Question about safely cleaning off chicks

[RDchicken99]

Hello everyone! I’m new to raising chickens and have a quick question. I recently got some EE chicks from a hatchery and when I took them out of the box they were QUITE grubby! Any tips on cleaning/washing baby chicks without stressing them out? Thank you!

 

[CHlCKEN]

Be more specific. What part of the chick? The vent? Do you mean Pasty Butt?

 

[RDchicken99]

Specifically their backs, they have some gunk on them that I want to wash off. I already cleaned their vents, only one of them had pasted up.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

If you have photos you wish to share that may help.
Is the gunk sticky or just dried on? If dried on, take a soft brush and brush them off.
If sticky, then you may need to use a damp cloth to clean them. If you get the chick wet, make sure that you dry them very well like with a hairdryer before it goes back into the brooder.

 

[RDchicken99]

If you have photos you wish to share that may help.
Is the gunk sticky or just dried on? If dried on, take a soft brush and brush them off.
If sticky, then you may need to use a damp cloth to clean them. If you get the chick wet, make sure that you dry them very well like with a hairdryer before it goes back into the brooder.

Thank you! I’ll brush them off and see if that helps.

 

[RDchicken99]

And one more quick question on quarantining chicks. How soon can you put different groups of chicks in the same brooder? I’ve collected separate batches of chicks from different hatcheries. They are in the same room but in different brooders, and I would like to put similar aged chicks in the same brooder. When is it safe to do so? Thanks again.

 

[Aunt Angus]

Hatchery chicks are safe to integrate right away, I think, because of NPIP requirements. You only need to quarantine if they are coming from small farms, feiends' flocks, etc.

Are they the same age?

ETA: I see where you spoke of their ages. I think you can put them together right away.

 

[NatJ]

For cleaning chicks: if it's not stuck over the vent, and not affecting their ability to move around, I would first wait a day or two and see if they clean themselves. Sometimes they do.

For combining chicks: if they all came from hatcheries, I would combine at any time if the chicks are close to the same size and age. You don't want big ones stepping on little ones, and you don't want fully feathered ones in with others that still need a lot of heat.

No matter where the chicks came from, if they are all in one room, I would probably combine without hesitation. Germs would probably spread to the others in the room even if you did keep them in separate brooders, so you might as well make life easy for yourself and for the chicks by arranging them into groups that work well.

 

[RDchicken99]

Wow! Thank you all so much for the fantastic answers!

 

[Ridgerunner]

I agree with Natj, unless it is endangering their health give them a chance to take care of it. I use the principle that the less I interfere the less harm I do.

I also agree with chicks from established hatcheries being about as safe as you can get. I would not hesitate to combine them because of biosecurity issues. Look at things like age and how much room they have n the brooder.