pasty butt - when to clean? how much?

[tazzy]

I have a few chicks with pasty butt. I cleaned off the three with the worst crusted bootys. But I didn't clean a fourth one that I spotted because I felt like I'd really stressed out my chicks (they were all light brahmas from yesterday's Cackle delivery) and I didn't think the fourth one had enough pasty butt to warrant cleaning it off at that instant and getting all the sleepy chicks worked up again as I reached in to catch it.

Does anyone have photos of when to intervene with a pasty butt? Or do you clean off ANY amount of dried-on poop, no matter how much?

I searched for pasty butt on this forum, and found many, many suggestions. But no actual pictures or descriptions of exactly how much dried poop means you must intervene at that moment or risk the chick's health. Can it sometimes wait a few hours? (Like, say, until my husband gets home? I did the first three, but I worry so much about hurting the chicks I'd rather leave the task to him for the next one!)

 

[dani2]

Hi I usually try to see if there vent hole is open if they can poo freely I will leave them go if I am worried about to much stress but watch them usually if you just grab one real quick and go somewhere else to clean it only takes a few seconds with a little warm water and it is done. It took us forever the first few times we had to do it but with a little practice you get very quick.

 

[tazzy]

okay, thanks Dani. you're so right about it taking a long time at first - I spent a good 2-3 minutes with each chick, being oh-so-careful as I cleaned their butt.

sigh. this is what I've turned into. someone who cleans chicken butts.

 

[katrinag]

You can cover there butts with vaseline to help any poop slide off. You will want to wash them a couple times a day. You do not want them to get pluged up.