Outgrowing Pasting Up?

[kynewbchickie]

I had 13 total out of 30 that had to be cleaned daily - 3 from my original shipment of 15 Aussies, and 10 I saved from certain pasty-butt death at the local True Value store. They were totally caked from vent down the backs of their legs and were weak when I found them. I bought them and brought them home and immediately set to using my fingers with warm water to moisten/loosen the caked manure. Every other day, I'd use olive oil on the down around their vents to help lubricate the area, but I was handling and cleaning them daily. None got chilled, none died from over-handling, and none are skittish of me - they're now 6-6.5 weeks old and very healthy, vibrant chicks that probably wouldn't have made it had I not intervened.

From this forum, the best advice I got was to use probiotic powder in their feed and natural, unpasteurized "with the mother" ACV. I bought the probiotic powder from TSC (Probios brand) for $10 for a small tub that I still have plenty of, and used a level scoop (included) into just over 2 quarts of feed daily. I found that Heinz and Bragg's both make the ACV and it's relatively inexpensive, and mixed no more than 1 tbsp/1 gallon of water in their waterer daily. I also gave them a mashed, hard-boiled egg for added protein and bulk (and it was a treat!) - within 24 hours they cleared right up and we hadn't seen it come back.

I worked for an avian vet for quite a few years when I was younger, and his take on pasty-butt is that it's a combination of young chicks' immature digestive tracts lacking healthy gut flora, PLUS shipped/store-bought hatchlings lack a broody to clean and care for them and go through quite a deal of stress in the sorting/shipping ordeal. He's just one opinion out of the millions, though - and my treatment is also one out of thousands offered here on this forum. Just thought I'd share what worked for us.

If you're worried about them eating the finer-shaved bedding material, you can offer chick grit. MannaPro makes what we used, or you can use parakeet grit. They'll need grit in their little crops to digest anything that we'd have to chew ourselves. The grit offered from your hand or free-choice from a dish will help grind down any bedding they may be eating, and will be beneficial and necessary for any heartier treats (like meal worms, red worms, veggies, etc.) that you decide to feed them later.

Good luck, and keep us posted!

 

[FlySammyJ]

From this forum, the best advice I got was to use probiotic powder in their feed and natural, unpasteurized "with the mother" ACV....I found that Heinz and Bragg's both make the ACV and it's relatively inexpensive, and mixed no more than 1 tbsp/1 gallon of water in their waterer daily.

Does your store carry Heinz, etc with the mother? My grocery only carries pasteurized and filtered versions. Luckily there's a health food store nearby with a large selection of inexpensive raw ACV. For others reading, "the mother" is the probiotic culture in unpasteurized Apple Cider Vinegar, and you really need it to be present in order to get the most health benefit from use of ACV.

 

[Kilsharion]

Apple Cider Vinegar with Mother is definitely a benefit. The probiotics help the digestion, which will help with pasty butt as Sammy said. Regular vinegar will not have it and doesn't do a thing for you except help retard mold/mildew growth in your water bottle.

However, if you cannot find raw ACV, you can serve a tsp of yogurt (nonflavoured, nonsweetened, non-aspartame yogurt) or kefir whey. They also have probiotics in them that will help the little ones digestion. Kefir is easy to 'grow'. It just requires milk and the initial kefir grains which you can order online pretty easily.

I've found PB clears up pretty fast once they start eating the fermented feed I give them. Not overly surprising as it has ACV and kefir whey in it as well as the natural digestion aid from fermenting feed.

 

[kynewbchickie]

Does your store carry Heinz, etc with the mother? My grocery only carries pasteurized and filtered versions. Luckily there's a health food store nearby with a large selection of inexpensive raw ACV. For others reading, "the mother" is the probiotic culture in unpasteurized Apple Cider Vinegar, and you really need it to be present in order to get the most health benefit from use of ACV.

I get Bragg's, as it's just as inexpensive as the natural Heinz...the grocery runs out of the natural Heinz brand ACV a lot faster, and I think it may be due to the brand name thing. Heinz is a well-recognized name; Bragg's, not so much.

 

[Kilsharion]

I get Bragg's, as it's just as inexpensive as the natural Heinz...the grocery runs out of the natural Heinz brand ACV a lot faster, and I think it may be due to the brand name thing. Heinz is a well-recognized name; Bragg's, not so much.

I <3 Bragg's

 

[PalmHen]

I have a little Ameraucana(3-4 days old) that is having a problem with pasting up. I clean her when she needs it and will go out and get some Bragg's today. I too, bought her because she was so pasted up in the pen with 100 other chicks. When he caught her for me, I immediately looked at her butt and thought, no, I don't want to have to deal with that, but then I thought, if I didn't take her she would die there without the care she would need, so home we came! She's a sweet little thing and I'd really like to get her cleared up!
Great information. Thanks so much for all the good information. I'm new here and am learning a lot.

 

[kynewbchickie]

I have a little Ameraucana(3-4 days old) that is having a problem with pasting up. I clean her when she needs it and will go out and get some Bragg's today. I too, bought her because she was so pasted up in the pen with 100 other chicks. When he caught her for me, I immediately looked at her butt and thought, no, I don't want to have to deal with that, but then I thought, if I didn't take her she would die there without the care she would need, so home we came! She's a sweet little thing and I'd really like to get her cleared up!
Great information. Thanks so much for all the good information. I'm new here and am learning a lot.

I know what you mean. The 7 EE's and 3 Buff Orps I saved from the local True Value were caked from their little vents all the way down the backs of their legs. It was horrible. I already had 21 chicks at that point (15 Aussies I'd ordered from MPC, and 6 black Giants that my son brought home from school as a mercy adoption) and really didn't want more birds...but I couldn't handle the thought that they would die without proper care. The owners of the store didn't seem too interested in my suggestions to clean them off and use some probiotic & ACV in their feed and water, just said they'd be fine. So, I bought them at a discounted price that I haggled considering 3 of them were looking really, really rough - lethargic, not wanting to even run when I reached in to get them. I tried the washcloths, the q-tips, the gauze...nothing worked better than just using my fingers and warm water to loosen their mess and clean it off of them.

Welcome to BYC - we've all been new and we've all learned from one another here, and I'm very thankful I found this forum as well!

 

[PalmHen]

kynewbchickie,

Bless your heart for saving those little chickies. You're definitely going to heaven now!

I got my ACV with "mother" in it the other day at Fred Meyer in Snohomish. I came home and put it in their quart waterer. I eyed it and I think it ended up being about 1/2 t. The little Ameraucana I mentioned before was a little pasted last night, but not as bad. I'm hoping this will help. Do you think I should put a little on their food too?

 

[kynewbchickie]

The ACV in their water is literally a natural "antibiotic" on a very low level, and it also helps with runny poo issues inside the colon. Part of what the vet I worked with said about pasty butt as a whole was, in his professional opinion, linked to them not having a strong probiotic/normal flora level in their guts to begin with. When I think about it, I think he's right. Broodies that raise their own young take them out and get them eating dirt, grass, worms, whatever they eat. Hatchlings from a hatchery are incubated artificially, hatched, sorted, and shipped to wherever - a private buyer, a breeder, corporate stores like TSC and others...so they don't get the "natural" experience like the ones hatched from a broody - the biggest part would probably be diet. With his and others' suggestions here on this forum, I found Probios probiotic powder to put on their feed along with adding the ACV in their water and they literally cleared up in 24 hours with using BOTH remedies together. They weren't on medicated feed for longer than a few days because we ran out, and all I had here was unmedicated. Which was fine, considering I was using the ACV in their water. We didn't have cocci infections, their poo cleared up nicely. I also found that putting a little olive oil around their vents helped the poo slide off easier, rather than sticking to the down. They're all lively and doing well outside now!

The only issue we're having with one is that she's so irritated by the feathering-in on her back that she's literally eating herself. I found her rather bloody last night, and cleaned her up with warm water and a little hydrogen peroxide (which I followed by more gentle rinsing of the wound) and then I applied Blu Kote to keep the others and herself from picking at the area. She's the only one we're having issues with. One of the Aussies had a crooked toes issue, but with a "boot" and some TLC, she seems to be straightening out. Even if she doesn't, we'll leave her be and just not use her for breeding purposes - she gets around well and I'm sure that won't affect her laying ability!

 

[faithiefarmer]

? I have 4 about 3 day old chicks 3 are doing great but one had a swollen anus and is chirping strange it looks as if its straining to poop so used the warm water and olive oil and she pooped a bit out , but she still looks swollen on the back end if she pooped do I still need to help her poop or will the swelling go down she seems ok other than the swelling and the weird chirp