Tenacious pasty butt - what do I do?

[sudolph]

This pullet chick has had pasty butt her whole 3 week life. Her poop is very thick and does not drop off her bottom. In fact, it seems that her vent never closes. Will acv help? What about acidophilis? Should I just....send her to her maker?

Thanks. I'm really sick of cleaning a chicken butt.

 

[trilyn]

Give her (and the rest of them) the organic apple cider vinegar in their water. If you're using a quart waterer, a capful will do. Otherwise, it is 2 tbsps per gallon of water. If you want to try yogurt, go ahead. A lot of times they won't eat it, but introduce it later on, a couple months from now, they'll devour it! Also, if you're not doing this now, go ahead and add chick grit to their feed. Just sprinkle it on top of their feed ration, that is usually more than enough. Good luck! Pasty butt sucks, I had one that was chronic too, before I knew about acv!!

 

[MuranoFarms]

I agree with Trilyn. Also dip a q-tip in olive oil and apply to her vent. It will help the poop to slide off.

 

[sudolph]

Thanks Trilyn and MuranoFarms. I'll give both ideas a try.

 

[NattyK]

Sudolph When we had a Silkie with a bad case of the pasties we used a little Preparation H on her bum and it helped shrink up the swollen tissues as well. Hope this helps. Nat

 

[Menmyrc]

I had a couple like this. When the poop was fairly dry I just pulled it off knowing I would be pulling the down out with it. I figured the discomfort of pulling the down once was better than the trauma/discomfort of constantly washing. The ones I did this with made a tiny squeek, I put them back in brooder and they immediately went back to normal chick things - eating, drinking, walking on each other, etc. I felt like it was kind of like being sick and getting a shot. Yes the shot is uncomfortable, but a second of discomfort sometimes is better than being sick for an extended period of time. These chicks never again had pasty butts as there was no down for the poop to stick to. They are now a month old and their feathers have begun growing in just fine.