Checking For Pasty Butt

[AndyL]

Being new to chickens I was wondering if you folks can tell me how often you have to check for pasty butt?

I try to see if each one is pooping normally but, (haha) with eight I cant see be sure about them all!

Thanks, Andy.

 

[Judy]

All you have to do is watch them for a few minutes. If one has pasty butt, you will see the dried poo stuck to its bottom. You don't have to actually see each individual poo.

 

[firedove]

Sometimes they can have very minor pasty butt and you can only feel it in their fluff. I recommend having a small storage container, like the food kind, and picking each chick up one by one and carefully checking. Just transfer them into the container and then back out again. Looking at each chick individually helps because you can assess not only for pasty butt but also see how reactive the chicks are so you can help any that might be lagging behind in energy.

 

[fuzz]

One of my chicks has pasty butt it looks like. I didnt know it was an issue until I read this thread. It just has a tiny bit of poo on its tush. I tried cleaning it up but it wouldnt come off so I just left it alone.

What can I do for him?

 

[NJbirdlover]

When we first got our chicks we did "BUTT PATROL" 2x a day--morning and night. I didn't want to take any chances on loosing one of our girls because of something that could have been prevented. We would pick each chick up and look at their vent. This would also help in having them get accustomed to us.

 

[SMan]

Dip his butt in warm water for a few minutes, then Q-tip his butt and get some off. Rinse repeat, blow dry his booty dry (not on hot but whatever is the normal setting) then olive oil it up with a little herbs and spices (the herbs and spices part is a joke BUT do use the olive oil. Monitor him, this will kill them so doing nothing is bad.

 

[mikecnorthwest]

4 of my 5 chicks had pasty butt to some degree or another for about the first week. I just used a piece of paper towel dipped in warm water to clean them up. I had to pre-soak a couple of them by dipping their butts into the warm water container for a short soak first.

 

[fuzz]

I feel like an idiot. Anything else I should be majorly checking for in young chicks? I cleaned off the roo but I noticed another one has a tiny bit of poo and not as severe but it should come off easy peasy but now she has a bloody foot and I dont know what to do. I put a thread up in the diseases thread.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I feed mine 4 times a day and just observe them for a few minutes each time. I have 28 and it is not hard to pick out the ones that need treating just by observing a few minutes.

Pasty butt is when the vent is blocked with poo. It is not an occasional piece of poo. I treat when the vent is blocked or when it starts to build up. After seing a few cases of blockage it becomes pretty obvious when you need to treat.

I find I don't have to keep them perfectly clean. That said, it will build up and there is nothing wrong with erring on the side of caution.

 

[cochinbantam-lover]

What causes pasty butt anyway?