Does pasty butt kill so quickly?

[alessadry]

This early morning as I was in bed, I woke up hearing a chick chirping a bit more than others. I didn't think much of it, considering that in these days I occasionally heard that type of chirp and it stopped as soon as I entered the room and talked to the chicks. I thought it was becoming sort of an attention thing. Anyhow, I decided to get up to check and by the time I got there the chick was already dead upside down. I inspected it, and it had a pasty butt... and I feel guilty as heck.

Last night I could I have sworn I looked at every chicks butt as my normal inspection routine before going to bed. I cleaned a couple that weren't pasted up just a bit dirty, and I checked all and all were clean. I thought I was on top of everything, and was getting good at preventing it by cleaning any dirty butts when the poop was fresh, watching for signs of trouble before going to bed and checking throughout the day.

Never could I imagine that a chick could get pasty butt in the middle of the night and just die first thing in the morning so fast. This was a healthy chick before going to bed. I had chicks with pasty butts before but I thought it would take some time for enough poop to accumulate and cause death.

This is an eye opener for sure, and now I am a bit afraid to go to bed or go out to the store. I guess anytime I am going to hear chirping like that I will have to rush and check on them ASAP. No time to change clothes, put shoes on or any of that.

Below is the dead chick's butt. Poor thing. I feel terrible that I didn't rush in time, possibly could have saved it and I was just a minute or two late.

 

[ChickAsThieves]

Hmmm. I bought my first batch of 6 chicks from a feed store. I din't know much about chickens at the time, although I did know about the dangers of pasty butt. Every single one of the chicks that we bought had it when they came home, and I assume that they had been pasted up for a good amount of time because it was like concrete on their little butts. I had to rinse their bums in warm water for a good long time to be able to get it soft enough to remove.

What I'm getting at (slowly, ha ha) is that I bet my chicks had it during shipping. I don't know exactly how old they were when brought them home, but probably less than 3 days. I would imagine they had it longer than overnight, and none of them died. I would assume you would have seen some type of lethargy with the chick before it died of pasty butt?

I'm sorry I don't have an answer for you, and I'm sorry you lost your chick.

 

[MrsBachbach]

This early morning as I was in bed, I woke up hearing a chick chirping a bit more than others. I didn't think much of it, considering that in these days I occasionally heard that type of chirp and it stopped as soon as I entered the room and talked to the chicks. I thought it was becoming sort of an attention thing. Anyhow, I decided to get up to check and by the time I got there the chick was already dead upside down. I inspected it, and it had a pasty butt... and I feel guilty as heck.

Last night I could I have sworn I looked at every chicks butt as my normal inspection routine before going to bed. I cleaned a couple that weren't pasted up just a bit dirty, and I checked all and all were clean. I thought I was on top of everything, and was getting good at preventing it by cleaning any dirty butts when the poop was fresh, watching for signs of trouble before going to bed and checking throughout the day.

Never could I imagine that a chick could get pasty butt in the middle of the night and just die first thing in the morning so fast. This was a healthy chick before going to bed. I had chicks with pasty butts before but I thought it would take some time for enough poop to accumulate and cause death.

This is an eye opener for sure, and now I am a bit afraid to go to bed or go out to the store. I guess anytime I am going to hear chirping like that I will have to rush and check on them ASAP. No time to change clothes, put shoes on or any of that.

Below is the dead chick's butt. Poor thing. I feel terrible that I didn't rush in time, possibly could have saved it and I was just a minute or two late.

Overnight? I seriously doubt it. Something else likely affecting that chick. Could you tell if it's crop was full? Was the chick emaciated?

 

[alessadry]

Actually, it was one of the healthiest looking. Before going to bed they were all eating happily a mush I make with organic chick starter, save-a-chick (water and electrolytes) and a bit of boiled egg. Can it have died from overeating? When I offer this mush they eat it almost non-stop and are super crazy for it. All other chicks ate a lot too but are fine though.

I even checked them at 3am because they were chirping a bit and found them eating and chirping happily their dry chick feed. I didn't check for pasty butt at time though. Earlier during the day they were introduced to pine shavings but we went back to paper towel because I didn't feel comfortable seeing them grab the smaller pieces and carry them around and digging them. I wonder if it could have managed to eat a piece of small pine shaving?

I don't know, but now I am worried. I was sure it was pasty butt that killed since it was the only one with the butt pasted this morning, but maybe not then?

 

[ChickAsThieves]

Earlier during the day they were introduced to pine shavings but we went back to paper towel because I didn't feel comfortable seeing them grab the smaller pieces and carry them around and digging them. I wonder if it could have managed to eat a piece of small pine shaving?

I have always brooded my chicks with pine shavings, and I have never lost a chick to something that wasn't clearly something else. Actually, out of the 40 or so I have brooded, I have only lost one chick, but it was in bad shape upon arrival in the mail.

Sometimes there are things going on internally that are beyond our control. Animals are good at hiding it when there is a problem in order not to get picked on by the others.

 

[donrae]

I don't think that little bit of poop killed that chick. Really, that's very minimal. chick probably died of some other cause. I know it stinks, but sometimes chicks just up and die. No good reason we can find.

Keep in mind that when animals die, they usually release their bowels. that may well be what you're seeing, is simply the result of the death, not the cause.

 

[alessadry]

Donrae, thanks for your reply and moral support. The poop didn't look though really fresh for this chick if it died just minutes from the chirping I heard that woke me up, but I still can see that as a possibility. Now been wondering if possibly ate too much at once? I have been making them this paste of organic chick starter water with electrolytes (sav-a-chick) and a bit of egg yolk. I offered it last evening (because of a weak chick that only eats this) to all chicks since they really love it and they ate it like crazy non-stop for like 4 hours! I wondered if this could have been a cause? All other chicks though seem OK.

 

[donrae]

How do you know this chick was the one chirping? It could have been dead already, and another chick was making a fuss before you got up.

I don't think they over eat, but I only feed mine regular crumbles. I brood enough chicks I'm accepting of losing a few now and then, I don't really look for reasons unless I have higher losses than expected.

 

[alessadry]

You make a good point, it could have been another chick However, the chirping was sort of a bit less loud than the usual loud ear piercing chirping which made me assume it was perhaps no big deal.It was sort of monotonous and every few seconds rather than repeated and very loud. I must have slept through it initially. I kept on telling myself that I am too overprotective (I often get up at night to check them), but decided to get up anyway. By the time I got my pajamas off, changed shoes, that chirping stopped.I know I shouldn't be overly concerned, just trying to find a reason so that it could not repeat if it was a mistake from my side..

 

[ChickAsThieves]

I had a chick die in my hands last April, after arriving very weak from the hatchery. I did my best to perk her up with water and Poly ViSol, but she didn't make it. I held her for at least an hour until she died and I don't recall her making any noise at all. Donrae may very well be correct in saying it was a different chick that was making a fuss.