Pasting Up

We have just gotten new chicks. We have never had chickens before so we're complete newbies. My 10 yo son is starting an egg business. We have some chicks that are pasting up. They are about 3 days old at this point. I have been cleaning their bottoms up but was wondering if there was more we could be doing. I saw at the feed store they were selling powdered electrolytes for their water, and that was supposed to help with paste up. It was rather expensive so we didn't buy it, but will if it's a good idea.

Do you do anything special other than just cleaning them once a day? (or twice)
How long does this pasting up last?

The first chick I cleaned really traumatized me. The poor thing. The poop was really stuck on. (This was the day we picked them up) It wouldn't budge. I soaked her bottom in warm water to try to loosen it up, then worked on it. It still wouldn't come off, eventually, there was some blood and I was afraid that I might have pulled some skin off her bottom (that was attached to the poop). I felt so bad for her.

This morning, there were 3 we cleaned and it wasn't bad at all. Hopefully, I didn't do too much damage to the first gal.

When do you start having fatalities? We have 15 meat birds (cornish cross, none of them have pasted up) and 25 layers (Rhode Island Reds, Barred Rock, Araucana and Bovan Brown). We haven't lost any yet, and I really hope we don't lose any.

I'm really glad to have found this site, it's really helpful.

Thanks!

Here are the Cornish Cross chicks

I think it is unusual to lose chicks to pasting up by itself, as long as you keep their bottoms clear. It is usually just a reaction to the stress of shipping or getting slightly chilled and clears up within a week. Sometimes it indicates other problems, intestinal infections etc. But mostly it just clears up. I gave my chicks a little sugar water when they first came to help them--other people have "tonics" they recommend. If the chicks are active and eating and drinking well, they are probably fine. And it is hard to get the stuff off their feathers without upsetting them. I finally used baby nail scissor with rounded tips to remove as much as possible before soaking their little bottoms. Good Luck!

And what is a Bovan Brown?

mixing cornmeal in ther feed will slow down the pooping. they may grow slower, but should catch up by 6-8 weeks... good luck!

You can also give them buttermilk to build up their immune system. It takes a bit to get them interested but once they start they love it. Put it into a container like you put water in to keep them from walking through it. I let it warm up a bit before I give it to them because straight out of the fridge it's pretty cold.

Our Sebrights have had pasty butt and I have been cleaning them. They are about a week old now and it seems to be getting better.

once i had LOTS of butts to clean. i used qtips dipped in clean water... time consuming, but saved their fluffy butts!

tf

An aracauna chick

i see a resemblance to the momma holding it!

That's funny. Yes..they both have fluffy cheeks!

I had a little pasty butt last spring. What I did was I took a little plastic smart balance butter tub and filled it 2/3 of the way with water, then I soaked the chick in the nice warm water for a couple minutes and the poop came right off. It was draft free and really warm in her little pen, so she didn't suffer at all! I think she liked it.

Just a thought here, if you take Catscans advice one step further, you can CAREFULLY clip away some of the fluffy down around (especially below) the vent, which I have found to really help. It should clear up within the first week.

Pasting at the vent of "day-old chicks" is mostly caused by inadequate or uneven heat. Chances are the lamp needs to be lower to raise the temp inside your brooder box. Day old chicks need to be kept warm. The temp can be 95for the 1st few days then drop 2 degrees or so a week till they're 4 weeks old.

I'm glad I read this earlier...first time ever today we had a chick with a pasted bootay....so I took BackyardHens' advice and filled a little tupperware container with warm water and held the baby half-submerged (just the bottom half, lol) in the warm water...after about 5 minutes, i swished her bottom around and all the poo just floated off! Minimal distress and the chickie is happily curled up in a little towel in a bowl on top of a heating pad. I figured I'd better let her dry out before putting her back in the brooder.

Thanks so much for starting this thread!!
~Kim

They chicks are doing great! No more pasting up. And they are all still alive, so far.

Bovan brown is a chicken that lays a brown and white speckled egg. That's what I was told by a gal at our feed store who has some, but I haven't been able to find much on them when I search. They are a light brown color.

Our cornish cross chicks are 2 wks old today and huge! I'll include a picture

Hi Farming2008, I googled it and they said the bovan brown is the same as a gold sex-linked. Excellent egg layer.

That chick is huge! I always heard that the cornish crosses grew quickly, but I had no idea.

Let us know about the Bovan Brown eggs. I like the idea of speckled eggs.