Chick Tumble

[chasinglights27]

I've never seen any of my chicks do that weird sudden flip. I am going to watch the next batch I have coming from Ideal soon to see if any do it. Doesn't look quite right to me.

Hahahaha, it wasnt a sudden flip.

he was trying to scratch his back and rolled over. If you look carefully the brown one is scratching before tumbling over!

 

[cluck-cluck]

Is it too early to add DE to their litter? It may be they have mites or lice biting them which could also weaken them. DE gets rid of them as it is cuts up their exoskeleton.. Sprinkle some on the bedding and maybe give them a small pile to roll in?

 

[chasinglights27]

I checked them for Mites and none, but for some odd reason its the small ones only.

The bigger chicks in the groups dont do it. The white one never flips over. And for some reason if they are with a broody, I never see them on their backs. Maybe Im just breeding them too small? Who knows?

But they are really active and run around chasing each other. So I know they are healthy. I have them in the study room and all they do is eat, play and sleep. Thinking about installing a camera so I can stream a live feed. Don't really know about it yet.

 

[RonC]

Having the temp too warm in the brooder can cause pasty butt. They drink more water when it's too warm making their poop runny. If you are heating the whole brooder adjust the lamp so they have a cooler area at one end to escape to. As long as they have an area they can warm up in they are ok with much cooler temps in the majority of their brooder.

 

[FirewifeJess]

Can you add ACV to their water? Once I started adding it to my baby chicks water they stopped getting pasty butt. I also think it's directly related to being too hot in the brooder. Many people seem to think you are supposed to regulate the temp of the whole brooder, when in reality it's much safer and healthier to have a hot spot and cold spots in the brooder, so they can choose for themselves where their bodies need to be. HTH!

 

[chasinglights27]

Can you add ACV to their water? Once I started adding it to my baby chicks water they stopped getting pasty butt. I also think it's directly related to being too hot in the brooder. Many people seem to think you are supposed to regulate the temp of the whole brooder, when in reality it's much safer and healthier to have a hot spot and cold spots in the brooder, so they can choose for themselves where their bodies need to be. HTH!

Cool, ill add some into the water. Yep.... one side of the brooder is at around 91 F and the other side is at 85 F. The seem to stay in the middle and in the 85F side. Thinking about putting in a lower heat lamp.

 

[FirewifeJess]

Quote:
I guess what I meant is a COLD side. 85 is still awfully warm for a "cool" side. Have you ever watched a mama with her chicks? She will take them out into SNOW even, sometimes at 1 week old! They love exploring and they just go back under her when they get chilled. I would definitely advise to raise the lamp a couple inches. I'm a big proponent of NOT micromanaging temps. When I brooded our chicks, we never decreased the heat. After all, a mama bird doesn't turn down her own thermostat for the chicks if you know what I mean. I had a side that was always around 90 degrees and the other side of the brooder was the temp inside my house, about 68. More often than not the chicks would stay somewhere in the middle though they would sleep a little closer to the lamp. Even when they were 4 weeks old and needed much less heat, I never raised it. They just began spending substantially more and more time on the cold side. This also makes it a lot easier for you! I hope your pasty butt issues resolve and your birds stay healthy! Have fun!

 

[chasinglights27]

Cool thanks so much for the info...

Luckly I have all of you guys here on BYC to help me.

 

[jettgirl24]

I agree that it's very weird that you're losing chicks like that. I have hatched many, many batches of chicks and have never had such an issue... It's also very odd to me that you would have ongoing issues with party butt. The only time I've ever had an issue with it was when I've purchased chicks. Not a single chick that I've hatched in the bator or under a broody has had it. Not sure what the cause would be but definitely doesn't sound normal to me.

 

[hen101]

good for you finding out why