Pasting and . . . baking soda?

[Doll Maker]

I had a thought. When I had a pup that had a loose stool, my vet had me feeding him PLAIN canned pumpkin puree. I wonder if you gave the chicks a little plain pumpkin pulp if that would help. That surely wouldn't hurt them any. Be sure it was the plain canned kind if you don't put up your own. NOT the pumpkin Pie filling kind with spices.

Just a thought. It sure did the trick with my pup. I now freeze fresh pumpkin puree in ice cube trays and give it to my dogs for treats. Lots of fiber in it I think.

Dollmaker

 

[Akane]

Probably doesn't add anymore salt to the water than most people's water softeners around here. I'm happy to say mine does nothing now cause we have a filter on the house. Which is now brown and black 3 weeks later.

I'm not sure I see a benefit to baking soda except in certain cases and other times it could be harmful. Especially depending on what your water is like in the first place. You are adding a buffer, calcium, and sodium source which will interact with everything quite easily.

I'd bet the causes of pasty butt are about as varied as the causes of human digestive problems whether you have diarrhea or constipation. Stress of any kind (which includes temperature for chicks), bacteria, other minor infections, quick diet changes, diet intollerances.... Everyone seems to have different luck with different remedies and the only explanation I could understand for that is that there are just as many different causes. Maybe baking soda has proven to cure one of the causes so someone started repeating it's use everywhere.

I think several people have said pasty butt is actually constipation whereas loose stools in an animal like a dog would be diarrhea. Pumpkin helps firm things up. Adding fiber before problems occur in other animals at least can prevent constipation but it can backfire if you try it after the problem starts. You can end up with drier larger stools when you need the opposite. Trust me if you try it on yourself you can make rocks out of the contents of your intestines that takes about 3 months of stool softeners to undo. Never repeating that.... Some have said to give molasses to chicks which can cause diarrhea instead. Of course that seems like a slippery slope to me. Diarrhea can dehydrate and kill quickly.

I'll stick with just doing what is required to keep them from being stressed and manually remove pasty butt if it happens. I only have a problem with it in maybe 1 batch out of every 10 and then not every chick. Mostly extra small chicks or late hatchers that are getting pushed around by the others.

 

[A.T. Hagan]

Like others I suspect there is more than one cause to pasting. It seems to be a stress reaction in my experience that can be brought on by too much cold exposure, shipping, probably too much heat, and so on.

I've always had luck by exclusively feeding ground whole grains for the first twelve hours to a day or so then giving them regular chick starter. Ordinary rolled oats seems to work well.

Sometimes though no matter what you do they are going to paste up.

.....Alan.

 

[1/2DozenWings]

Thank you all, this is a very informative thread.

I have pasty butt in 5 of 16 of my 3-day old chicks, representing 5 breeds of a total of 10. Small sample sizes, for sure.....All it tells me is that 1) there are some environmental issues and 2)some individuals and breeds are genetically better able to combat 'adverse' conditions.
I will keep immersing their butts in warm water, add some neosporin afterwards, and blot them dry.
I like the idea of a LITTLE bit of oatmeal/cornmeal added to medicated starter crumbles. And some grit then. Sodium bicarbonate scares me, as I had read that bad microbes like a slightly alkaline environment and I already have "sweet" well water.

I have IBS and I am well aware that stress triggers it, and certain foods wreak havoc, sometimes.
So I'm thinking that what might work for one chick won't work for the others, particularly since I chose 1 or 2 individuals from many different breeds.

At least I can stop beating myself up over what I perceived as poor animal husbandry on my part. Thank you for that!

 

[bds613]

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Now, isn't that interesting!

 

[Chickiemama1010]

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i thought it was from too hot...dehydration either from too hot or stress in shipping

I just got 12 chicks, but I picked them up, not shipped. 3 of 12 got pasty butt on day 3 of life. I cleaned it up, and it isnt an easy job-sticky, crusty stuff. In the morning all were well, and no return of pasty butts. i did nothing special to their water. Not even vitamins or electrolites or anything. No "gro-gel" nothing. They are fine . BUT they were picked up the day they hatched. No mailing stress. If yours are being shipped, you may need the electrolites. IDK anything about baking soda, but a drop prob wont hurt. I just wonder about the sodium content...."salt" helps retain water, but also can cause dehydration in quantity which can lead to pasting as far as I know, and also compromise kidney function in large doses. So a spoonful in a gallon should be fine, but I would not overdo it

 

[Chickiemama1010]

Quote:
no i think its too big. You can use plain sand. Even playsand from the hardware store, or beach sand. If you are worried about "germs or parasites" in the sand, put it in a pie pan and stick it in the oven set to 500degrees for 30 mns, then let it cool completely and it will be sterilized. You can put it in a dish seprate, or mix a little bit into the feed.

 

[NoSkiveez]

I was under the belief that the pasty butt came from stress factors and not diet. My chicks have never had anything other than chicks starter and gotten pasty. Chicks that I have gotten locally have never had an issue with pasty butts, chicks that have had to do some traveling weather it was 50 miles or from a hatchery half way across the country have always gotten a pasty butt. Today I spent just over an hour cleaning off pasty butts and Im not even certain I got all the butts clean. I will be back out to the brooder again today when my husbands longer arms can help me catch the ones who stayed away from me during butt cleaning time. Some of the chicks had it worse than others. When I clean butts I apply a small smear of olive oil (because its non toxic) and poop will come off easier than without it.

 

[1/2DozenWings]

That's a good point: my chicks travelled for 3 hours in my car and weren't happy about it. So, even tho they weren't shipped thru the mail, that's alot of stress.

My friend has raised chickens only via natural methods (broody hens) and has never encountered a pasty butt.

She suggests feeding scrambled eggs (no oil or salt) and tiny bits of spinach, parsley or coriander in addition to medicated starter crumbles.

 

[1/2DozenWings]

My 16 chicks are now 11 days old. The same 3 chicks still have pasty butts, but the problem is no longer severe. I think it simply represents diversity in their genomes. IOW, it is nature, because nurture is the same for all.

And they all like mashed cooked eggs and tiny spinach bits.

Thanks for all of your help on this troubling issue!