Best Chick Feed

[Kaitlinrm0923]

So my chicks will be 2 weeks old tomorrow and it’s time for me to get a new bag of chick food. I have Easter eggers, bantams, and a Partridge Cochin. I used the Dumor chick feed but I think it’s upsetting their stomachs. My Easters have been fine but my bantams and my Cochin have battled pasty butt and loose poop since I got them. What is the best brand for chicks?

I would like to note the Easters came from a local breeder and the others came from Cackle, I don’t know if that makes a difference in why they have pasty butt.

 

[FunClucks]

Pasty butt has nothing to do with food. Dumor chick starter is a good food for them. I like to get Purina Flock Raiser or Chick Starter (20% protein), because it often has slightly better micronutrient content than Dumor chick starter, but Dumor works fine.

Causes of pasty butt can include being too hot in the brooder while under stress - so check your brooder temps and make sure they have places they can get totally away from the heat if desired. Also make sure your brooder is not over crowded. Can all the chickens who want to get warm get warm at the same time? If you look at the brooder from the top, and the bodies of the chicks when they are all together next to each other - do the bodies of the chicks take up more than 1/3 of your brooder floor space? I would consider my brooder to be over-crowded at that point. Different folks have different opinions on this, but when mine get this big, I split them up into multiple brooder setups if they're not yet ready to go outside.

Also have they been out on grass or dirt yet? Coccidiosis is the most common cause of pasty butt. You can post pictures on here of their butts and poop, and folks can help you confirm the need to treat them for coccidiosis. CORID, either powder or liquid, is the treatment. There is a different dosage for the powder than there is for the liquid since it's sold in different concentrations.

 

[Kaitlinrm0923]

Pasty butt has nothing to do with food. Dumor chick starter is a good food for them. I like to get Purina Flock Raiser or Chick Starter (20% protein), because it often has slightly better micronutrient content than Dumor chick starter, but Dumor works fine.

Causes of pasty butt can include being too hot in the brooder while under stress - so check your brooder temps and make sure they have places they can get totally away from the heat if desired. Also make sure your brooder is not over crowded. Can all the chickens who want to get warm get warm at the same time? If you look at the brooder from the top, and the bodies of the chicks when they are all together next to each other - do the bodies of the chicks take up more than 1/3 of your brooder floor space? I would consider my brooder to be over-crowded at that point. Different folks have different opinions on this, but when mine get this big, I split them up into multiple brooder setups if they're not yet ready to go outside.

Also have they been out on grass or dirt yet? Coccidiosis is the most common cause of pasty butt. You can post pictures on here of their butts and poop, and folks can help you confirm the need to treat them for coccidiosis. CORID, either powder or liquid, is the treatment. There is a different dosage for the powder than there is for the liquid since it's sold in different concentrations.

Thanks! I’ll try to get photos

 

[FrostRanger]

As long as it has sound nutrition the brand doesn't matter much. I just grab a bag of dumor chick crumble 'cause it's cheap and has perfectly fine nutrition. After a few weeks I switch to the all flock I feed the rest of my birds (kalmbach flock raiser pellets)

 

[Kaitlinrm0923]

Pasty butt has nothing to do with food. Dumor chick starter is a good food for them. I like to get Purina Flock Raiser or Chick Starter (20% protein), because it often has slightly better micronutrient content than Dumor chick starter, but Dumor works fine.

Causes of pasty butt can include being too hot in the brooder while under stress - so check your brooder temps and make sure they have places they can get totally away from the heat if desired. Also make sure your brooder is not over crowded. Can all the chickens who want to get warm get warm at the same time? If you look at the brooder from the top, and the bodies of the chicks when they are all together next to each other - do the bodies of the chicks take up more than 1/3 of your brooder floor space? I would consider my brooder to be over-crowded at that point. Different folks have different opinions on this, but when mine get this big, I split them up into multiple brooder setups if they're not yet ready to go outside.

Also have they been out on grass or dirt yet? Coccidiosis is the most common cause of pasty butt. You can post pictures on here of their butts and poop, and folks can help you confirm the need to treat them for coccidiosis. CORID, either powder or liquid, is the treatment. There is a different dosage for the powder than there is for the liquid since it's sold in different concentrations.

 

[FunClucks]

Looks like normal pasty butt to me. Give it a week or so, keep wiping it off, make sure they aren't over crowded and can get away from the heat.

I don't know if I'd recommend CORID treatment or not, they may be a bit young for that.

@Eggcessive - what do you think?

 

[Eggcessive]

I have only seen pasty butt where poop gets stuck on the chicks’ vent opening, for the first week or so in shipped chicks. It may need to be cleaned of every day with warm water and tissue. It can be made worse if they are too hot. How hot is your brooder temp with a thermometer under the light? Do you have a picture of your brooder? Coccidiosis causes runny poops. I prefer name brand feeds, Purina, Nutrena, and Kalmbach. I have used Dumor, but it was a little powdery and dust. I once used an off brand feed that was from Rural King, and my chickens would not eat it. It looked darker and was not like the other feeds i had used.