Poopie Butt

[cafarmgirl]

Yes, it seems everytime I get new chicks at least 1 gets poopie or crustie butt. One I have now anus looks swollen too. I am doing the yogurt plain and warm water compresses. Often the one in distress churps continuously also. Belly ache. I was told that in the wild they eat some of mommy's poop and this clears it up. For the probiotics. I read something about olive oil once? Don't remember which end it was for though. Hope all chickies are ok. They have to poop or they get very churpie.

An easy way to clear up pasty butt fast is to just put about a teaspoon of raw apple cider vinegar in the waterer. A common brand is Bragg's. (1 teaspoon per quart) Once you get the chick butt cleaned off apply a little olive oil around the area to help prevent further buildup.

 

[Michael Apple]

The probiotics are essential for remedying pasting, but without the calcium in yogurt. Do some research of exceeding calcium content in a chick's diet and you'll see what I mean. ACV serves no purpose for preventing pasting up. It is an antibacterial which is going to strip the intestinal flora trying to establish in a chick's digestive system. Pasting is normal during the adjustment of yolk they are born with, to a starter feed. Probios dispersible powder remedies it every time.

 

[miquwid]

Thank you that is very good information.

 

[Sharon Bee]

This is my thought on the matter:
This very well could be pullorum disease but I hope not.  This is a very serious disease of domestic poultry especially in young chicks.  I am unsure now but until recently anyone with pullorum in their flock who were in the NPIP were required to kill every chicken on the premise that tested positive for pullorum.  There is a simple blood test that you can do at home for pullorum.  If a chick has it and survives it will become a pullorum carrier for life. See NPIP or the National Poultry Improvement Program in your state.

http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/common-chicken-illnesses-and-treatments.html

Symptoms: Chicks are inactive, may have white diarrhea with pasted rear ends, breathing difficulty, or die without symptoms. Older birds — coughing, sneezing, poor laying.
How contracted: Viral disease; contracted through carrier birds and contaminated surfaces, clothing, and shoes.
Treatment: Destroy all infected birds — birds that recover are carriers. Most chicks infected will die.
Vaccine available: No vaccine, but there is a blood test to find carriers. While the U.S. is trying to eradicate this disease, buy chickens from Pullorum-negative flocks

Huh?? Come on..

 

[Chook Chick]

I will wholeheartedly disagree with anyone who says apple cider vinegar does more harm than good.
If you have an occurrence of pasty butt, you need to clear the vent by holding the chick's bottom under warm running water; they may fuss but will get over it. Once the vent is cleared, put UNFILTERED RAW APPLE CIDER VINEGAR in the chicks water......Heinz makes it and so does Bragg. You can get it at the grocery store; just make sure it's the RAW UNFILTERED, with "the MOTHER".
You can also give your chicks yogurt, just make sure it has the active cultures in it. You will never have a problem with pasty butt again.
Chicks that are hatched naturally by their mother eat her poo and get that good bacteria into their digestive system....gross but true. Chicks that are hatched in an incubator won't have any good bacteria in their system, and there is the problem. You must act quickly however, pasty butt is deadly and will kill chicks within several hours!

 

[cafarmgirl]

I will wholeheartedly disagree with anyone who says apple cider vinegar does more harm than good.
If you have an occurrence of pasty butt, you need to clear the vent by holding the chick's bottom under warm running water; they may fuss but will get over it. Once the vent is cleared, put UNFILTERED RAW APPLE CIDER VINEGAR in the chicks water......Heinz makes it and so does Bragg. You can get it at the grocery store; just make sure it's the RAW UNFILTERED, with "the MOTHER".
You can also give your chicks yogurt, just make sure it has the active cultures in it. You will never have a problem with pasty butt again.
Chicks that are hatched naturally by their mother eat her poo and get that good bacteria into their digestive system....gross but true. Chicks that are hatched in an incubator won't have any good bacteria in their system, and there is the problem. You must act quickly however, pasty butt is deadly and will kill chicks within several hours!

Totally agree re the ACV. Many people have found that it does indeed work wonders on chicks with pasty butt. However, as you stated, people do need to understand there is a big difference between distilled acv in the salad oil section of the super market and the raw, unfiltered, unpasteurized acv found in the health food section.

 

[aggiemae]

Chickens like buttermilk much better than yogurt. It isn't expensive and as long as you keep the container shut tight a 1/2 gallon for 10 chicks/hens will last for a 1-2 months and unlike ACV it's a pretty good source of protein and the amount of digestible/absorbable calcium in 2-3 oz of buttermilk or yogurt isn't actually very high.

 

[jyurina]

The probiotics are essential for remedying pasting, but without the calcium in yogurt. Do some research of exceeding calcium content in a chick's diet and you'll see what I mean. ACV serves no purpose for preventing pasting up. It is an antibacterial which is going to strip the intestinal flora trying to establish in a chick's digestive system. Pasting is normal during the adjustment of yolk they are born with, to a starter feed. Probios dispersible powder remedies it every time.

Not trying to start anything but while that it is true that pastuerized ACV is acidic and will strip the gut of beneficial bacteria the opposite is true of raw unfiltered ACV with the "mother" in it. Because it is fermented it contains the benificial flora and will help to colonize the gut properly and aides in maintaining the correct PH. And it does this without introducing dairy products to chicks, they are not mammals and therefore are not born with the enzymes needed to properly digest dairy. The only exception to the adding of the raw ACV is in extreme heat when the excess drinking of ACV water can possibly inhibit calcium absorption, but this is more an issue with laying hens than chicks.

 

[Sharon Bee]

I've been putting a splash of raw ACV in my chicks' water since they were a week old. They are now over 3 months and are as happy and healthy as a pig in poo. Lol. They are singing like crazy when they see me. One especially is quite a singer.