Help! Dying chicks

Jesusfreak101 said:

Just a curious question why cant you use non stick pans if the chickens are inside? And i hope op your father hens feel better.

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Teflon fumes from a hot pan (or teflon coated light bulb) will kill birds very quickly. Once instance of exposure to burning teflon can cause a fatal case of pneumonia.

Mmm thats interesting, and good to know gives me a good excuse to buy new pans lol.

Teflon doesn't need to be 'burning' to release fumes, and birds are way more sensitive to the stuff than humans. On the other hand, eggs cook at such a low temperature that you could put the eggs in a cold pan and apply the minimum of heat until the eggs are just solid. Or you could put a little water in a regular pan and put the non-stick pan on top of it, double-boiler style.

Eggs can also be microwaved by cracking them into a mug with a little water in it and cooking the whole lot for a minute (actual time depends on microwave power plus the container and the amount of water used). I've found that you lose much of the thin white unless you run it through a fine sieve, but 1. the yolk is the best part, and 2. it doesn't matter if it's being mashed up anyway.

Maybe I'm overthinking things here, but I don't like scraping solidified egg off things and I don't like heating large amounts of water for one or two eggs. Kind of requires a little creativity to get around those things.

These birds are completely feathered. Weather here is damp with mist falling. Temp is in the 50's. We have not noticed any blood, but will check. I live in Alabama where there is more than 10 poultry farms withing a couple miles of my house. So if it's airborne it could be anything. They have never been outside the coop. We just lost another, so they are still dying. We'll put them in a box with light right on them and fix it to hold in the heat to warm them up. I'll check on meds tomorrow.

just make sure they can move out of the light if they need to so they don't get too hot. I hope you guys don't lose any more

Rosto said:

These birds are completely feathered. Weather here is damp with mist falling. Temp is in the 50's. We have not noticed any blood, but will check. I live in Alabama where there is more than 10 poultry farms withing a couple miles of my house. So if it's airborne it could be anything. They have never been outside the coop. We just lost another, so they are still dying. We'll put them in a box with light right on them and fix it to hold in the heat to warm them up. I'll check on meds tomorrow.

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If you are in Alabama then you have gotten a lot of rain in the last week too. That could be triggering a coccidia outbreak and the birds are at the age where they are still very susceptible. This is the most rain we have had in months.

Are they still on medicated feed? Even if they are that won't prevent a severe outbreak. Can you get some Corid and give it to them ASAP?

The temps have been unusually warm but are set to get colder this week so you will want to make sure the birds stay as warm as possible while being able to get away from the heat if they get too warm. If this is Coccidia then the good news is all that recover should be fine.

Make sure to keep their area especially food and water dishes clean! If they have it they are pooping it out like mad and you don't want them to ingest any more. This thread has more info: https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/coccidiosis-how-to-treat-it

Another thought, you might want to send the body of one of the dead chicks to a state lab for a free necropsy, just put the body in a zip lock bag and refrigerate until you find out where the closest state lab is. They will eventually get back to you with a diagnosis, that won't help with treating these birds since the state takes to long BUT it will let your dad know whether or not the illness will effect his flock in the future.

Dad went to the local Tractor Supply. One of the salesman recommended a product and he got new medicated feed. It's working!!! He lost a total of 10. The remaining 15 seem on the mend! Thank you all! It must have been coccidia like you guys thought.