Help! Pasty Butt

[maymiegirl]

Here is a very helpful tip. Take some vaseline and sparingly apply it by massaging around the vent area. This will keep the poo from drying to their feathers and allow you to remove it if it sticks to their butts for a while yet and I don't think you are out of the woods yet with the pasty butt problem. A lot of vitamins does cause the pasty butt but they were also most-likely just vaccinated before you got them. It takes a few days for a baby to bounce back from a vaccination.

Stress does have a lot to do with it but if you don't keep that area clear I have seen this condition kill them. No worries--that dark, firm area is supposed to be there. It will be gone in a few days. I use to medicate. I never do this anymore. Since I stopped I don't lose babies. I started giving them probiotics in their feed from hatch. I purchase a tub of dry powder from Tractor Supply for around $10-$11 that lasts a long, long time. About a scoop per 4 cups of feed is what I use. It helps the babies grow to develop strong immune systems naturally. They don't have many good defenses until they are past 4 months. Even then they need a good vitamin and immune support system. I still use it in their feed as adults and they are spry little buggers. Oh and I have never had a prolapse or stuck egg problem--nothing since.

 

[WalkingWolf]

I tried about everything for some recent chicks with pasty but, Vaseline, olive oil, sand, washed the butts twice a day. I have always had trouble with 1 weeks only wanting the finer particles of starter feed and wasting food. I started putting my starter feed in a coffee grinder and grinding it to a powder. The chicks eat more of it, are more active, and in less than 24 hours no more pasty butt.

When I raised parrots and mixed my own hand feeding formula I always found the baby parrots always did better when I blended the mix to a powder before mixing. Less crop problems and faster growth. Most commercial hand feeder formulas are a fine powder. The feed companies need a 1 week starter that is a powder. But it is easy enough to do yourself.

 

[congdon476]

I know I don't know much about chicks and all - but when mine did this, I washed their behinds as best I could and that didn't work out well. I gave up and give them a "trim" on their behinds and then no more issues. Everyone is now happy and healthy on week 4.

 

[aberfitch]

I have some bantam chicks and no matter what trick I use they have pastie butts. I got to check them every morning or I will have a lot of trouble on my hands. I feel there is no solution to fix pasty butts. Mabe there is something that will make their poo more stiff instead of so gooey.

 

[goldnchocolate]

I received 26 chicks from McMurry's on Monday and tonight I must have cleaned the butts of at least 10 of them

. I've never had this kind of problem before.

They ate the grow gel when they first came and also Quick Chik (which I am now going to discontinue using), I raised their heat lamp a little. I did notice, though, when I was wetting the hardened poop with some water on my fingers, that the poop had a 'grainy' feel to it. It seems to be coming out with a lot of the grains in the starter still intact. Maybe I will try grinding it, as a PP said, to see if that helps.

 

[threehorses]

Just as a rule of thumb: ANY time you get hatchery or feedstore chicks, treat them with probiotics (live bacteria that help them to colonize their guts with good bacteria) every other day for one to two weeks, then once a week until you are consistently seeing good solid correct droppings.

That's plain yogurt (mixed in a treat of their crumbles, a little water, and yogurt), acidophilus capsules, Probios or Fastrak or a similar horse/livestock probiotic, etc.

Chicks are born without bacteria in their gut. If mom-raised, they get good bacteria by picking her droppings. In brooders, we must do the job she can't do.

It's also a good idea to do that with home-grown birds. It adds a wonderful foundation on which to build a lifetime of thriftiness and health.

 

[NotTheMomma]

The best thing to remove pasty butt is PEROXIDE! It will dissolve the poo, and not pull out feathers, and is quick and easy! Just soak a cotton ball with peroxide, put it on the pasty butt, wait a minute, and remove.

Put some vaseline, or A&D ointment on their tushie, and it will help prevent it from sticking.

 

[loralei]

Quote:
Has anyone else had success with molasses? What about peroxide?

I received 34 chicks from McM's on monday. Only my buff polish have pasty butt! Apparently some breeds are more susceptable or they just respond to stress and other factors differently?

I washed gently with warm damp cloth but it only seemed to irritate their hinies.

 

[threehorses]

Peroxide burns. Molasses - well it could work, but why do it when you could use something gentle that will kill germs?

The issue isn't the poop. The issue is what's causing it.

Honestly, there are a million things with which you could clean it - including baby wipes.

 

[NotTheMomma]

Quote:
Peroxide does NOT burn because there is no open wounds. Please people, let's not post false information in this forum.