PLEASE HELP ASAP!!

[ColbertCoop]

Two of my nine new chicks have small black plugs and I haven't been able to get them loosened with a warm washcloth, as suggested on many threads. Any other suggestions?? I'm terrified of losing any as this is my first time with chicks. Thanks so much!!

 

[chicmom]

That's commonly called pasty butt. Some will say chicks get that when they're not warm enough, but I don't think that's truly the answer.

What you'll need to do is literally run their little butts under warm water to get that poo to soften up enough. Take a strong paper towel, like bounty, and really work on that poo to soften it up.

Then be sure to dry the chick before you put them back with the others, otherwise, the other chicks may peck at their wet bottoms, causing irritation.

Another thing that I like to do is just use some nail clippers, or very small scissors, and literally clip away the poop. Then you don't have to get them wet. But you have to be super careful doing this, so you don't clip any skin.

 

[DCasper]

Baby oil should help with the irritation and with breaking up the remaining plugs. Use a cotton ball and wipe in a circular motion until the clumps come off or they are thoroughly saturated. Repeat this about every hour until the clumps are gone. It isn't the most tasteful part of raising chickens, but it is well worth the effort.

 

[LaynaDon95]

I just pull them off.

 

[ColbertCoop]

Thank you all for your prompt replies!! I'll give it a go

Also was just going to mention that I don't think they're cold because they are spread out laying down outside the ring reflection of the heat lamp in their brooder.

Thanks again, I'll try them all until one works...

 

[LaynaDon95]

Thank you all for your prompt replies!! I'll give it a go

Also was just going to mention that I don't think they're cold because they are spread out laying down outside the ring reflection of the heat lamp in their brooder.

Thanks again, I'll try them all until one works...

I had an orpington with this problem sometime last week. I just pulled it off and put olive oil around his vent. Problem solved.
He wasn't cold either. I don't know why he had it so bad.

 

[AHDCST]

Oh the joys of owning chickens! I just try to pull it right off. I have only had to soften it up on 1 chick and that little one had a poopy butt every morning. It grew up and is now a part of the flock.

 

[ColbertCoop]

The baby oil worked like a champ!! Thank you! One of them was worse than we had thought.
Do you know how long we need to continue to watch for this problem, overall I mean, not just recurrence on the two?

 

[chicmom]

Wonderful! Glad you've got them squared away! For me, pasty butt only occurs in the first week or so. I think some chicks have weak "squirting action" if you know what I mean. I've raised so many batches of chicks, and I just love them. It always seems like I get at least one chicks with pasty butt that I have to keep an eye on. I was lucky to have two batches in a row with no pasty butt at all, and that was when I used two heat lamps......(My brooder is pretty large, so I used one on each end.)

Then this last batch of chicks I had, that I bought from a breeder had ALOT of chicks with the pasty butt. (Like 5 out of 15 chicks!) And it would get so hard and stuck. I'd be afraid to pull it off...I mean, you would think that might hurt.....I had to just clean them off one time and all was well.