Back Yard Farming: Pasty Butt

One of our chick's (Sarah) has been having problems going to the bathroom for the past couple of weeks. She has what is known as "Pasty Butt".

What is Pasty Butt?

Chickens only have one hole called a “Vent” or “Cloaca” of a chicken which is used for laying eggs, pooping, urinating and mating. Their vent can become clogged and in nature the mother hen will keep her chicks’ vent clear but since humans raise chicks they can end up with “pasty butt.” I have read that this can happen while being shipped, dehydration, and some say that it could be due to stress. Pasty butt can prevent a chick from going to the bathroom and the poop can back up into their system and cause infections and even death. It is extremely important to keep an eye on all your chicks and take care of the problem immediately.

Sarah’s Symptoms and Care

Sarah has been going to the bathroom but she has been struggling, she seems to be constipated. She will get the poop half way out and after some painful chirping and feather fluffing she eventually gets it out. Her vent was swollen, red, and pulsating. We have tried several ways to help her but I think we finally found something that works. We give her daily lukewarm baths in the sink. She doesn’t put up a fight she actually seems somewhat relieved. She will stand there for a while and every so often will start floating to the side when she falls asleep and scares herself awake. After the warm bath we make sure her bottom is clean and wrap her in a hand towel and hold her until she’s completely dry. Making sure she is dry is important because they can get a chill and get sick. After the bath and sometimes while we are holding her we give some olive oil in a dropper. We started out with plain yogurt but it did not seem to help her. We gently rub the dropper along the side of her beak until on her owns she swallows it. The olive oil seemed to have helped a bit but she was still having problems. We purchased mineral oil and switched to that instead of the olive oil. We also bought some preparation-h to help her swollen bottom. Originally we would rub olive oil on her bottom to help her with no results.

Yesterday we went out to buy a second heating lamp, feeder, and waterer and put Sarah in her own brooder. Since her bottom did not seem to be looking better we suspect the other birds were picking at her bottom. We also purchased Rooster Booster to put on her bottom. Now, since she has her own waterer we put a little extra electrolytes (Quik Chik) in her water and in a separate small container I put a little bit of her food mixed in with a tiny bit of olive oil and water in it. She seems to like it once she finds it in her brooder.

Today Sarah seems to be doing a lot better and hopefully continues to get better until it’s all gone. Funny, but I’ve gotten quite attached to these little chicks and losing one would suck!!