Questions about Pasty Butt

[joanna]

Quote:
I have a friend who has several cochins and she decided to trim their feathers around their bum/belly because they were matted and she couldn't get them clean...now her chickens have some serious razor stubble! the feathers never grew back; has anyone else experienced this? I would have thought the feathers would grow back (as she assumed)

 

[kingsdaughter]

I would think they would get pecked to death if you trimmed them. If I put anyone back in after a cleaning who isnt totally dry the others peck where its not fluffy.

 

[jag]

Update! I cleaned all the girls with pasty butt last night. They all have pretty, clean fluffy butts again!

I used a soft bristled toothbrush (A new one that I got on the way home just for this purpose. Felt all the toothbrushes and got the softest one.) Paper towels, Q-tips and really warm water. I held them, chirped & whistled softly to them as I cleaned them. Talked to them. They seemed much more appreciative than stressed, for sure.
The toothbrush is brilliant for this! I wet the toothbrush with the warm water, loosened up the poo by getting it wet and gently brushed it. As it started to loosen up I could pick it out of the down without pulling any feathers out. Worked like a charm. I tried very hard to only get the feathers wet that needed to be...not the whole backside.
I dried it as best I could with a paper towel, fluffing the wet feathers to cover the vent up and put them back in the brooder. I sat and watched them, making sure nobody picked her before moving on to the next one. I cleaned 5 of them. They dried by themselves in the brooder in about 10-15 minutes. Preening themselves the whole time. Now these 5 girls are like my best friends. I put my hand in and they come running over.
Cuties, cuties, cuties!!!

This morning all were happy! I started feeding them oatmeal with their chick starter and sprinkled it with a little grit and everybody's poop looks really good now. No sticking! YAY! I think we've nixed the poopy butt.

 

[AccidentalFarm]

Great news, Jag!

I haven't had to deal with pasty butt yet, but I'm glad to hear it's not as terrible a job to fix as it seems it would be.

 

[Smoky73]

Well, I have always been of the impression that if the chicks get pasty butt, they have had a chill of some kind. But, my friend has chicks that end up with pasty butt alot and she swears its only when she feeds a chicks starter not medicated. I feed only non medicated and mine never get it.

I think you can add a bit of DE to their feed and it will help with that too.

 

[keljonma]

Great idea - using the toothbrush. Glad to hear everyone is well.