You really are On the spot! We had pasting problems last year, but not a whole lot. Just cleaned a few buts and that was that. I don't know what caused it this year, but we had quite a few in the first week, it was impossible to bring them all to a sink! We bought some 7th generation wet wipes to put out by the brooder boxes. We tried to clean them off as best as we could, but some of them got really hard and had to be pulled. I felt terrible but figured that it would be a clean butt for a while until they get the new stuff. We didn't have any skin break, and I can't imagine if I had to be out there with a tiny pair of scissors! How nerve wracking! I'd be way more worried about cutting them, that's enough to drive me mad! All the chicks survived after we started cleaning them this way. There were some in the first few days that were lost: 1 due to poo, 1 just never wanted to eat or drink (no matter how many times we dunked him), and one just mysteriously died. We had ordered 50 and I think a few were stuck in extra. And it was cold here when they showed up.
