1 week old chick with pasty butt... So scared!!

Mother.of.Chickens

In the Brooder
Mar 19, 2018
24
60
44
Clarksville, TN
I am extremely new to this, and my smallest chick has pasty butt. She's a very nervous little baby and so afraid of being picked up.

I cleaned her up earlier and put olive oil on her vent.

How should I be giving them their grit? Should I be mixing it with their food or putting it in a seperate dish?

I've read to mix ACV with water or feed them hard boiled or scrambled eggs, but I have access to neither until tomorrow.

I'm so scared for my little salmon faverolle baby.
 
First things first: calmmm. It’s not a crucial issue. All you have to do is watch and make sure it doesn’t develop again. If it does, rinse with warm water until it is loosened and can be gently removed. The more holding you do, the more friendly she’ll become. Be gentle, speak softly, and hand feed her treats, and the little baby will recognize your voice as the food person and will learn to love you.
Pasty butt is usually a result of the brooder being too hot. Try raising the heat lamp. Check her every day. And don’t worry, as long as you don’t go a long time without checking, it won’t be a big issue.
 
Pasty butt most commonly occurs if the chick is too cool or too warm. Chicks that only have access to a crumbled chick feed do not need any grit. It's not typically caused by an internal illness, but rather it's a symptom of external sources of stress. Minimize stress and make sure the brooder is big enough to allow for an area of the brooder to be completely unheated so that chicks can cool off when needed.
 
First things first: calmmm. It’s not a crucial issue. All you have to do is watch and make sure it doesn’t develop again. If it does, rinse with warm water until it is loosened and can be gently removed. The more holding you do, the more friendly she’ll become. Be gentle, speak softly, and hand feed her treats, and the little baby will recognize your voice as the food person and will learn to love you.
Pasty butt is usually a result of the brooder being too hot. Try raising the heat lamp. Check her every day. And don’t worry, as long as you don’t go a long time without checking, it won’t be a big issue.
Thank you so much. I've been checking her little butt a lot. None of the other chicks are having trouble with pasty butt or shyness.

I've moved the lamp up, and am checking temperatures in the brooder.

I think they're about a week old, but may be slightly older. I bought them from a local feed store.

What do you suggest in terms of treats?
 
Pasty butt most commonly occurs if the chick is too cool or too warm. Chicks that only have access to a crumbled chick feed do not need any grit. It's not typically caused by an internal illness, but rather it's a symptom of external sources of stress. Minimize stress and make sure the brooder is big enough to allow for an area of the brooder to be completely unheated so that chicks can cool off when needed.
They have lots of space. Their brooder is a 4'x2' stock tank and there are only 6 chicks. They roam the entire tank, so temperature should be fine.

She panicks when I handle her. Could that be the cause?
 
Thank you so much. I've been checking her little butt a lot. None of the other chicks are having trouble with pasty butt or shyness.

I've moved the lamp up, and am checking temperatures in the brooder.

I think they're about a week old, but may be slightly older. I bought them from a local feed store.

What do you suggest in terms of treats?
Treats such as vegetable (NOT POTATOES, THEY ARE TOXIC. Even if edible treats are in the same container or cut with the same knife)
Fruit (apples, grapes, strawberries, blueberries, and watermelon are popular favorites)
Sugar FREE yogurt
And mealworms are all good treats.
Make sure they all treats are in bite size pieces and check that they can eat if before feeding. Good luck!
 
Yeah, us humans can only do so much to replicate what a mother hen would do. Chicks don't have pasty bum when naturally brooded, but with us it's different. And like Abriana said, it's not a huge sickness and you don't need to fear too much. As long as you check her regularly and clean her bum when she needs, she'll be fine.
Also, to help her get more human friendly you can feed treats out of your hand, sing or hum to them, or hold them. However, be careful with holding. If you stress them out, it won't help. Try to do things inside of the brooder so they don't get so freaked out about a disembodied hand reaching in and taking them from everything they know (from the chick's point of view). :)
 

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