Pasty Butt gone....Now am I being over.....

[definetlydeb]

Ok...Thanks to posts here and following advice given...my chicks pasty butt is gone....

...So...of course...momma hen (me) would have to come up with something else to worry myself about....I am a stalker to my chicks...if I am home...I am peepin' in on them...I can sit on couch and pretend to be watching tv...but as I carefully placed thier tote in corner...(next to tv) I can get a plain shot, BF thinks I am watching tv with him...and I am gazing at my chicks....anyhoo....it seems they are itching alot...now I am using pine bedding....and I have inspected them looking for mites and lice...but see nothing...am I just overdoing it here

....i know that they will bathe so to speak...but just seems to me they are itching alot...is there something i should put in there with them, they are almost 2 weeks old and DE is not avail locally...I could really use some input....Thanks so much...

 

[splinter]

You should relax. We always apply mineral oil to their butts as they come out of the incubator and never had a poopy butt since. The pine shavings are the culprit on the itching.Chicks should be kept on paper towels for the first 3 weeks and then on shavings. The chicks cant distinguish the small flakes from food and they will eat them and get stopped up........splinter

 

[mcf3kids]

Good luck Deb with your chicks - I have a similar placement for my brooder as well - lol - great minds think a like.

I want to watch them as much as I can while they are sooo little and adorable!

Question for splinter - when I get my day old chicks should I put some mineral oil on their bottoms then or should I do a little bum bath first and then put a dab of mineral oil on their little bottoms? I like the idea of avoiding a problem from the get-go. My chicks are ordered and will arrive through the mail from MPC. Thanks for the advice to hold off on the pine shavings until they are a bit older.

 

[Fred's Hens]

No. They are itching because they have feathers. They immediately start the process of growing out.

There were no paper towels for chickens for thousands of years. How in the world did they survive?

99.9 percent of all chicks in the world are raised by hens or by people on shavings, straw or dirt and never see a paper towel.

 

[Emmalion]

You think your Chick TV is bad.... I have a camera giving me a live stream of them while I am home. (haven't gotten it set up for outside access yet) I can look all around the brooder as the camera is in there.... Funniest part is the chicks arnt afraid of it one bit.

BTW they might be itchy because of new feathers trying to come in.

 

[wayneh]

We are new to the chicky thing, although we have both lived on our farm for 30+ years. cows, horses, dogs, and cats. not chickens. since getting chicks and having a round of the pasty butt, we have made some discoverys. first, think chicken, what would moma chick do? she keeps the babys warm, shows them what to eat and where to find it. she teaches them to eat dirt and grit for their digestion. after our initial shock of not knowing what to do to help our chicks, we started thinking like mom. at 2 weeks, would have started earlier, we gave them some building sand. I mean a lot of sand. we got a dog feeding bowl and filled up. you tallk about some happy chicks. now I have a kitty litter box full of sand, talk about happy chicks. they scratch in it, eat it and even bath in it. now to condense my rant, just think like mom. If they would be out scratching with mom, give them the chance. if they want to eat dirt, let them. you know what I mean, be mom.

 

[earnhardtlvr]

Quote:
I had the same idea about the camera...is ur wireless or how does it work?

 

[definetlydeb]

Emmalion wrote:
I have a camera giving me a live stream of them while I am home. (haven't gotten it set up for outside access yet) I can look all around the brooder as the camera is in there.... Funniest part is the chicks arnt afraid of it one bit.

OMGosh....I soooo Love it!!! I need me a camera, the boyfriend is ACTIVELY working on the new coop for outside....I keep reminding him, we have lots of time, they are just babies and it is sooooo COLD outside....he just keeps saying that he wants it to be done when they are big enough to move out......HAHAHAHA...(so I do suppose that is gonna happen)...so wait till I tell him I want a camera!!!!!! I will just tell him....all my BYC friends are doing it!!!!!​

 

[Emmalion]

Quote:
I had the same idea about the camera...is ur wireless or how does it work?

I have an IP camera that runs on wireless so I can access it from my home network.

 

[definetlydeb]

Oooh yeah....isn't it funny how we all do things so differently...I so love this, there is so much help here, Well the pasty butt is gone....YIPEE, and I am thinkin' I am leaving the pine chips in there...

,....I shall start thinkin' like momma hen, more like a chicken momma though....and you are right...the real momma hens would have them out and about...so I am gonna leave them as they are, and i really do agree that it is feathers coming in....as I have carefully inspected them, time and time again.....so we shall just see what happens here.........have a wonderfull day all!!!! And THANKS for all the input, I greatly appreciate your time and thoughts!!!