IMG_0388Chicken butt!!!  I don’t know why that’s funny, but Dustin said it to us yesterday and it made me laugh. We used to do that when we were kids, or say “What’s up chicken butt?” This all comes to mind because we’ve been dealing with little chicken butts lately.  Our babies are getting over what’s called Pasty Butt.  It not horribly serious, but if not taken care of, it can prevent the chicks from being able to eliminate and then they could die, so that’s bad.  Pasty butt happens when the poop collects on their bottom and dries over the vent.  It creates a seal and prevents them from eliminating at all.  Poor babies.

This can be caused by many factors.  It often happens in chicks that have been shipped through the mail as they’ve gone through a great deal of stress.  Sometimes the type of food can be a factor, being too hot in the brooder could be a factor, but the consensus is that stress it one of the big issues. I had never had a problem with pasty butt in chickens before, and the first batch of chicks that Sue had shipped last year didn’t have any issues. The one thing that she did different this time was to add brewers yeast to their food. It’s not supposed to be harmful at all to the chicks or ducklings, it’s supposed to help to boost their immune system; however, Sue thinks it may have been a factor in this batch’s pasty butt issues.

IMG_0375They are doing just fine, so don’t worry. We’ve just been watching them closely and taking the time to clean off their little bottoms a couple of times a day. Warm water and a soft wash cloth work pretty well.  This afternoon we also added a step of using warm olive oil and a q-tip to help alleviate any chapping from the water washings.  The chicks are eating just fine and running around, peeping happily. We’ll continue to watch and wash. And keep you up to date on their growth.  They are still stinking cute! Until the next event~as always,
Thanks for reading.

Weather Report:  Gorgeous!  It was 82° today with just a slight breeze to keep things cool.  Tonight the low is supposed to be around 50°, so everything will stay nice and warm.

Egg Report: Consistently getting between 5 and 7 eggs a day!  That’s great. Caught one of the Three Sisters trying to make a nest in the wall again, thought we had that habit thwarted – we’ll need to keep an eye out for random wall eggs.