Help needed: Recurring pasty butt

[KYchickadee]

That's what I was thinking, only one of them didn't come to me by being shipped.

 

[Judy]

Preparation H is fine.

The probiotics might help if they will drink it. Maybe put out a bowl of water with some in it and see if they accept it. You don't have to worry about germy water due to them; they are not that kind of germs.

 

[KYchickadee]

We lost one of them. The second one has put on some weight and the third is still dropping weight.

 

[ShortHenTallPen]

Hey there,

Sad to hear your little guys are struggling. I'm a real newbie, so this is more of a situation comparison, as I'm not at all able to give advice!

One of my new batch had pasty butt, a bent toe, and is significantly smaller than the rest, but is doing great now. I think the main factor was probably that I'm lucky enough to be pretty close to a small-scale breeder of heritage breeds, so the chicks only had to go through a cosy two-hour drive (which I sweated out next to them!)

However, they did give me a small quantity of Super Booster powder to mix with the water. This is the only thing they've had to drink so far. I know that the folks on Chicken Thistle Coop Cast (awesome pod cast) highly recommend this kind of thing — they credit it with saving some chilled chicks that had been delayed in shipping. Worth a try. I probably didn't need to, as many of mine were already more than a day old, but I did carefully dip all of their beaks in the waterer as I put them in the brooder.

For feed, they're getting chick starter from a local organic feed mill, and I was a bit worried because the texture was coarser than the bag of feed my breeder had given me, but I mixed it in gradually, and they don't seem to have noticed any difference.

Other than that, they're just in a plastic tote with a red heat lamp and some old towels and soft toys so they can climb up or snuggle down if they want to be warmer, or go over to the other end of the box to explore.

Wish I had more experience to offer, but hoping your little skinny gets better soon!

 

[7chickenmomma]

Don't know if this will help... I'm raising chicks for the first time and had A LOT of trouble with pasty butt. I started out just cleaning them off with a wet paper towel, then tried quickly dipping just their bottoms in lukewarm water and cleaning them off, then we decided to try something new. We put a little bit of pure Vaseline petroleum jelly on our feistiest chick's bottom, waited about ten - thirty seconds, then gently wiped off the poop. She was perfectly happy and healthy the next day so we tried it on all the chicks. After three days I have completely stopped having to clean them off, before, I was having to clean them twice daily minimum. Don't know if it was just a coincidence, or it really worked... Anyhow, they are all happy, and are pooping normally and have no poop stuck on their bottoms. I don't know why exactly it works, if that's what worked, but it worked great for me. Thought I might tell y'all about this, if there's some reason why this isn't a good method please let me know. Like I said, my only experience is with adult hens. Thanks!

 

[aart]

Don't know if this will help... I'm raising chicks for the first time and had A LOT of trouble with pasty butt. I started out just cleaning them off with a wet paper towel, then tried quickly dipping just their bottoms in lukewarm water and cleaning them off, then we decided to try something new. We put a little bit of pure Vaseline petroleum jelly on our feistiest chick's bottom, waited about ten - thirty seconds, then gently wiped off the poop. She was perfectly happy and healthy the next day so we tried it on all the chicks. After three days I have completely stopped having to clean them off, before, I was having to clean them twice daily minimum. Don't know if it was just a coincidence, or it really worked... Anyhow, they are all happy, and are pooping normally and have no poop stuck on their bottoms. I don't know why exactly it works, if that's what worked, but it worked great for me. Thought I might tell y'all about this, if there's some reason why this isn't a good method please let me know. Like I said, my only experience is with adult hens. Thanks!

@7chickenmomma It works because it keeps the poops from sticking to their 'feathers'.

 

[azygous]

If you want something much easier than Vaseline for the PREVENTION of pasty butt, fill a small spray bottle with olive oil and do one squirt on the fluff butt. It's all natural and completely non-toxic, and any poop will simply slide right off as the chick poops.

It will also work to easily loosen crusty buildup without scrubbing. Simply spray on, let set for a minute or two, letting the chick run around while it works, and then wipe the tiny butt carefully with a cotton ball moistened with olive oil.

 

[7chickenmomma]

If you want something much easier than Vaseline for the PREVENTION of pasty butt, fill a small spray bottle with olive oil and do one squirt on the fluff butt. It's all natural and completely non-toxic, and any poop will simply slide right off as the chick poops.

It will also work to easily loosen crusty buildup without scrubbing. Simply spray on, let set for a minute or two, letting the chick run around while it works, and then wipe the tiny butt carefully with a cotton ball moistened with olive oil.

If they get it again I'll try that. Thanks!

 

[7chickenmomma]

@7chickenmomma It works because it keeps the poops from sticking to their 'feathers'.

I was wondering if that was why... Would that mean that eventually I'd have to do something to them again?

 

[aart]

Quote: Usually not...it's most common in even healthy chicks in the first few days to a week due to their digestive systems tuning up.