Author: Anna & Mark

Our
chicks came from the hatchery with
pasty butt — poop adhering to the feathers around their vents. 
This photo seems to be the best shot I got, but many had much bigger
wads of poop.



Depending on who you
talk to, pasty butt is either a life threatening condition or is merely
a symptom of stressed birds.  If you believe the former, you will
carefully pick the poop off the feathers of your birds to prevent the
feces backing up inside the chick.  Some folks go so far as to
clean out the actual anus of the bird with a pin.



I’m still a beginner
when it comes to chick care, so I at first I tried to remove the poop
from our tiny chicks’ behinds.  But the birds were clearly
traumatized by the experience, and I really couldn’t get the poop off
without hurting them.  After considerable squawking from the
chicks, I decided to take a more laid back approach, waiting to see
what would happen if I left the chicks alone.  Except for two
chicks who died on the first day due to stress in transit, all of our
chicks came through fine and didn’t seem harmed by pasty butt. 
The symptoms subsided on their own after a couple of weeks.



What has your experience
with pasty butt been?  I’d be curious to hear if anyone else let
nature take its course with good (or bad) results.

I
always thought hard-boiled eggs were easy to shell because I was raised
on storebought.  These eggs have been sitting around for up to a
month, so the air pocket inside the egg has enlarged, helping the shell
slide off.  In stark contrast, your farm-fresh eggs have next to
no air pocket, and peeling them is a recipe for frustration!



I’ve tried all of the
tricks, and finally found one that works.  First, the one that
didn’t work — boil your eggs, pour off the hot water, refill the pot
with cold water, knock the eggs against the side of the pot until
they’re full of tiny cracks, and then put them in the fridge for a
couple of hours.  I tried this a few times and still lost masses
of white that stayed attached to the shell.



What does work? 
Hard-boil your eggs, then cool them without any fancy cracking. 
Whack the eggs against the rim of the bowl and break them in half, then
scoop out the insides as if you were pulling out the meat of a
soft-boiled egg.  (Shown above.)  This clearly won’t give you
beautiful deviled eggs, but will expedite your egg salad operation and
cut down on swearing considerably.  Check out my favorite egg salad recipe and put your newfound skills
to use!



(Thanks to my mom for
acting as a hand model for this photo!  I rewarded her with a mass
of egg salad.)