Mama Heating Pad in the Brooder (Picture Heavy) - UPDATE

[TexasLisa]

Jan, have you considered putting ACV (Apple Cider Vinegar) into the drinking water? Also, just get some warm water to clean their little bottoms.

 

[Blooie]

Also if after you get it cleaned off (and you do have to get it all) you can dab a little olive or coconut oil around the vent to keep more from sticking again. Sorry you lost some chicks...it happens but it stinks when it does!

 

[Jensownzoo]

I'm a mean chickie mama...when mine had pasty butt, I would pull off the dried poop along with the attached down, squirt a bit of vetericyn on it, then smear a bit of vaseline (although I think the olive oil would have been better, thanks Blooie) over the bare spot. I could accomplish this in seconds rather than stress them further with a butt bath and possible chill. I didn't have any skin tears, but I was careful. My PB was from shipping stress. I swear I spent the first two weeks just staring at the chick's butts instead of their faces!

 

[Coop de Grass]

I picked up 6 Americauna chicks from a hatchery. They were 7 days old. 2 days after I got them, I found that one had pasty butt! Good thing I was picking them up a lot! I tried using wet paper towels, but gave up and took the little baby to the kitchen sink and let warm running water loosen up the hard poop. It wasn't traumatic for the chick or for me. By the time that I was done most of her rump was wet. I dried her off with a towel and then put her back under the ecoglow 20.

That is the only time I've seen it. I've had purchased chicks twice, and I hatched eggs on Feb 17. Everyone seems to be fine now.

 

[Blooie]

I'm a mean chickie mama...when mine had pasty butt, I would pull off the dried poop along with the attached down, squirt a bit of vetericyn on it, then smear a bit of vaseline (although I think the olive oil would have been better, thanks Blooie) over the bare spot. I could accomplish this in seconds rather than stress them further with a butt bath and possible chill. I didn't have any skin tears, but I was careful. My PB was from shipping stress. I swear I spent the first two weeks just staring at the chick's butts instead of their faces!

Oh, tell me about it! My first year with chicks I was trying to figure out how 22 chicks ended up with 44 hineys - until I realized I was seeing the same ones over and over. But out of 24 chicks in different batches raised under the heating pad, 2 had PB when they arrived and only two treatments ended that saga.

 

[Jensownzoo]

Oh, tell me about it!  My first year with chicks I was trying to figure out how 22 chicks ended up with 44 hineys - until I realized I was seeing the same ones over and over. But out of 24 chicks in different batches raised under the heating pad, 2 had PB when they arrived and only two treatments ended that saga.  

I had two DOAs and three pass very quickly after arrival, so I assumed all the PB was from a very stressful shipping experience. I wish I had known about MHP then! I did base my adjustments to the heat lamp on chick behavior rather than a thermometer. Six of the remaining 21 chicks didn't put on any weight that first week, so I put them in their own brooder still on paper towels so I could monitor them more closely. Got ceramic heat emitters instead of bulbs so I could give them a night time. Everyone is back together and thriving as 6 week olds without supplemental heat currently. Next batch will have MHP for sure!

 

[aart]

I'm a mean chickie mama...when mine had pasty butt, I would pull off the dried poop along with the attached down, squirt a bit of vetericyn on it, then smear a bit of vaseline (although I think the olive oil would have been better, thanks Blooie) over the bare spot. I could accomplish this in seconds rather than stress them further with a butt bath and possible chill. I didn't have any skin tears, but I was careful. My PB was from shipping stress. I swear I spent the first two weeks just staring at the chick's butts instead of their faces!

I Know, Right!?!?!?

 

[10AcreChick]

Well, of my 24 remaining three-day old chicks (my friend took her five home), I've got 2 PBs and 1 very weak little one. The pasty butts are recovering well from mama man-handling them and smearing them with olive oil (one of them is my lone rooster, I think), but the third not so well. She just lays there and won't open her eyes. I got her to drink some water but there is no way she is going to eat. DH is bringing SaveAChick home in a bit. She may just not make it, but we shall try.

I thought they were supposed to love boiled eggs? They are barely showing any interest! Wait a sec, maybe their crops are full since it's the end of the day?

 

[nickel chick]

I just bought 3 ayam cerami chicks and I am doing the mama brooder and so far they thermometer has only hit 80 degrees they are in there but chirping up a storm. They haven't come out to eat or drink yet should I worry. or just go back to the heat lamp . they are 2 days old. They were so expensive and I am afraid to lose one.

.

 

[Blooie]

They might want a little more heat. If they are chirping loudly, they are trying to tell you something, I think. Pop it up a little bit and see if they go from chirping loudly to contented little "churring" sounds. If your frame is easily bent, you might also try lowering it to the level of their backs, if it isn't already. Keep us posted!