Dirty butts

[hspero]

My chicks have dirty butts they are only a week old cleaned them off several times do I need to worry about it??

 

[Judy]

Welcome to our forum!

If you are talking about dried poop, it is a symptom of constipation. This can have several caused: They are too hot, they do not have a constant supply of fresh water, they are eating too many of the pine shavings or whatever litter you are using, are common causes. Of course. just shipping stress can start a round of poopy butt.

Put some Vaseline or similar product on their bottoms after each cleaning, which will discourage the poop from sticking next time. Cleaning by holding their butt under a gentle stream of running warm water is the gentlest on their skin, though it does take some time.

Your brooder should be big enough and arranged so it has cooler and warmer areas, so they can choose what temp they prefer. Overheating chicks is a fairly common mistake. In trying to be sure they are warm enough, it is easy to get them too warm, and a brooder with varied temps is probably the best way to be sure they are not overheated.

Good luck!

 

[hspero]

Thank you I have a big area but maybe to hot? Plenty of freshwater. They are silkies does that make a difference?

 

[Judy]

If you have any suspicion that their area is too hot, I would certaianly take steps to make it cooler. They are much better off being a little cool than a little warm. You should be able to buy a very inexpensive thermometer to check the temp at floor level, or at the level of their heads. Is the brooder large enough that it has warmer and cooler areas? You know, you can make a brooder out of a shipping carton like a refreigerator box.

Since silkies are smaller, they may be quicker to get overheated and/or dehydrated. An overhead heat source might be more of a threat to a bird with a skll defect, too.

For the first two weeks, they should have 0.5 sq ft per chick of floor space, minimum, and not including the space for food and water. By 3 weeks they should have 1 sq ft each and by 5 weeks they need 2.5 sq ft each.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...nd-i-have-a-couple-of-questions#post_11151084