To wipe her butt or not?

[2dogs1cat]

I do what KSL42 does. The chick isn't happy at first but puts up with it. One chick had a clump that would just not come off so I used my embroidery scissors to carefully snip it away.

 

[NoSkiveez]

I clean pasty butts as soon as I see one. For me its easier to stay on top of the poo than to have my work cut out for me (considering I have 70 sum chicks in a brooder right now) I prefer olive oil over vaseline because Olive Oil does not contain any chemicals and is safe if eaten.

 

[chixrus]

I just pressed a warm paper towel to its butt for like, twenty minutes.

 

[Laurie's Silkies]

I prefer the small sharp scissors method and cutting it off, being careful to not cut into their little vents. Much quicker and less stressful for them and me !!

 

[gritsar]

My DH stopped me from cleaning up my chick's bottoms. He has many years experience in commercial chicken houses and pointed out to me the fact that there's no one that goes in to the c. houses and cleans the behinds of 30,000+ chicks at a time.
After that, I developed the mindset that unless the poo is obviously blocking the vent I don't clean it. Picking up a chick and rubbing their behind with something wet does stress them out IMO.
Never had a problem with chicks getting sick or dying from some poo stuck to their behind.

 

[jaimie44]

Quote:
Having worked in a poultry plant for 9 yrs and hubby worked the chicken houses...I also know that a lot of those chicks die. You have to wonder if pasty butts contributed to their deaths?

 

[gritsar]

Quote:
Having worked in a poultry plant for 9 yrs and hubby worked the chicken houses...I also know that a lot of those chicks die. You have to wonder if pasty butts contributed to their deaths?

Yeah, I thought about that too. However, I know that Tyson (the main poultry co. around here, some Pilgrim's Pride) works very hard to reduce chick and chicken deaths. Losses = $$$$ for their growers. If there was something - diseases, pasty butt, etc. - that was resulting in high losses, they'd find a fix.
Besides that, as I said, I didn't treat and had no losses due to pasty butt or anything else, so that's the philosophy I'm going to follow. If it ain't broke, I ain't gonna fix it.

 

[onthespot]

You are not a bad mom. I pull the fuzz off with the poop any chance I get. If there is no fuzz, there is nothing for the poop to stick to and usually it doesn't happen again on that chick.

 

[cheshie]

Thank you onthespot! My little Yuki (that's her name) seems to be just fine today, so I guess i didn't traumatize her as bad as I thought. I will be sure to use the utmost care in the future though.

 

[Tala]

I give my chicks grit as soon as I get them.

I've only cleaned one butt, one time, out of 36 spring chicks. I think there's somethin to the grit - helping digestion or somethin.