Another Pasty Butt post...

[AwesomeFacer]

So, 5 of my 16 have pasty butts -- 4 Buff Orps and 1 buff cochin -- and I'm wondering just how clean I need to get their behinds.

All 5 are not plugged -- that is, I can see their vent, it's pink, and they can still poop -- but they all have crusty poop stuck to their butts. I'm trying to weigh the costs/ benefits of getting them wet and cold and stressed to remove some poop that isn't impeding any bodily function. I mean, they're certainly cuter without pasty butts, but ....

Any tips? Is the danger a bowel blockage, or catching the attention of other other chicks, or both? The last thing I need are some pecked vents if a little warm water would solve the problem.

 

[chickenweirdo1]

They can get their rectum plugged. But you can also just take some scissors and cut the fluff the poop is stuck to carefully.

 

[TLWR]

Last time we were at TSC, one of the employees was using wipes to clean chick butts that needed it. You don't have to soak the chick, but you can wet a paper towel and use that to loosen and then remove dried stuff.

Or stick their little butts under some warm water and gently scrub and they dry them and pop them back under the heat so they can dry off.

 

[AwesomeFacer]

Update: we ran their behinds under warm tap water and tag-teamed the process: he washed them and I dried and snuggled them. Everyone is fine now, other than a case of wonky toe in my buff Cochin cockerel which seemed to start with runny poop getting stuck to the bottom of one toe and drying there.

 

[charlemagne]

My chick loooooved the blow dryer after his butt washing the other day, if you end up going that route.

 

[ceceuu]

Hubby picked up two Dominiques from our local feed store for me today! It was such a nice surprise and they are three days older than the the babies I picked up 4/14, so they are about a week old. Surprisingly, one had the worst pasty butt I have ever seen! A huge chunk about 4mm! Soaked in warm water and finally came loose with ease - no evidence of trauma happening when it came off. But poor baby's bum is very swollen. I blow dried her and she did seem to enjoy it. Problem was when I put her back with my other chickens, little Miss Dark Brahma, became fixated and pecking her bum! The other chicks were no problem. We finally took the aggressive Ms. DB and separated her from the other chicks. I hope she doesn't continue to be so aggressive and that the problem with the Dominique clears up.

 

[realsis]

I had a similar issue. My laced wyannadotte got pasty button and I had to cut and wash her bottom. When I put her back in the brooder my Barred Rocks instantly started pecking her already sore bottom. What I did was take her back out and apply a good layer of rooster booster Peck NO More on her bottom. The other chicks would peck then stay away because that stuff really works great!! One peck and no more they can't stand the smell. worked great