There’s a common health problem that your chicks can get which will generally require you intervene. Colloquially it’s called “pasty butt” and it’s a glob of manure that accumulates on the chick’s vent feathers (aka on their butt). The stuff gets stuck to their feathers and dries. If you don’t help, the chick may not be able to pass waste and eventually die.
With most locally bought chicks getting good care, pasty butt clears up on its own or never even shows up. The problem is prolific in stressed chicks, however. Mail order chicks have a stressful journey to reach you and will often get pasty butt shortly after arrival, for example.
To help keep chicks stress free, be sure they have access to food and water at all times, their heat source is keeping them comfortable, and handling is kept to a minimum for the first few weeks. You can also preemptively supplement apple cider vinegar in their water. Use 1 tablespoon ACV per gallon of drinking water and be sure you don’t use a galvanized drinker as that can leach chemicals.
The good news is that there’s a simple procedure to help clean the chick if it does develop the pasty butt problem.
The simple procedure we use for our hatchlings on our farm is below.
What You’ll Need
- Paper Towels or Rag
- Warm (not hot) water
- Small disposable bowl or tubber ware
- Hairdryer (optional)
Pasty Removal Procedure
- Test the water to be sure it’s warm, not hot. Think bathwater.
- Gently hold the chick in your non-dominant hand
- Dip the baby’s bum gently into the water and hold it there for a few seconds. Try to only wet the affected area. The chick will be distressed and cheap a lot, but as long as it’s not cheeping really loudly it isn’t hurting.
- Holding the chick gently, begin wiping the manure glob with a wet paper towel (dipped in that same warm water). It can help to hold the towel over the manure for a few minutes to help loosen it if it isn’t budging.
- Be patient and persistent. You’ll be able to tell if the chick is hurting if it cheeps louder than normal. If it does, slow down, do a little more water dipping. Just take your time.
- Once the vent area is clean, you can blow-dry the chick on the lowest setting (keeping it at a safe distance from the baby) if you’d like. We never do. We just make sure the brooder is really comfortably warm as the wet chicks can get chilled quickly.
Don’t worry, your chicks will grow out of this stage soon and won’t get pasty butt anymore. You got this!
Need more help with chick care? You can check out this Care Guide for basic information on all stages of care from hatching eggs to grown chickens. Have more questions? Let us know. We’re always happy to help.