Help!! Few day old chick with Pasty Vent

[swift081702]

This is our first time with chicks and one has a Pasty Vent. So, I cleaned it off the best I could. Problem, now the vent is inflamed/protruding and red/bleeding? I put vaseline on her. Anything else I can do? Is it too late? She didn't poo when I was done cleaning? Very worried, our 3yr old loves this little girl...she's the tiniest one in the group and she named her Hattie.

 

[fernandez0067]

I had the same problem with 2 out of the 3 chicks I got from TSC.

I cleaned off the poo as best I could. Dunked the little ones behind in warm water and massaged it to get the rest off. This may or may not make the chick poo again.

Then Id dry it off and rub a little olive oil on its vent. I did this for a couple days , a couple times a day, and the pasty butt finally disappeared.

The vent on mine was very inflammed but no bleeding. Someone suggested dabbing prep H on it to reduce the inflammation, but mine went away within a couple days so I never got to that point.

 

[DiVon80]

Pasty butts,it should be part of your routine to check butts. Also use some parakeet/finch gravel in there food. I just rince w/ warm water and let them dry on there own..

 

[emilyweck]

I agree with the previous posts.....just keep her clear and lubricated. Keep us posted on her progress.

 

[mach4chic]

I also had my first foray into dealing with pasty bottom with this batch of chicks. One of ours had a vent that would prolapse at least an inch when she tried to poop. It looked terribly painful and raw. She did not have active bright red bleeding. I posted my concerns here and was told to try molasses in their water as a laxative, which I did for about a week in addition to keeping her clean and lubed. She seemed to not struggle to poo so much after only a day but, took at least two weeks to be completely back to normal. She has also grown more slowly than the rest of the chicks. Slow growth due to malabsorption of nutrients from all the constipation? I don't know.

 

[AHappychick]

my friends think I am nuts when I show them the new chicks and they watch me pick up each one and look at its bottom lol I dont usually have much of a issue with to ones I hatch but there is always 1 or 2 that get it. when I have chicks shipped I usually have quaiet a few that get it for the first few days. the advice is good. I just hold their butts under a small stream of warm water and gently massage it off

 

[aank4]

Washing off the poo as best you can helps a lot. Just don't get her soaking wet - the little ones can't regulate their body temperature well, and you don't want them to chill. I had a chick in my first batch that had problems with pasty butt and a red vent, and I ended up putting a little prep H on her bum to reduce the swelling, and a drop of blue food coloring so the other chicks wouldn't notice the red and peck at her. Worked really well!

 

[swift081702]

Ok, now I have two with this problem. I've got both cleaned up and put vaseline (no Prep H, in the house) on them. I cleaned up Hattie again, since it plugged up again. I'm having a hard time getting off the crusty black stuff. Any ideas to get it off easier? I feel like I'm pulling to hard, which may be causing more inflammation. They are just so tiny, I feel like I'm going to hurt them.

 

[swift081702]

So, after reading more it seems that what has happened to the littlest one is she actually has a prolapse. Am I supposed to push this back? Her poo keeps getting stuck.

Here's a pic, the best I could get.

 

[3peeps]

I don't know anything about solving a prolapse problem, but I like the blue food coloring idea mentioned above. One of mine had a persistent pasting problem for a week and it seemed that at that stage the chicks were picking at each other a lot. Any redness or bleeding would have been a problem.

I've read that temperature in the brooder can exacerbate pasting, and I did have a problem regulating the brooder temperature at first.
(turned out to be drafts from our new high-efficiency furnace that runs continuously)

Best wishes with your chick.