Kristyne-glad to hear the babies made it through the nite okay. I always worry about losing one during the nite or when I have to run and do an errand. I had one get a pasty bottom so now I'm preoccupied at looking at their rearends!!!!!!!
I am so glad that I have someone to talk to whose chicks are at the same stage as mine. I have had 5 of mine with pasty bottoms. I cheack each one when I remove them to change the papertowels and clean the water and food dishes. i do that in the morning and at night like around 7. so Every 12 hours. I picked some off and wiped with a rag but there were 3 that I had to run their bottoms under some warm water. Will that hurt them. they dry off right away. I was just wondering if that was an ok thing to do. I couldnt get it unstuck any other way. What are you doing for yours? I am glad that I am not the only one preoccupied with chicken bottoms. LOL
Mine are still doing good today in spite of being out of power for over an hour and a half. I had to move the brooder outside into the sun because the babies were cold without their light. It made me mad, but it is fixed now so all is well and the babies are napping. (all of them)
Kristyne
I'm fixin to check for pasty bottoms again tonite. Hopefully no more. I picked at the one yesterday and it doesn't look that bad today. I don't think you can hurt them by getting them wet if you dry them off and set them back under the light. I heard that you can put a little vaseline on a q-tip and dab it on their bottom to keep the potty from sticking. If we have any more probs with the pasty bottoms I may end up putting a little vaseline on all of their bottoms as a preventitive!
I can't believe your power went out. I dreamt last nite that that happened to me! I was running around trying to figure out how to keep the babies warm!
Mine have had a really quiet day! I think they are finally settling in for home. I do notice that the barred rocks are more aggressive than the rest. They peck at everything that enters the brooder. My rings, my camera, my hand, etc. I'm still as in love as I was the first day! How about you? Don't forget to check them bottoms!!!
My rocks and delawares peck at everything too. I can already see that I am gonna have more pasty bottoms. I am feeding them chick starter granules. I dont know what else to do. Should I put some grit in there for them? I do have baby oatmeal that I could mix with water and give them, do you think that would help? I think I might try the vasilene trick. I still have to change the paper towels tonight so I will deal with the bottoms then.
Having no power was terrible. I didnt know what to do. So I covered them and hoped that they would be warm. But soon they were huddling. So I put them in the sun by the window but it wasnt warm enough. So I ended up putting them outside in the sun by the steps. Then they were warm and thank god the power got turned back on shortly after. So my chicks have had a busy day.
I am still in love, i must be or I wouldnt want to clean the pen and clean pasty bottoms and look at them all the time.
I am just glad that they are here. Now I have to figure out which ones are the roos that I ordered.
I don't know what to do about the pasty bottoms but if you find a cure please share! I just went looking for the vaseline and couldn't find it so now I have to run to town again tomorrow. I don't like to go to town and the chickies have me running there all the time. The things we will do for our kids!!! I keep finding myself staring at chicken butts!
A friend of mine silkies and she said their poop gets stuck on their bottoms all the time. Especially as adults. You know with all the fluff down there. I told her about the vaseline trick. She called me the other day and told me that she's glad she doesn't have neighbors close by. Because they would have seen her out there flipping her silkies over and rubbing their bottoms with vaseline. Probably looked funny!
How many roos did you order? I kinda like the paper towels on the bottom of the brooder. It makes it easy to clean. I have corn cob underneath. I'm gonna mix a few pine shavings in with them to make it more comfy, but I don't think it'll look as clean as the paper towels!
I like the paper towels too. It does make changing the brooder easy. I think I will do it for the rest of the week. If I find a cure I will surely tell you. That is good to know about silkies. I will have to pick up some vasilene too, I am out. I got the box all changed and I had to clean several pasty butts. Three got butt baths and the rest got picked at. I am fond of the butt bath. it seems to work well and they dry fast. and you get all the poop off without hurting their little bottoms. Do roos have bigger vents then the pullets? I have one that i think is the roo I ordered and he gets pasty butt and his vent looks bigger than the rest. I hope that it is not swollen. He eats and runs around and poops so I dont know what to think. Do you know? Other than all that they are just fine. Do you have a favorite yet?
Kristyne
I'm not sure about the vent size meaning roo or not. There has to be a way to tell before the crow! My favorite is the silkie. It is just sooo small and cute!
The difference is amazing to me. Here are some close ups I got by putting the camera in the bottom of the brooder.
I love how cute these turned out. Here's a shot of the pug Roscoe that almost lost his right eye yesterday. He acts like nothing even happened. I'm still trying to get over it!
I'm soooo glad I learned how to finally post pics!!!! I think I'll pat myself on the back!
Ohhhhh, All the babies are so cute. We had pug dogs when I was growing up. I am partial to them. I think that they are so cute. I am glad that Roscoe has recovered. My 2 silkies are that size too. I cant believe how they hold thier own against everyone else. The dwlawares are huge in comparison. They are the biggest chicks that we have. They must just grow fast. The chicks are already starting to get wing feathers. It is just to funny. I love when they play "jump on the sleeping chick pile" They provide hours of entertainment.
Congrats to you! I am glad too that you figured out how to post pictures. I will have to post more tonight. I have a very full day and I wont be with the chickies for several hours. That worrys me, but I suppose that they will be ok. I am not going to stress about the vent. it all looks fine this morning and the chick is happy and eating and playing. I watched lastnight and it was pooping too.
Kristyne
Trust me the babies will be just fine! I've had to leave mine for several hours at a time. It feels so wrong. I get a feeling deep down inside of me like I'm actually leaving one of my kids unattended! Isn't that silly?! It's been a busy morning here so I haven't yet checked for pasty bottoms-but I'll be getting to that soon. Then I'm off to buy the vaseline.
You are so lucky to have the 2 silkies! I really am partial to my little guy. You're right he does know how to fend for himself pretty well. Half the size of the others and he doesn't even back down to the others.
Did any of your pugs ever have eye probs? My poor little Roscoe is only 12 wks and we have only had him for 2 wks. He had a cornea ulcer the first week and then almost lost his eye the 2 wk. I have wanted a pug for 10 years! Now I got one and he is such a sweety. Very loving. Wants to cuddle when he's not chewing on something. I just love him but I worry constantly about his eyes now. I have to put drops in his eyes 4-5 times a day. He hates it. I used to be able to do it by myself. Now I have to have my 13 yr old hold him. I don't regret getting him I just feel sorry for him!