Repeat pasty butt

[klgchickens]

My Easter egger, Ethel is 6 days old. A day after bringing her home I noticed she had pasty butt. Read the forums, ran her bottom under gentle warm water. It came off. I put a little Vaseline on. I have been doing Vaseline each day to ease her tender looking bottom. This morning I noticed a little poop again on her vent. I cleaned her w a q-tip and warm water. I put a little neosporin on because the corner looks a little darker pink. She eats like a horse and drinks well too. She runs around with her sisters and is super active and otherwise healthy. Her poops are mostly solid w a slight shine/wetness look. Should I be worried? Should I keep putting Vaseline on her vent? Or should I trust that she will get it situated?

 

[azygous]

I have an EE named Ethyl. Good name.

Your chick may have an irritated vent. Do you have some coconut oil? It has healing properties Vaseline lacks. It also is an antibiotic, but natural.

This first week is rough on chick butts. But she should be out of the woods soon.

Check you heat source and make sure the chicks all have plenty of space to shed excess heat. It may be one of the causes of pasty butt.

 

[chickens really]

I would try seeing how the Chick does without anything on her butt.....Keep an eye on her and let her butt dry....Possibly the redness is due to too much moisture on her Butt.....


Good luck....


Cheers!

 

[lazy gardener]

Agree with Azygous. She's usually spot on. What is the temp in your brooder, both under heat source and away from heat? At this point you should be working that temp down. 85 - 90, and even lower by the end of the second week. By the end of third week, if they are in the house, they most likely should be off heat altogether. They'll tell you if they are cold. In addition, you can give your littles a bit of sod, with roots and greens intact (from untreated lawn). About the size of a pie plate, upside down. This will give them some grit, first greens, beneficial bacteria and fungi to inoculate their guts, minerals, first dust bath, first insects and seeds, maybe a worm or two, as well as lots of opportunity to engage in foraging behaviors, and play!

 

[CoolBeans]

We add 3 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar to each gallon of water to prevent pasty butt.

 

[klgchickens]

The ACV works for pasty butt?!?! I had read the vinegar and garlic were good to add to their water. I bought baby chick electrolyte and probiotic packets to add to their water for the first week. They get that every other water change (which I change 5 times a day). This page is so much help. Is it normal for babies to have loose poops? I don't know if it's because they get scared when it's time to change their brooder, but every time I take them out and put them on the towels on top of the carpet they all go like crazy and some of them are loose and watery. I have noticed it in their brooder as well. Thank you so much everyone!

 

[CoolBeans]

That's what the farmer I bought my baby chicks from told me. I have 9 Rhode Island Red chicks that are 6 weeks old now, I have added 3 tablespoons of ACV to each gallon of their water from day 1 and have not seen any "pasty butt" or softer than normal poops.