Opposite of Pasty Butt... Hard crusty butt. Normal?

[MichiganWoods]

Is having their poop crusted on their back/butt feathers normal? They are acting OK. Nobody is pecking, and they are all perky and squawking when I try to pick them up.

Just want to make sure this is something that goes on with everyone's chicks and not just mine.

 

[debilorrah]

I had one like that last night... I just assumed it was pasty butt. I cleaned her up and she's fine this morning.

 

[ROC4K]

I think that is the dry pasty...I would pull it off. It is like a log in the river. I've done that to mine with no troubles.

 

[Katy]

I agree you need to remove it. It's pasty butt that's been there long enough to dry. It can cause them not to be able to go to the bathroom which isn't good!

 

[debilorrah]

How long does it take to dry? I checked them in morning and they were clean, and then last night I found the hard thing...... I work full time so I can't check on them more often....

 

[ROC4K]

if the little peepers butt is basking in the heat lamp...it can dry up in a couple hours. I would imagine there are environmental variables to consider but checking them like you are should be fine.

 

[silkiechicken]

Once a day checking should be fine. Pasty butt is when ever anything has pasted onto their rears, be it wet or dry. If left too long, it does dry into a crust and once dry, is what can plug them up and kill them.

 

[debilorrah]

I didn't even think of the heat lamp!! Duh.

 

[MichiganWoods]

Here's what they looked like before cleaning:

I got out there with a pan of warm water, a sponge, q-tips and a little bit of cooking oil (I did not have any vaseline and read that some people use this instead). I couldn't just pick it off of their butts, it was that crusted on. So I had to dip their butts in the warm water and gently scrub in a circular motion to get the poop off. Then I took the q-tip and dabbed each of their butts with cooking oil (supposedly promotes them cleaning themselves and will keep the other chicks from pecking them). But just to be safe on the pecking thing, I dabbed every one of them with the cooking oil even though I had to clean four butts. The other three were clean.

I also read in one of my books that you should crush up uncooked oatmeal (no worries, I used natural and not flavored oatmeal) and add it to their feed. So I took out my little nut chopper and finely chopped a bunch of oatmeal, then took a bag and put the oatmeal in it, then added the chick starter food and mixed it all together. When I took it out to them in the bigger feeder trough, they dug right in. Seriously!

 

[Akane]

It dries fast. When most people say pasty butt I don't think they mean actual wet paste. I've never cleaned off pasty that wasn't rock hard. Sometimes I've had to resort to just pulling it off and taking a few bits of fluff out with it. If you are staying on top of it and they aren't stressed (too cold) then there should just be a little chunk. If they are badly pasting up there could be something wrong and/or you need to check them more often.