Consolidated Kansas

[chicken danz]

I'm going to be the disagreeing party here, Loralee. After dealing with hundreds of chicks with pasty butt, here are my recommendations: Quit washing. Just pull the poop off their butt. If it is dry it will pull out some tiny feathers. It won't really hurt them. It actually protects them from having the poo build up there again. In fact on my Seramas, I almost always just pluck the butt furr out after they are hatched because they are over prone to have pasty butt.
Then coat their behinds with vaseline. It helps keep the pasty from sticking. You might end up with a few shavings stuck to them but that won't hurt them. Give it 5 days or so and and it should go away as they get used to their new surroundings. Actually this usually hits at about 1 week of age or about the 5th day after shipped chicks arrive.
You DO need to keep up on this. 24 hours with a plugged vent can build up toxins and kill a chick really fast. I almost always give my chicks a little side squeeze as well to make sure they get the excess poo out while I am at it.
The problem with washing them is that they can get chilled which can also kill them. If you have to wash, sit their behinds in some warm water, dry them some and get them back under the light.

 

[Hawkeye95]

Quote:
I did end up having to wash her butt again this morning, next time I'll try to pick it off. But it was so stuck on and there was a LOT. She is NOT doing good. She's falling around and walking like a duck with her legs stuck out because her rear is so large. I don't think pasty butt is what started this all off-- I think it's something else. I think this pasty butt is because of whatever else is wrong with her. Because she had a nice clean fluffy bottom when I got her yesterday. I did see her poo really big after I washed her off. The rest of the chicks looked okay this morning, but I will do the picking because I noticed some of them have more build up again, but it's not covering their vents. I'm not sure this chick is going to make it, it just doesn't act right. Last night it was doing so much better! This morning... not so much. Maybe even worse.

The silkies were catching moths last night as they were flying around under the heat lamp. I hope that isn't bad for them, but I they are older than the new ones.

IVY- that's great that you got so much done on your cages! I can't wait to see them! Yay for painting!!

I'll have to show off a recent pic of my coop-- still it's depressing how much more there is to go!

 

[chicken danz]

Ivy, I laughed at your post. Back a few weeks ago when I was painting my hallway. Everytime I bent over it seems I was sticking my hair in the paint. Then once I jumped to get my hair out and hit my rear on the paint on the opposite wall! I used to be very careful when painting. Now I just wash a lot and keep a wet rag around for my oops! Painting the cages or buildings I really make a mess. I decided the chickens don't care if it is slopped a little.
I've got an early appointment today but just had to sit and relax before I jump in the shower. I hate rushing into the day.
Man am I sore from my rock work yesterday. I'll go out later and check it out after several cups of coffee.
Tomorrow I am going to have to catch all my roos and excess drakes. They are going to be picked up on Saturday afternoon. I had planned to go to the Yates Center auction but probably won't have time now. I had hoped to get some of my small pairs of birds caged up and taken down there. I just don't think I will have time now. Too much to do.

 

[chicken danz]

LL, There is that other squishy belly thing that chicks get. I don't know what causes it. Some chicks just have a failure to thrive thing. I'd go ahead and notify the people you bought her from that she didn't make it and see if you can get a credit. You can always keep working with her, but at this point I'm not sure she will pull through. If you wait too long they might not credit you. I'm sorry she isn't doing well.

 

[Ivywoods]

Quote:
Danz, I don't think you are disagreeing. I think we all kind of said the same thing, only you said it better. I pull the little pasty butt of and usually some fluff comes with. (I always cringe when I have to do it!) I think getting them too wet is very stressful for them, and I have had the best luck just pulling it off. I've heard of using the vaseline, but have never used it.

One time we had a chick (years ago) that developed a pasty butt and we didn't notice it right away. When we pulled the "plug" poop shot out like pop out of a shook-up can.

The kids were all concerned about the chick and watching. I thought we all were going to throw up, but later on we laughed about it, and the chick survived.

Yes, some of these chicks just don't "thrive" like the rest of them. Most of the ones that I have had that are lethargic in comparison to the rest end up dying in a few days or a couple weeks. You never really know what the cause is. Hawkeye, your chick sounds like it was slow to absorb the egg, so it could have been an incubating problem, a problem with the egg itself or who knows what else. Hopefully it will pull through, but I would not be surprised if it doesn't.

 

[Ivywoods]

Here are the pics as promised. They all have a "bluish" cast to them. I don't know what's up with that. Maybe someone who is more experienced with photography can enlighten me on that.

The first picture shows my project with the tools still stuck all over the cubicles. The little pieces of wood sticking out where the doors will be are the pieces I have cut to build the doors.

The second picture shows it once the tools are mostly put away. It also shows the movable pieces in front that hold the shavings away from the door, then flip up for easy clean out. You can also see some of the mix of salvaged wood I used to build it. The upper deck is a salvaged kitchen counter top.

The third picture show it with its first coat of paint that covers up some of the mis-matched wood.

The last pic is the ONE door I have made. I need to make 7 more like it.

 

[Ivywoods]

I have less than $40 into this project. The only things I bought are hinges and latches and one gallon of paint. The paint was the most expensive part at $19.

Also, you can see in the pictures where the railings in front look like they have a split in them. That is where the removable dividers go. I have them out, half painted right now. I can divide the frame into 8 separate cages, or I can leave the dividers out and have any number of cages from 2-8, depending on how large I want the pen. The lower level has pens that are taller in case I need to put one of my large chickens in there for "hospitalization" or for other reasons.

 

[justinwrites]

My understanding is that an infection can set in if they don't absorb the yoke fast enough. That could cause a bloated belly. Probably what I would do is just keep making her comfy, but in the end I have to concur that a failure to thrive is usually terminal.

I'm helping a neighbor raise a batch of meaties and at almost 4 weeks we've got one who just looks like the day it hatched. Everyday we think we've seen the last of him but he's always still there. We have to keep the brooder feeder in the tractor for him because the normal feeders are too tall now. I doubt that on freezer camp day he'll a mount to much more than a nugget.

On the upside my duck that was sick with what I can only think was botulism has made a full recovery. In the end it took some water therapy for him to get his legs working again. But boy was his mate sure happy to see him out of the brooder after 3 days. I've never seen tenderness like this in birds. She bathed him and preened him and drizzled water on his bill from her own. It was way to easy to slip into an anthropomorphic view of the behavior.

 

[ByN8ureHomstead]

I have some roosters and hens I need to get rid of.
As most of you know I have moved (still moving) just south of Topeka. We have been living in montara for about 2 months. We plan on moving my birds to our new place (they are still up in Oskaloosa) but DW put some limits and I am sure our new neighbors do not want to hear roosters; I just hope the eggs songs are not too loud. I am trying to get down to 16 hens and no roosters. None of these roosters are mean. They are too nice to go to freezer camp.

I have 2 blue Ameraucana hens and one black Ameraucana rooster. The Rooster came from revolutionmama. KansasBoy did hatch some eggs from these around the end of June.
http://topeka.craigslist.org/grd/2609689891.html

Light/Coronation Sussex Rooster
http://topeka.craigslist.org/grd/2609724839.html

Blue Orpington Rooster
http://topeka.craigslist.org/grd/2609730802.html

 

[chicken danz]

Ivy your pens look very nice and you sure can't tell they were made from recycled stuff. I'm building a top for a couple of my pens in my brooder. The guineas keep flying up there and getting in with the baby chicks. They end up trampling them and ultimately I loose one or two each time they do it.
As soon as I get these excess roos out of here this weekend, I am moving the guineas to a different pen.
I just made arrangements for one silver Pheonix cockerel to go become a breeder. He will be very happy. I am not getting rid of my cochin boys cause those will bring more $$ later. The rest are going. It seems a shame to get rid of some of these beautiful birds but I have to make a little money to offset feeding them.