Pasty Butts!

[shawkins]

I am the proud new (first time) owner of 15 RIR's and 15 EE's which are all now one week and one day old. All seem to be doing fine, healthy, eating, drinking, growing feathers, etc. However a couple of the RIR's have "pasty butts" I have tried to remove the paste with a wet papertowel but the paste seems more like concrete. The vents do not seem to be blocked but i am concerened that they will be if something is not done. I also however do not want to hurt the little fuzzballs by yanking fuzz from their butts (i know that would upset me something fierce). HELP!

 

[SOchick]

Someone mentioned recently about carefully clipping the feathers around the vent, could you try that?

 

[teach1rusl]

Awwww...they sure are cute! I'll tell you, I only had one who got globbed up. Like you said, her vent opening wasn't blocked, because the growing glob was right below the opening. But I was afraid it would build up and eventually block, or that others would peck at it...

I ran about two inches of warm water in the sink and actually sat/held her in that for several minutes. We worked dishwashing liquid over the area, but even that didn't get it all (it did get most). So then we VERY CAREFULLY (I was so nervous) clipped the rest of the gob off, along with the fuzz. That was the last of her problem...

We then blew her dry with the blow dryer and stuck her back under the lamp. She was about 1 1/2 weeks at the time. Hope this helps...

 

[NonnasBabies]

I have to cut a couple of poop globs off of them when they were really really stuck on them..

Other than that as I removed them from their cage to a bin I used when I cleaned their cage I checked each one and just kind of gently pulled them off!!

Good Luck!!
Missi

 

[nursecat9]

I had this happen with a coouple of mine. I used safety scisors to trim the fuzz under the vent to prevent it building up. Worked like a charm! I found that when I tried to wipe clean, it smeared more than helped. Just make sure their vents stay open. Had a friend who lost one due to pasty butt! Good luck!

 

[shawkins]

not sure if it was the right way or not but I found that if I dab a bit of veggie oil on the paste and let it soak a few min it comes off a lot easier. couldn't soak it long enough in water w/o worrying me about the chick, but the oil stays in place for a while and softens the paste and although it didn't come off easy, it did come off w/o hurting the chicks apparently.

thanks for the advice, all of you.