Diagnosis
A pasty vent is easy to diagnose. The dried poo will be stuck to the outside of their rear, totally or partially covering their vent:
Locating the vent
Don�t mistake the navel/dried umbilical cord of a new chick for a pasted vent! The vent is beneath the tail; the navel is further down toward the legs/belly. If you remove the scab over an open navel, it will nearly always result in a dead chick, and the poor thing will die very painfully. So before removing anything, be sure you�re targeting pasting, not a healing navel.Treatment
First, we only recommend you treat a chick whose vent is fully pasted, as treatment can be stressful enough to induce pasty butt! If you determine you've got a completely blocked vent, here's what to do. Keep in mind that the least-stressful thing for the chick is to treat quickly and return it to its flock-mates. The longer you have it out of its brooder, the more likely the pasted butt will recur.- Gather your materials: a paper towel, Q-tips, a portable heater or blow dryer, a bowl of warm water, and a bag for disposal of soiled items.
- Put paper towel down under where you'll be working on the chick. If you have a portable heater, place it next to your work station for the chick's comfort.
- Bring the affected chick to your work station.
- Wet a paper towel in the bowl of warm water and apply to chick's rear to soften the dried droppings.
- Give the poo a "tug", using the paper towel, and see if it comes off. (Don't be afraid if a little of the chick's fluffy rear end feathers come out, too.)
- If it doesn't, keep wetting the rear end, using either Q-tips or paper towels to dislodge the poo.
Once the chick is clear, dry it off with paper towels, spend a few moment near the heater if the chick seems to enjoy that, and return it to the brooder as soon as possible.