Question about Pasty butt: Vaseline Causing chicks to dig at butts

[Avyona]

Brand new to chickens here. I cleaned my 4 day old baby chicks' butts and put a small dab of vaseline on their vent as prevention as recommended by others. But now everyone is really "digging" at their vents and seem uncomfortable Should I wash it off of them? I dont want them to be miserable or stressed because of the vaseline. I thought it would be helpful. Please help!!

 

[tripletfeb]

Why did you put it on their butts? Were they having issues with pasty butt? I wouldn't want something on my butt unless I needed it. If I were you, I'd wash it off and not worry about putting anything on there unless they are having issues

 

[Avyona]

No one really had pasty butt but one was starting to get a build up which made me over-react likely. As I applied the vaseline, it actually made the poop slide off the vent that had accumulated there. She is a very active girl and actually wore herself out afterwards preening her vent. I felt so bad.

Ok I will wash them off. I personally would hate having vaseline on my behind haha!!!

 

[tripletfeb]

Yeah, just wash it off and keep an eye on it. If you do have issues, maybe try triple antibiotic ointment, depending on what the issue is

 

[Avyona]

Yeah, just wash it off and keep an eye on it. If you do have issues, maybe try triple antibiotic ointment, depending on what the issue is

Can I use a warm wet cottonball to remove the vaseline? Or will I now have to use soap to get it off?

 

[tripletfeb]

Can I use a warm wet cottonball to remove the vaseline? Or will I now have to use soap to get it off?

Try the cottonball, that's a good idea. It might work but it might also just spread it around. It's not gonna hurt anything, just be annoying

 

[BigBlueHen53]

I have found that my chicks are likely to get pasty butt if they are too warm or the humidity is very low. I check their bottoms every night when we clean the tote they live in. If they're clean, no problem. If they have a little poo stuck to their vent feathers, I set them aside in a separate box till I've checked them all. Then all those with a sticky bottom, even if it's just a few sticky feathers, I take into the bathroom and use my wet fingers to clean them off in the bathroom sink, just wetting my fingers under the spigot with warm water. Then I dry each bottom off with a dry paper towel. If they're very wet I may use a hair dryer on low to fluff them up a bit before putting them back in the tote with their siblings. If you check them every night they won't ever get big nasty wads of poop on their vents which can be life-threatening.

 

[Avyona]

I have found that my chicks are likely to get pasty butt if they are too warm or the humidity is very low. I check their bottoms every night when we clean the tote they live in. If they're clean, no problem. If they have a little poo stuck to their vent feathers, I set them aside in a separate box till I've checked them all. Then all those with a sticky bottom, even if it's just a few sticky feathers, I take into the bathroom and use my wet fingers to clean them off in the bathroom sink, just wetting my fingers under the spigot with warm water. Then I dry each bottom off with a dry paper towel. If they're very wet I may use a hair dryer on low to fluff them up a bit before putting them back in the tote with their siblings. If you check them every night they won't ever get big nasty wads of poop on their vents which can be life-threatening.

Thank you. I have been checking twice a day so I can make sure I catch it since this is very common with shipped chicks, which I have. One chick has had a little residual poop around her vent each day but I have just watched it closely and not acted. Today it was more visible and so I took action with the vaseline.

They could be hot. The brooder I did not believe to be warm enough because when they arrived they where very loud and distressed for quite some time, so I added a heating pad (hard plastic kind) that is half way underneath the brooder. This made everyone finally get quiet and settle down. They seem to prefer the heating pad to the brooder and will sleep along the edge of the brooder but on the heating pad. I keep bedding on top of the heating pad. But in the pic below for the first two days I only kept them on paper towels. They now have bedding.

I had a thermometer under the brooder for three days prior to them arriving, but its read 85 degrees under the brooder. I felt this wasnt warm enough. Should I remove the heating pad? The room temperature is 75 degrees.

 

[rosemarythyme]

They seem to prefer the heating pad to the brooder and will sleep along the edge of the brooder but on the heating pad. I keep bedding on top of the heating pad. But in the pic below for the first two days I only kept them on paper towels. They now have bedding.

I had a thermometer under the brooder for three days prior to them arriving, but its read 85 degrees under the brooder. I felt this wasnt warm enough. Should I remove the heating pad? The room temperature is 75 degrees.

You can't use a standard thermometer under a heat plate to get a reading, it works on physical contact with the plate, not warming ambient temperature. They're probably squirting out from under the plate and using just the pad on the bottom because it's too hot with both on.

 

[Avyona]

You can't use a standard thermometer under a heat plate to get a reading, it works on physical contact with the plate, not warming ambient temperature. They're probably squirting out from under the plate and using just the pad on the bottom because it's too hot with both on.

I am going to turn the heating pad off and see if that helps. I would rather see them snuggled up under there, but they are usually all sprawled out