Hello all,
I have 8 new chicks. 4 white and 4 brown. Don't ask me what kind they are, the country store told me they are a hybrid breed for laying eggs ( I frowned at them for that answer). This is our first attempt at raising chicks so bare with me for not knowing some of the technical stuff.
The chicks are 10 days old now and I thought that they had pasty butt at 3 days old. I now don't think that this is it because they are all pooping regularly. The thing is, that the 4 white chicks have a big build up of poop stuck just below their vents, so when they poop it lands on the dried up poop making it bigger and bigger.
I'm probably going to get kicked off this forum for saying this, but I've tried washing it off with warm water but it's not coming off. So I could see that the poop was not sticking to their skin but to the feathers, so I carefully snipped the poop with some scissors where it was attached to the feathers. I only did this to one of the chicks and left the others because I thought, "what did I just do?". I don't want to kill it, I just want to take that extra weight off its behind.
The thing that puzzles me is that it's only the white chicks that have this, none of the brown chicks have this issue. It's odd. They're eating the same food and drinking the same water.
I'm looking for advice on whether I did the right thing by snipping the lump of poop off and will it affect the feathers from growing back or did I just sign the death papers for this chick?
I'm really concerned now. The warm water didn't work. I'm getting frustrated hoping for healthy chicks.
Stussy
I have 8 new chicks. 4 white and 4 brown. Don't ask me what kind they are, the country store told me they are a hybrid breed for laying eggs ( I frowned at them for that answer). This is our first attempt at raising chicks so bare with me for not knowing some of the technical stuff.
The chicks are 10 days old now and I thought that they had pasty butt at 3 days old. I now don't think that this is it because they are all pooping regularly. The thing is, that the 4 white chicks have a big build up of poop stuck just below their vents, so when they poop it lands on the dried up poop making it bigger and bigger.
I'm probably going to get kicked off this forum for saying this, but I've tried washing it off with warm water but it's not coming off. So I could see that the poop was not sticking to their skin but to the feathers, so I carefully snipped the poop with some scissors where it was attached to the feathers. I only did this to one of the chicks and left the others because I thought, "what did I just do?". I don't want to kill it, I just want to take that extra weight off its behind.
The thing that puzzles me is that it's only the white chicks that have this, none of the brown chicks have this issue. It's odd. They're eating the same food and drinking the same water.
I'm looking for advice on whether I did the right thing by snipping the lump of poop off and will it affect the feathers from growing back or did I just sign the death papers for this chick?
I'm really concerned now. The warm water didn't work. I'm getting frustrated hoping for healthy chicks.
Stussy