how obvious is pasty butt?

[curiositykt]

I've had the 5 chicks in the brooder for 5 hours now and there's only 2 poops in the shavings.. I just tried to check them but they were struggling a lot and don't like my flipping them. One had a little string like thing on her butt, but didn't seem to be blocked up.. the rest looked just fuzzy. Would it be obvious if they had pasty butt?

 

[BuffOrpington88]

You can actually see droppings on their feathers if it is pasting up. Sorry, I'm not sure about the lack of droppings.

 

[triplepurpose]

If it's only been five hours and they just started eating for the first time a few hours ago it doesn't seem surprising that there aren't a lot of droppings. and yes, pasty butt is very obvious and externally visible...

 

[RollinWithTheStones]

It's very obvious, It'll look like dried poop all over their butt.

 

[PoultryGirly]

You can see it clearly. Plus, the chicks will dig in the chips, so it might be covered up.

 

[curiositykt]

Had the first case of it today, yep! that's pretty obvious! came off pretty easy thankfully.

 

[PoultryGirly]

yeah, they'll be fine

 

[RonC]

Only 2 poops in the shavings.

Just wait!

 

[triplepurpose]

What the feed companies won't tell you is that If you give them more greens, grasses, bugs and dirt and such, like chicks are supposed to have access to in nature from the get-go, you won't ever see pasty butt....

 

[fallenleader]

when i got my chicks, they hardly pooped the first day, poo has been doubling almost weekly.

...my chicks are just under 2 1/2-weeks old, in a big tote and was cleaning it weekly, the last time i cleaned it, they managed to cover pretty much everything in poo within the hour. think i'll be cleaning twice a week from now on.

oh, they also love to fling litter into the waterer even though it's raised, and that often slows supply of fresh water down.