Contagious Pate butt?

[Backyard Farm Nerd]

Last week I purchased 12 day old chicks from my local feed store. One of them wasn't growing as fast as the others and kept getting paste butt. When I checked on them yesterday evening she was dead. I figured it was some kind of intestinal abnormality and wasn't worried about it. However, this morning two more chicks have paste butt who didn't have it before.

I've raised chicks for three previous years and never had this problem. This year though I'm raising them in a barn instead of in the house and I've added sav-a-chick electrolytes to their water. I'm not sure if one of these things could be contributing to my problem or if it's something contagious.

Help and advise is welcome.

 

[WindyTam]

Last summer I was raising my first batch of chicks, and had a few with pasty butt. I was told by the feedstore gal to keep them out of drafts, that was the old wives tale for that. I'd love to know more. I'm looking fwd to others chiming in. This last month I had one of my "missing hens" show up with 17 brand new chicks. Soooooo much easier to let her do all the work this time....WOW!! No pasty butts with her careful care

 

[WindyTam]

Maybe add some Probiotics for gut flora?

 

[Izzychicky]

Check the temp your brooder, to much heat will cause pasty butt, alsoto get rid of the pasty butt just wipe it off with a warm cloth

 

[rebrascora]

Pasting is due to the reabsorption of water from the urates before they are eliminated from the body. The cloaca has the ability to reabsorb a significant percentage of water before it passes out of the vent. Water is usually reabsorbed by the body if the chick is over heating and dehydrated, so the first thing to check would be that your brooder is not too hot and that there is a warm side and a cold side. Keep the water and food at the cooler side/end. Chicks do not need to be kept at a constant temperature and in fact it is natural for them to get warm under their broody hen and then run around eating and drinking without any heat before returning to the broody when they need warming up again. You are looking to imitate that situation in your brooder as near as possible. Having them in a plastic tote with solid sides as many people do, tends to result in the whole brooder being the same temperature all the time and chicks getting too hot as a result.
Another possibility is that the save a chick or electrolytes are too concentrated and he chicks are drinking less water as a result.

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

Pasting is due to the reabsorption of water from the urates before they are eliminated from the body. The cloaca has the ability to reabsorb a significant percentage of water before it passes out of the vent. Water is usually reabsorbed by the body if the chick is over heating and dehydrated, so the first thing to check would be that your brooder is not too hot and that there is a warm side and a cold side. Keep the water and food at the cooler side/end. Chicks do not need to be kept at a constant temperature and in fact it is natural for them to get warm under their broody hen and then run around eating and drinking without any heat before returning to the broody when they need warming up again. You are looking to imitate that situation in your brooder as near as possible. Having them in a plastic tote with solid sides as many people do, tends to result in the whole brooder being the same temperature all the time and chicks getting too hot as a result.
Another possibility is that the save a chick or electrolytes are too concentrated and he chicks are drinking less water as a result.

X2
It's not contagious, but they are all being exposed to the same environmental conditions that can contribute to outs development

 

[Backyard Farm Nerd]

Maybe add some Probiotics for gut flora?

I'll pick some up at the store today. Thanks.

 

[Backyard Farm Nerd]

Pasting is due to the reabsorption of water from the urates before they are eliminated from the body. The cloaca has the ability to reabsorb a significant percentage of water before it passes out of the vent. Water is usually reabsorbed by the body if the chick is over heating and dehydrated, so the first thing to check would be that your brooder is not too hot and that there is a warm side and a cold side. Keep the water and food at the cooler side/end. Chicks do not need to be kept at a constant temperature and in fact it is natural for them to get warm under their broody hen and then run around eating and drinking without any heat before returning to the broody when they need warming up again. You are looking to imitate that situation in your brooder as near as possible. Having them in a plastic tote with solid sides as many people do, tends to result in the whole brooder being the same temperature all the time and chicks getting too hot as a result.
Another possibility is that the save a chick or electrolytes are too concentrated and he chicks are drinking less water as a result.

Thank you! This is really helpful. I have them in a wooden coop, it's 70-75 under the lamp and 50-60 near the sides, but I do have the food and water under the lamp as I didn't want them to have to be cold if they needed food or water, so I'll move those. I'll also give them a few days of plain water and see if it clears up.

 

[Blooie]

I second and third every word of @rebrascora's post!!

I think that there is no "magic" elixir to combat pasty butt, even though they can help once it's started and you are getting a handle on it. Make sure they get an alternative source of clean, fresh, UNtreated water if you're going to try that route.

But chicks raised without lights on 24/7, not eating 24/7, getting plenty of sleep and lower temps with self regulated comfort just don't seem to get pasty butt. Chicks raised under a broody seldom do and if one does get a little something stuck to his hiney, eagle-eyed mom or hatchmates are pretty quick to yank it off. Not as gently as we do, though! What is that little mama hen doing for her chicks that we aren't? Oh, yeah..she lets them run all over the place, has no nightlights under her wings, sleeps all night long without taking them out to eat every few minutes, and warms them just when THEY decide they need it. And they get plenty of exercise - more than a cardboard box or tote full of other chicks can provide.

Everyone is usually so quick to recommend this additive to water, or that additive to feed, but the simple truth is that once cleaned off a time or two, with a little dab of olive or coconut oil put around the vent to keep accumulations from sticking so badly, most chicks outgrow it even if nothing is added to diet or water. We tend to forget that their little digestive systems are still growing and developing.

Edited to add: Well, we cross posted. But I'm to lazy to retype anything so just keep at it....