Pasty Butt Killing My Keets One by One

[Lady Badlands]

This is so disturbing. A week ago last Thursday, I received 16 one-day old keets. My brooder box has one of those wonderful Brinsea Brooder shelters which the keets go under and provides the exact same warmth as a mama hen would. They have water and two feeders of food. There are wood chips as a base. I have lost 5 of the keets so far. One each morning is dead with horrible pasty butt. Meanwhile, they all are running around looking so healthy and happy and then overnight, another one dies. Does anyone know what causes pasty butt and what I can do to stop this?

I once saw it on a baby chick I had and I gently washed her butt until the plug dissolved and she lived and was healthy. This is so distressing to be losing these babies.

Thanks!

 

[Lady Badlands]

So far, no responses from anyone on this site, but to update, I took each of the remaining 11 keets out of their box and examined their vents. Two of them had rock hard fecal matter attached, so I used a warm wash cloth to dissolve and then put a tiny amount of coconut oil on their vents. I put several layers of paper towels on top of the wood chips to prevent them from possibly ingesting the slivers of wood. I will continue to check their vents once per day until there are no more little plugs in their vents. If anyone has any other advice, I'd be very interested in hearing it.

Thank you!

 

[Buttercup902]

Sounds like you did what you should have. I washed their butts once a day for about three days. After that it was fine. I also put sand as their bedding.

 

[Lady Badlands]

Wow, sand as their bedding. That's definitely a possibility. It's amazing how just putting down paper towels, it becomes clear how they have practically covered it with food. But at least now they're pecking at food on their ground rather than playing with and pecking the wood chips. Actually, they're shavings. I sure wish the hatchery I purchased these little cuties from would have warned me about the wood shavings. I've raised multiple chicken broods on the shavings and never had this problem (except that wee one I mentioned previously).

Thank you for your input.

 

[R2elk]

Wow, sand as their bedding. That's definitely a possibility. It's amazing how just putting down paper towels, it becomes clear how they have practically covered it with food. But at least now they're pecking at food on their ground rather than playing with and pecking the wood chips. Actually, they're shavings. I sure wish the hatchery I purchased these little cuties from would have warned me about the wood shavings. I've raised multiple chicken broods on the shavings and never had this problem (except that wee one I mentioned previously).

Thank you for your input.

I live on a sand dune so I just automatically use the free sand as bedding for all of my poultry. In the Raising Guinea Fowl 101 thread, PeepsCa does give a warning to not use wood chips for bedding for the keets until they reach a certain age. I do not remember what age that was but she did mention that the keets will eat the shavings and become impacted. Another benefit to using sand for bedding is that it provides the keets with grit so that they are capable of digesting the bugs and grasses that they may eat.

Good luck with your remaining keets.

 

[Guinea Goonie]

Guinea Keets tend to have "pasty butt" for about the first 2 weeks of life.
I use a inch thick amount of pine shavings and put Paper Towels down over this so they do not slip and slide while they run about.
I use apple cider vinigar in the water (a small amount) and check their little butts EVERY day.
I use cotton que tips and wet them for the procees of taking off the pasting.
It is an annoying and time comsuming deal until they reach an age of about two weeks.
I go gently and methodically until the pasting is completely gone.
This is just the why it is and it has to be dealt with.
Guinea Goonie

 

[R2elk]

Guinea Keets tend to have "pasty butt" for about the first 2 weeks of life.
I use a inch thick amount of pine shavings and put Paper Towels down over this so they do not slip and slide while they run about.
I use apple cider vinigar in the water (a small amount) and check their little butts EVERY day.
I use cotton que tips and wet them for the procees of taking off the pasting.
It is an annoying and time comsuming deal until they reach an age of about two weeks.
I go gently and methodically until the pasting is completely gone.
This is just the why it is and it has to be dealt with.
Guinea Goonie

It is my experience that shipped chicks, poults, and keets tend to be susceptible to pasty butt. I find it is rare for my home hatched little ones to ever have pasty butt. I had read the claim that using ACV (apple cider vinegar) would prevent or cure pasty butt so I tried using ACV. In my case while using ACV for the little ones they began having many cases of pasty butt. When I quit using ACV in their water, my little ones stopped having pasty butt.

I am not claiming that ACV causes pasty butt only relating my experience of greatly increased cases of pasty butt while using ACV and the almost complete disappearance of it when not using ACV on home raised little ones. I still find pasty butt among shipped little ones but even among them I don't tend to find it in more than 10% - 20% of the little ones.

I believe that having grit available (in my case sand for bedding) may be one of the things that helps. In my case having grit available very early is essential since I start feeding grass clippings the 2nd day the little ones are in the brooder.

 

[Lady Badlands]

Thanks for everyone's input. They are now two weeks old. I lost a total of 5 of them. The first couple, I think, were stress in shipping (but I'll never know because I didn't check their vents). They died within the first three days. The last three were definitely pasty butt and once I followed your advice and put paper toweling down over the chips, things changed. I found two with pasty butt the next day and cleaned that off. Then I checked the following day and the two with the pasty butts the day before were almost clean. Now at two weeks old, the remaining 11 are thriving.

I sure wish the hatchery would send specific instructions NOT to use wood chips for bedding. It's imperative that people know this. From my experience with this group of keets, it was definitely the wood chips. They were eating them. After I laid down the paper towels, I went outside and cut a bunch of tall grasses and covered the paper towels with that. They LOVED the grasses, immediately pouncing on them and scratching and pecking. Every time I put in another bunch, they go crazy with excitement. I posted a picture of them in another thread, but I'll put one here, as well. They are beyond adorable!