Would high humidity cause pasty butt and loose poops?

[SweetieChicken234]

Lots of pasty butt and/or loose poops. Poops sticking to down. 3 days in shipping and I expect some but many have this problem. Humidity was around 80% and got it to drop around 72%. I added a sandbox and some baby chick grit to help and waiting to see what that does by tomorrow.

 

[SandyRiverChick]

How long have you had them? What is brooder temp? Do you have a warm and cool zone? Give some nutri-drench. If they've already had the initial warm up when you first got them, start moving temps as low as you think is safe. I never have pasty butt problems after arrival stress is gone as I brooder on cool side without red heat lamps. I like the sandbox and grit.

 

[SweetieChicken234]

How long have you had them? What is brooder temp? Do you have a warm and cool zone? Give some nutri-drench. If they've already had the initial warm up when you first got them, start moving temps as low as you think is safe. I never have pasty butt problems after arrival stress is gone as I brooder on cool side without red heat lamps. I like the sandbox and grit.

It's been about 36 hours. Brooder/room temp is 72. Chicks are out and about eating, drinking, vigorous little things. When they get chilled they go under the heat plate and warm up. Seem otherwise fine but I thought perhaps that humidity was a bit too high. They are in bathroom and had shower running.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

I find pasty butt is often stress related, and more common in shipped chicks than those you hatch at home.

Anecdotally, I have few (almost never) problems with pasty butts in my incubated chicks from my own flock, which I attribute to both lack of shipping and feeding them a wet mash. Currently live in an RV in Florida, our humidty can be quite high. I've not noticed increased pasty butt as result.

All that said, its anecdote - I've only hatched or brooded a bit more than a dozen sets of chicks - so small sample size.

Best of luck!

 

[SweetieChicken234]

I find pasty butt is often stress related, and more common in shipped chicks than those you hatch at home.

Anecdotally, I have few (almost never) problems with pasty butts in my incubated chicks from my own flock, which I attribute to both lack of shipping and feeding them a wet mash. Currently live in an RV in Florida, our humidty can be quite high. I've not noticed increased pasty butt as result.

All that said, its anecdote - I've only hatched or brooded a bit more than a dozen sets of chicks - so small sample size.

Best of luck!

I wonder if the high humidity was a stressor to them. I never have poop problems in my home hatched birds but I understand how shipping would cause this. I'm trying to eliminate all stressors but after a day and a half it's pretty early to have them fully settled. I also added wet mash a bit ago to see if that helps too.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

I got less pasty butt when I brooded a little cooler and with higher humidity than with previous chicks but I had no way to actually measure it. This was in a cold, early spring here in SE MO.

 

[SweetieChicken234]

Perhaps humidity that high was a stressor. It's 70 degrees and 74% now and I don't see poop stuck to butts. I did see some solid poops which was nice. That's encouraging.

 

[SweetieChicken234]

These are the poops I'm seeing today. Improvement.

 

[SandyRiverChick]

Hope all is well. I agree that it was probably shipping stress as your set up sounds perfect.

 

[SweetieChicken234]

Hope all is well. I agree that it was probably shipping stress as your set up sounds perfect.

Yes it's much better now. I had to keep things a bit more cool for them. They are all doing well. I only had a few chick butts to clean today.