Poopie Butt

[Chook Chick]

Everyone has their two cents about how to get rid of 'pasty butt'.....I have read up on the subject and talked with many folks here on BYC.

The cause of pasty butt comes from the chicks lack of the proper bacteria in the little guts. Under normal conditions, a newly hatched chick would pick at the mother hen's poo and ingest it to get the proper balance needed....not what we want to hear, but true. When this hasn't occurred naturally, the condition is right for pasty butt to start. It basically makes the chicks poo difficult to pass and it builds up on the vent and will continue to do so; if untreated the chick will not be able to poo at all and it will back up into the chick's intestines and kill them.

Many recipes to get rid of pasty butt....the best thing is yes, yogurt, it contains the good bacteria needed for people as well as chicks; AND secondly, mixing apple cider vinegar and molasses in their water supply. You want to make sure you use the raw, unfiltered, unpasteurised kind of apple cider vinegar...get it from your local health food store or feed store. It will be a little exensive but better than the alternative. You can also buy it online. A weak solution for chicks please: 1/4 tsp per quart.....it's also good to continue giving to your flock!! One TBSP per gallon.....

The knowledgeable people who have been raising chickens swear by this!!

 

[miquwid]

how much malasses in the water?

How much yogurt?

So this what I thought but I keep hearing so much that I haven't done anything yet but try to keep everyone clean. I really nervous now. But the apple cider vinegaer I know for a fact is what is used.

thanks I really want the best for my girls.

 

[jyurina]

I use the Apple Cider Vinegar (with the mother-I get Braggs) every single day. And so far (9 months, two different batches of chickens) no serious poop problems. My hubby didn't know about it and was not using the ACV while I was at work and a couple of the chicks got the runny stinky poops. When I found out and we all got with the program using the ACV again all day the stinky poop was gone within the day.

 

[RoosterMoose]

Defnently trying the yogurt... I always have problems with poopie chicks

 

[Chook Chick]

how much malasses in the water?

How much yogurt?

So this what I thought but I keep hearing so much that I haven't done anything yet but try to keep everyone clean. I really nervous now. But the apple cider vinegaer I know for a fact is what is used.

thanks I really want the best for my girls.

1/4 tsp. of molasses and apple cider vinegar per quart of water. Chicks are messy and you will (and should) give them fresh water everyday. Mix the molasses in a little hot water first to get it mixed, then add the apple cider vinegar. You will probably have to do this daily until the pasty butt goes away.

As for yogurt, plain or low fat doesn't matter. Mix it with your chick starter as they will go crazy over it! Twice a week should be fine until the pasty butt is gone. Put a tablespoon of yogurt/chick starter mix in a separate feeder as it will be messy and you don't want to have this kind of mess in their regular feeder. I can't emphasize enough, THEY WILL MAKE A MESS.

To keep the chicks healthy you can continue to give all of the above to them once a week. Some people continue to add apple cider vinegar to their flocks water even into adulthood.

Here's something that shocked me! I found Heinz - unfiltered, unpasteurized, raw apple cider vinegar at WALMART! It wasn't cheap really, $3.98 for a quart....but it will be fine to start out my little chicks after they're hatched in about a month!

And you're welcome! Yes, first and most important is to get and KEEP the vent clear.....then when the poop is off their little bottoms, start the probiotic treatment ASAP. If you do this from day 1, you shouldn't ever have a problem with pasty butt again

 

[aggiemae]

Of all the reasons I have heard to me the three most plausible reasons for pasty butt are 1.the brooder being to warn 2.chick needing a protein boost 3. Stress.

The best treatment is early detection by checking their bottoms everyday to make sure there vents are clear and pulsing but this gets harder with higher numbers of chicks.

I use butter milk because my hens like it better.For 6 chicks you should add a tablespoonful to about 2 spoonful of their food. If you leave it in a warm place or under the heat lamp it will dry out and you can re crumble it and put it back into the feeder.

I do this every day until the poops look normal and then 2-3 times a weeks. For really bad cases a protein boost is also work trying. A cooked egg yoke masked into an equal amount of feed is good for this.

I don't know if anyone mentioned this but dabbing a tiny bit of oil on the butt after it is clean and dry will help keep the poop that is coming out from sticking but be aware that there might be lots of sticky poo inside the vent so keep up with the probiotics until you are sure that the chicks are all pooping.

 

[miquwid]

1/4 tsp. of molasses and apple cider vinegar per quart of water. Chicks are messy and you will (and should) give them fresh water everyday. Mix the molasses in a little hot water first to get it mixed, then add the apple cider vinegar. You will probably have to do this daily until the pasty butt goes away.

As for yogurt, plain or low fat doesn't matter. Mix it with your chick starter as they will go crazy over it! Twice a week should be fine until the pasty butt is gone. Put a tablespoon of yogurt/chick starter mix in a separate feeder as it will be messy and you don't want to have this kind of mess in their regular feeder. I can't emphasize enough, THEY WILL MAKE A MESS.

To keep the chicks healthy you can continue to give all of the above to them once a week. Some people continue to add apple cider vinegar to their flocks water even into adulthood.

Here's something that shocked me! I found Heinz - unfiltered, unpasteurized, raw apple cider vinegar at WALMART! It wasn't cheap really, $3.98 for a quart....but it will be fine to start out my little chicks after they're hatched in about a month!

And you're welcome! Yes, first and most important is to get and KEEP the vent clear.....then when the poop is off their little bottoms, start the probiotic treatment ASAP. If you do this from day 1, you shouldn't ever have a problem with pasty butt again

Again Thank you Thank you Thank you! I do clean every day, I'm on my way to the store to get the molasses and yogurt I already had the apple cider vinegear because I was told this before I even built my coop. Did I say thank you!

 

[RonC]

You can carefully trim the fluff on their bums. Mineral oil is good to keep it from sticking also.

 

[kaylaC6500]

After cleaning my girl up, I gave the peeps some grit along with their medicated feed. Since then all is good. They are very active and talking a lot! They run around, try to fly, eat, scratch and play with my finger when I clean the brooder. I can tell they are growing and started feathers on their wings, and teeny tiny tail feathers.
The other day I went back to the feed store to see what other chicks they got in. I noticed some other chicks had the poopy butt. I think with some of these chicks it is more like the poop cakes up and then hardens more so then it being in the vent. When I gave my girl a soaking it soften that stuff up and I was able to clean it up.
One of the problems with being a new chicken mama is that I worry about every little thing. When I saw what was going on I thought the worst. Luckily I was able to get an answer to my question right quick from this website. What does not help is when someone post the worst possible scienario, talking about putting down your whole flock. I have good sense though to weed those people out, I just hope that other new chicken mama's have good sense too.

 

[realsis]

yes i agree.pasty butt can be caused by tempature changes and simply stress of shipping.mine had it too! i gave a probotic called probios. cures it up fast.plain yougart is great but make sure it has live bacteria cultures in it! im sure your chick will be just fine and clear up soon! poop butt is common. not sure why someone would tell you the worst case senerio either? anyhow it will clear up soon youll see. mine cleared in about a week in a half. actually about three days after the probotic was given. keep her vent free and she will be fine.