Protruding vent and pasty butt on week old chick

[Bbam19]

Hello BYC, I posted a few days ago about a couple of chicks of mine at 5 days old having an issue of pasty butt and me possibly pulling the umbilical cord out of one of them.
Since then, all has been well, the chick with the umbilical cord issue seems fine and thriving. But, I keep getting pasty butt on two of my Brahmas. I noticed one is very very very small. The other 9 chicks are twice her size. I was curious this morning and picked her up to check her vent and noticed again she has pasty butt, it's not bad but enough to potentionally be a problem. She also has a vent that is protruding and pulsating. The top end closer to her back points out a bit further than the bottom. I rinse her under water to get the pasty butt off and she "screams" relentlessly for quite some time until dries completely. I understand that it's probably because she's cold but, I just don't know what to do about her vent. She's so small compared to the rest of them so that worries me quite a bit. They are a week and two days old today. Any advice? Should I introduce grit and some kind of food to help her grow? Leave the vent alone? I just don't know!

 

[PD-Riverman]

Hello BYC, I posted a few days ago about a couple of chicks of mine at 5 days old having an issue of pasty butt and me possibly pulling the umbilical cord out of one of them.
Since then, all has been well, the chick with the umbilical cord issue seems fine and thriving. But, I keep getting pasty butt on two of my Brahmas. I noticed one is very very very small. The other 9 chicks are twice her size. I was curious this morning and picked her up to check her vent and noticed again she has pasty butt, it's not bad but enough to potentionally be a problem. She also has a vent that is protruding and pulsating. The top end closer to her back points out a bit further than the bottom. I rinse her under water to get the pasty butt off and she "screams" relentlessly for quite some time until dries completely. I understand that it's probably because she's cold but, I just don't know what to do about her vent. She's so small compared to the rest of them so that worries me quite a bit. They are a week and two days old today. Any advice? Should I introduce grit and some kind of food to help her grow? Leave the vent alone? I just don't know!

You don't leave her wet after cleaning her do you? That could chill her which would not be good. Never try to pull dry "pasty butt" off---it can tear the skin as well as mess up the butt. Brahmas do seem to get it worse but when they are dry you can clip most of the feathers/fuss off below the butt to help. Might need to double check the temp of the brooder----and make sure they have plenty of room in the brooder that's not being heated so they can cool off when needed. Good Luck

 

[Bbam19]

You don't leave her wet after cleaning her do you? That could chill her which would not be good. Never try to pull dry "pasty butt" off---it can tear the skin as well as mess up the butt. Brahmas do seem to get it worse but when they are dry you can clip most of the feathers/fuss off below the butt to help. Might need to double check the temp of the brooder----and make sure they have plenty of room in the brooder that's not being heated so they can cool off when needed. Good Luck

I try to dry her as much as possible she only takes like 2-3 minutes to be fully dry and fluffy again. I'll try clipping the fur. I don't try and pull at all, I just leave her under the warm water and it breaks away and if it doesn't I just rub. I learned my lesson pulling the last time. I'm just concerned she is so small because something is wrong. She also isn't as feathered as the rest. The others have developed their tail feathers and all. She can walk right underneath them all. I'll attach a pic and she will be on the bottom corner.

 

[PD-Riverman]

I try to dry her as much as possible she only takes like 2-3 minutes to be fully dry and fluffy again..

Do you use a hair dryer to dry it? If Not it works great---don't get it to close to burn the skin. Good Luck

 

[Bbam19]

As an update, I trimmed some of her rump fuzz and applied some Vaseline to the area. This is what I'm dealing with, looks very swollen, is that just from her having pasty butt? Is there something I should do diet wise? The heat around 90-91, I considered lowering it but, a few still seem to want to be under it.

 

[PD-Riverman]

As an update, I trimmed some of her rump fuzz and applied some Vaseline to the area. This is what I'm dealing with, looks very swollen, is that just from her having pasty butt? Is there something I should do diet wise? The heat around 90-91, I considered lowering it but, a few still seem to want to be under it.

The swelling is probably from the poop tail.

I feed mine 20% chick starter/grower only---nothing else. As long as you are heating one end of the brooder---sounds as though you are fine on that. Kinda like this pic----adjust the heat under the lamp correctly---then they got the rest of the brooder unheated.

 

[Bbam19]

This is my setup. I feed them purina premium start and grow medicated. I have a 250w bulb that took me quite a while to adjust so that it wasn't 10000 degrees in there. I have found 91 in the spot it's at. The other side of the brooder is not anywhere close to that temp.

 

[PD-Riverman]

This is my setup. I feed them purina premium start and grow medicated. I have a 250w bulb that took me quite a while to adjust so that it wasn't 10000 degrees in there. I have found 91 in the spot it's at. The other side of the brooder is not anywhere close to that temp.

Question, why use a 250 watt heat lamp when you can save a huge amount of the electric and use a 25 or 40 watt incandescent bulb for a dozen or so. It works great? Just lower the light??

 

[azygous]

Recently I had a chick who suddenly came down very sick. It stopped eating, chirped constantly, couldn't seem to get warm, even though it's being raised by a broody hen. It had just turned a week old.

This treatment probably saved its life. I took some coconut oil that was in its solid form and broke off small pieces and placed them in the chick's beak which I pried open. I got perhaps a half teaspoon of oil down it.

Next morning, the chick was showing improvement, eating and moving around. I found a good-size turd in the nest. This chick was either constipated or had an impacted crop. The coconut oil would address either condition, and it can't hurt to start with it on the off chance it will help.

In two days, the chick's eyes were brighter, she had lost the red rims around them, and was as active as the other chick. In just the two days she was afflicted, she had lost ground in size, but she seems to have regained it.

Pasty butt can cause constipation. A chick that is constipated can die. It's also a painful condition, and it can cause the vent to swell from straining to poop. Coconut oil smoothed onto the vent will help with the pain and swelling and help prevent pasty butt. You can also use the coconut oil to soften the pasty butt crust and clean the vent without irritating the delicate tissue.

I advise you to get some if you don't have any. It's a much better first aid than Vaseline which is a petroleum product and can be toxic.

 

[Bbam19]

Question, why use a 250 watt heat lamp when you can save a huge amount of the electric and use a 25 or 40 watt incandescent bulb for a dozen or so. It works great? Just lower the light??
View attachment 1105964

I leave a cover on mine. I have the lid of the tote cut out with riveted hardware cloth attached. I just didn't want to risk the chance of them being bothered by our dog or cat. They are currently housed in our living room which has been gutted for renovations. I could potentially switch once they require a lower temperature and just lay the lamp itself on the hardware cloth but with our lid on its 18 inches from top to bottom.