A few questions from a proud new papa!!

[NattiFan]

Ok, so I got my girls yesterday.....the night went well...after I got home from work, I only went to the basement to check on them every 20 to 30 minutes.....they all seem to be doing well, although I have one Barred Rock that seems to be a little more sluggish than the rest...although this morning she was up and at em....easy to do when someone is pulling the paper towel out from under your feet

....after I changed the water and the paper towels, I observed for a while and she was up and about eating from the feeder and sipping water...so I'm not too worried.....they are so cute...they do love the heat lamp though. They are in the basement and there is no heat down there, so it's chilly....they do go out and explore the brooder for food and water and to play a bit, but it's not long before they find their way back to the warmth of the heat lamp...I'm not really too worried about this....think I should be? My next question and maybe I am just being a worried new daddy.....but if they have some poop hanging from their little fuzzy butts, should I take this as a sign of pasty butt to come, or just simply, they don't know how to wipe yet?

That's it for now....Been up 2 hours now, and 15 minutes was devoted to washing my butt, and the other 105 minutes has been devoted to my little girls

 

[Chickensman97]

with baby chicks you need to take the poop off the butt, dip their butt in warm water to loosen the poop and gently remove it. they will squeak a little and thrash, try not to rip off to much hair from their butt.

 

[CrazyMomOf2]

You're girls will be fine! If they are huddling under the lamp, I would add another heat lamp for them. With 48 chicks in my basement, I ended up with 3 heat lamps going. As soon as I added the extra heat, they were fine and the pasty butt cleared right up! Good luck with your girls!

 

[NattiFan]

Quote:
Ok. Thank you! I was thinking maybe another heat lamp. And, I assume keep the second one on the same end of the brooder as the original one so they have the other end of the brooder to cool down if needed?

Thanks for your advice. I'm stopping now to get another lamp!

Thanks again

 

[NattiFan]

Quote:
Ok. Thank you! I was thinking maybe another heat lamp. And, I assume keep the second one on the same end of the brooder as the original one so they have the other end of the brooder to cool down if needed?

Thanks for your advice. I'm stopping now to get another lamp!

Thanks again

 

[Ttheresaa]

I would use another heat lamp on the other end of the brooder. and the poop. get a small bowl of warm water and some paper towls. and wet paper towls on one end and wipe gentle. i have tried this method and works great and hold your baby in one hand wipe with the other.

 

[NattiFan]

Quote:
Thank you. I've done the warm water trick. Seems to have taken most of the poop off. The light however, is on the same end as the other one. I'll see if they seem happier with it as it is, if not, I'll try your idea. Thanks again