So You Want Chickens? Take Mine; I Prefer Ducks

Reader Contribution by Tina Elliott
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For most people, one of the first steps into self sufficiency is the aquisition of chickens. It was no different for us; within a few months of moving to our place in the country, we had 27 little birdies peeping away in our basement. Everyone ooo-ed and ahhh-ed over them, spending time sitting with them watching them go about their little chicken business. We were just tickled to be on our way down the homesteading path, and now we had our first animals to show for it.

We ordered 25 day old birds, 13 Buff Orpington and 12 Barred Plymouth Rocks, and the hatchery shipped two extras in case one died during shipping. Both Orpingtons and Rocks are heritage egg laying breeds that are touted as having great personalities, as well as being able to hatch their own eggs. Check, check and check, I go down my list of chicken traits that I want. These two breeds fit the bill well (see what I did there?  Fit the bill…some foreshadowing for my dear readers).

Within 24 hours many of their little behinds began to get matted with poo, and I began hitting keys on my computer trying to discover what I was doing wrong. I find that the problem is endearingly called “pasty butt”.  It is caused by stress, and is relatively common in shipped birds. Nearly every person you ask will give you a different treatment idea, from apple cider vinegar in their water to oatmeal in their food. Of course there will also be the often seen advice of “Kill it, It’s weak, I cull heavily, I’ll tolerate no illness in my animals, Who cares about a three dollar bird, It’s not worth my time”, etc. etc., blah blah blah. I ignore those folks. Seems to me if you are trying to produce your own food, or sell what you are growing, it only makes sense to try to save every animal; a grown chicken will produce FAR more than three bucks worth of eggs in it’s lifetime. If I saw three dollars on the ground, I’d darn sure pick it up. But I digress.

The only cure for pasty butt is to clean their little rear ends several times a day until it passes, because if you don’t it forms a crust that prevents them from eliminating waste, and they die. Not a pleasant way to go. I’ve had to battle pasty butt with every species of bird brought here from hatcheries or farm supply stores, including guineas. Not so for my ducks. Never had one incident of poopy behinds with my ducklings.

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