extreme pasty butt, pls give me suggestions

[jggrossm]

Hi all -

I have a 15 weekish Golden Buff Orpington who's had diohrea quite a bit for a while now. She seems happy, but she's a bit smaller than the other birds her age. We've noticed the poop getting stuck in her fluff a little recently and cleaned her up every few days. We just went a away for a week and came back and her back side was covered with poop and her vent was actually blocked. She seemed okay, behavior-wise, tho. Obviously, we cleaned her up and cleared her vent, but Friday we're leaving for even longer this time and I'm so worried she'll get it again and get really ill. Any ideas of how to cure pasty butt? Even a short-term sure-fire measure would be useful to know at the moment.

BTW, I have given her a little yogurt in the past, and this may have helped, but my vet went nuts when I told him, so I stopped, but honestly, I don't think he really knows much about chickens. Have any of you had success treating pasty butt with yogurt? Or anything else?!?

Thanks in advance!

Joanna

 

[Judy]

Frankly, if my vet "went nuts," I'd figure he knew he was in over his head and I needed a new vet.

The only problem with yogurt is that chickens do not digest milk very well, if at all. This is why one tsp. per chicken is often recommended. It's not enough milk to upset them that badly, and they are still going to get the benefit of the live cultures for their good gut flora. Organic apple cider vinegar in the water, 1 tsp. to 1 Tbsp., gives the same benefit (even in my little town I can buy Bragg's.)

I have not found any good treatment for pasty butt other than cleaning it and putting some Vaseline on the vent, which I'm sure is no news to you. But I also don't know why it is still happening at this age. Maybe if you answer the questions in the sticky at the top of this forum, someone will pick up on something. Be sure to include exactly what she eats, brand of feed, content, treats, yard access, etc. I would think cocci could be the root problem here, so tell us whether she ever got medicated feed, too, if you can, and what it was medicated with (which is no guarantee they won't get cocci.)

 

[kcfuerst]

After washing off the pasties, give the chick a 'haircut' as close as you can without cutting the skin. Much easier to keep clean when the poo clears the landing pad. Easier to wash off if necessary too.

 

[jggrossm]

I'll try the "haircut" and the ACV.

Here's some more info:
She lives with 3 other birds, none of which have this problem. They have both and indoor and outdoor area, each about 10 square feet. They eat Poulin pellets. I give them rain water which I'm about to stop doing, tho she had this problem before I did that. I let them out for a bit each day to each some grass, but we didn't do that while we were away and this problem was at it's worst.

 

[Billy7871]

Quote:
Why are you going to stop giving them rain water? I give rain water and have had no problems. Is there something wrong with it?

 

[jggrossm]

I doubt there's anything wrong with rain water, I'm just trying to eliminate possibilities right now. It's not filtered like tap.

 

[jggrossm]

does anyone know of a reason why my chick was getting this at 15 weeks? Is that a symptom of some disease? I've seen her make just little drippy poops, altho they are better now, but still not firm like the other birds'.

 

[mypicklebird]

have a fecal check done at a vets (maybe a different vet), to rule out excessive parasites. How long is 'quite a bit'? Since hatch? Or a week?
Where are they kept? Have you recently introduced them to the outside? So you have someone coming over to feed them that can check her while you are gone?


Quote:

 

[JessaLynn]

I would suspect worms to be a possibility or stress can do it to.

 

[jggrossm]

Fecal check brought up nothing. I get get de-wormer from the feed store? I could try that. How does that work?