able to eat fresh grass along with their organic feed. In my opinion organic feed is worth the extra cost. Good luck!

 

[lungewhipqueen]

Hi Britlitgal,
I would clean them up if they were mine. Only one of my babies actually had their vents blocked when I brought them home, but my sister had two die before she gave them to me. It won't take any time at all for the poo to build up and completely cap off their vents. Once it has nowhere to go, it won't take much longer to kill them. The first chick I cleaned up when I brought them home needed to poo so badly that it barely made it back to the brooder where it dumped the biggest poo I've ever seen a chick make! I'm surprised it wasn't visibly smaller after that! (only half kidding here.)

I found that the easiest, quickest method for cleaning them was to hold them in one hand over the sink with a slow trickle of warm water running. I just stuck their hineys under the running water and pinched the crusty poo a bit at a time. Once the water got in, it softened up real quick and came right off. The chicks fluffed themselves back up in no time in their warm brooder. They didn't seem terribly stressed by it either. They made a lot of noise as I caught them, but none made a sound while I cleaned them and put them back. After the washing, I dabbed their bottoms with a paper towel to absorb any excess moisture. Surprisingly, it didn't get them wet all over or down their legs... just their little bottoms.

They all came through it in a few days and are now in a cage out in the shed with a heat lamp.

 

[Miss Lydia]

I have a question for lugewhipqueen, why would your sister order chicks if she doesn't like them?or doesn't want them, you don't have to answer, but I thought that kinda peculiar.

 

[chickschool]

I've always dipped there bottoms in a dish of warm water, which they seem to like, then use my finger to gently swish the area until it dissolves. Be sure the area is completely dry before returning them to the brooder. I've even gone so far at to use a hairdryer on a low setting.

 

[Catalinda8]

Hi all - We have new chicks from MyPetChicken, and they all look great, but one seems to have a pasty butt. If they get their gut flora from their mom's poop, would it make sense to drop a little fresh chicken poop in with them from one of our hens?

 

[lisa760]

Hi all - We have new chicks from MyPetChicken, and they all look great, but one seems to have a pasty butt. If they get their gut flora from their mom's poop, would it make sense to drop a little fresh chicken poop in with them from one of our hens?

That's an interesting idea, though you also hear that you are supposed to keep things free from chicken poop. Who knows with some of this stuff!

 

[lisa760]

Hi! I am a new chick mama from Wednesday morning.

I, too, have been staring at a chick bottom for way too long.
One of our two silkie bantams has it- she is also the smallest in the flock. She seems to be able to poop but it gets all around her vent area and the poop is not as big as the others' poop (not sure if this is b/c there is a partial blockage I can't see or just b/c she is so little.)

I am struggling with the balance of cleaning the area and over-stressing her out. She is sooo tiny and fragile. None of the other girls is picking on her, but she does self segregate for a while after I have held her to clean her out. She is eating and drinking and rejoind the flock after a while. The others do peck at her bottom (to clean it?) once in awhile, and she does the same with others (who might have a little poo but no pasty butt).

Is it ok to leave her bottom a little matted and messy if nothing is blocked and only clean 2x a day? I am patting it dry with cotton balls but not completely- as she gets pretty stressed. She is preening and the fluff is slowly returning. When should it clear up? I the yogurt all I need ? A friend said grass pieces also help. Is this ok?

THANKS SO MUCH!

UPDATE: 5pm EST: now, she has a red swollen -what I can only describe as hemmorhoid like- growth on the inside rim of her vent. I have been using QTips on the exterior -nothing abrasive. I am really worried. Am I causing more damage? What should I do?

Edited by Vermont Mama - Yesterday at 7:18 pm



I would think twice a day is plenty. I've used hard boiled eggs, sand, dirt, acv. I think the problem lies with the shipping and I don't have much control over that!! In the future I'm going to buy local or hatch eggs. I had 50 chicks last month and at least 1/3 had pasty butt issues, they must have had issues in transport. I mentioned this to the breeder that I got the last set of 25, she put a heating pad in with them and I had 0 issues with pasty butt. I think the numbers speak to it being a chill during shipping issue.