Most backyard chicken keepers get only a handful of chicks, which are doted over and minutely observed. One of the great worries of these new hen mamas and papas is pasty butt. This is the general term for a vent that has manure hardened over the vent, which can block more poo from coming out. It certainly looks uncomfortable.

Before I write these posts I do research. I like to know what people did in the past, before factory farming. I have numerous books written at the turn of the last century which are filled with advice for the small-scale poultry keeper. I looked through 24 books. Not a one mentioned pasty butt. Nor blocked vent. Is this a new disease? Or are we overly concerned about a bit of manure?

Gail Damerow, in her new book Hatching & Brooding Your Own Chicks, calls it pasting, and writes half a page about it. My advice is even more succinct. It’s easy to take care of. Simply pick up the chick and gently break up and remove the lump of manure. If it’s stuck on hard, soften with warm water. It will come right off. The above photo was taken the first week that my chicks arrived. I removed about six little poo balls. That was it. If pasty butt is rampant in your group of chicks, look at what you are feeding. Do they have grit available to help them digest their food? Are they drinking their fresh water? Are they bored and consuming bedding?

If what you see on your little chicks’ bottoms is bloody diarrhea, then it’s not pasty butt, it is coccidiosis, caused by a protozoa, and it’s lethal if not treated with medication. If what you see is thin, brown, runny and stinky, then it is vent gleet, caused by a yeast infection.

But, most likely, all that’s there is a bit of dried poo, something so normal and basic that not one of my vintage books mention it at all.

Remember these chicks?

On day 18 they have entered the mini-pterodactyl stage. Here is a pile-up of dinosaurs.

Each breed is maturing at a different rate. This is a Black Star. She is as curious and bold as she’ll be when full-grown.

Leghorns mature quickly. The white Leghorns are already growing combs. They’ll have bright red floppy ones when mature. I believe that this is a Brown Leghorn. She’s already lost most of her baby down.

i already have favorites. This Ameracauna has been calm, gentle and friendly from the first day. Such a sweet face!

I’m not naming the chicks yet, as most will not stay here. Five of the chicks are going to the nursing home, where they’re already talking with the residents about what the names will be. Perhaps they’ll use old-fashioned ones, the names of the residents’ mothers. I’ll be keeping only four (or five…) and the rest will be sold. When I settle on the chickens staying here, we’ll have the fun of thinking up names. Stay tuned!

Massachusetts has a state holiday, Patriot’s Day. It’s a Monday in the middle of April, a spring day that always feels like it’s at the beginning of things. It’s like the whole state plays hooky. We have the only major league morning game at Fenway Park, which ends in time for the fans to join the crowds cheering on the marathoners. This year I stayed home to work in the garden.

Those close to me are all safe. I think about the dead and injured. And I know that something intangibly special and wonderful has been destroyed.

UPDATE: This contest is closed. Geneva (from Australia!) is the winner.

Christine Heinrich is writer, a hen keeper, and my friend. She is committed to promoting old-fashioned breeds of chickens, and brings her science writer’s clear-eyed view to such matters, as well as to flock health and maintenance. Her book, How to Raise Chickens, has been reprinted in a revised and expanded edition.

I have one of her books to giveaway! Simply let me know your favorite breed in the comments below, and you’ll be entered in a drawing for her book. The contest closes on Friday, April 19 at 10 pm EDT. The winner will be selected via a random number generator. Only one entry per person, please.

The chicks are just over two weeks old. I told you that they wouldn’t look like like quintessential Easter chicks for long, and I was right. Their necks and legs are longer. Their down is coming off and feathers are coming in, but in spurts and in patches. It’s a gawky stage.

The new feathers are most noticeable on the wings and rumps. There’s a marked difference between how quickly the breeds are maturing. The Delaware, developed as a meat bird (but which happens to be a good egg producer and have a docile temperament), is ahead of the rest (but grows nowhere as fast as a modern meat bird, thank goodness.)

This black star is a tad slower to grow her tail feathers, but they’re there!

This little chick arrived with almost no down on her back. Her skin was dry and rough. Perhaps she had difficulty hatching? But she’s thriving and bold in nature. Even she has a wiggle of a tail.

The chicks are quite aware of their transformation. They’ve been flapping their wings. A few have achieved lift-off! I’ll be raising the sides of the brooder soon.