Not having very good luck with my chicks :(

Well...we got our first 3 chicks right before Easter. The cold snap and a raccoon may have been the culprits for us loosing 2 of them. We still have good old Lucy, she's an iron horse! Then I got a Blue Laced Copper Marans about 2 weeks old and she was the sweetest thing ever! She dropped dead one day, I suspect from another cold snap although she was with Lucy in a closed box...so...we got Zoey who is a BLRW as Lucy's new sidekick. She came to me with a cold and now is having all sorts of neurological issues which I posted about in the Diseases forum. We also got 2 more chicks because I want 4 hens eventually. Had them about 12 days and they both dropped dead. They were in a cat carrier I disinfected and which had not been used in 2 yrs, with heat  in my laundry room the entire time. Go figure.

Yesterday I bought 2 Marans, one Blue Splash and on BLC that are 3-4 weeks old. Pray for them please. And pray for poor little Zoey, she is a fighter!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nicole01 

Are they under a heat lamp?
I keep mine inside the house in a wire dog kennel with a heat lamp until they are feathered. There is no way they'd survive without it. They don't have a momma broody hen to keep them warm. They need 90 degree heat for the first week or two, then you subtract the heat by 5 degrees every week.
They will die without proper care.

The first 3 were not because the guy told me he had been keeping his chicks in the barn and as long as they had a box or something to huddle together in, they would be ok...wrong. ..the last 2 that just died had been in the cat carrier in my laundry room. It stays about 85-90 in there during the day and I put heat on them at night. The 2 new ones are pretty much feathered out at 4 wks old and I was told they are ok w/out additional heat now. I am in FL and it doesnt go below 65 at night any more.I am keeping them in the cat carrier at night in the laundry room.

Here is a pic of my new girls..Sylvia and Splash, guess which is which? LOL

Quote:

Originally Posted by heatherscooby77 

Put a thermometer right by the chicks, you might be surprised what the temp is.  Boil the water before you give it to them.  Make sure they are eating chick starter only.  You don't have to give them additional grit.  If you are giving them anything else there crop might be getting bound up because it can't work properly.  Make sure they are pooping.........  You can give them some plain yogurt to make sure there digestive system has the necessary bacteria in it for digestion.  You can give them the yogurt as a treat even if there digestion is ok, it won't hurt them.  It is also considered a liquid, at room temp it is, so if they are sickly it will help them get protein and hydration.  Hope this helps.

Thanks, I did start putting yogurt in the water until they get used to it. I don't feed anything but chick starter except my sick girl is getting extra like eggs and vitamins by hand. Thanks for the advice, I'll check the temp in the laundry room just to make sure.

Quote:

Originally Posted by heatherscooby77 

I should clarify something. I said to boil the water, let it cool down, to kill the germs. Sometimes there is Giardia, or coccidiosis, or..........who knows what.

I only give my younger chicks triple filtered water from our tap in the house by the way. The older ones now have regular tap water which here in FL is ridden w/ chemicals to kill germs and whatever could live in this heat...and whatever is in the underground here...so, I will start boiling their water. Thanks.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nicole01 

Sometimes chicks just don't make it. It's very stressful on them to travel from the hatchery.
I always give poly vi sol vitamins without iron in their waterer and probios in some wet mash. It gives them a very healthy start. There was a big difference by using this. My neighbor was raising chickens the same time and she did not use the vitamins or probiotics. She had a death and mine looked a lot healthier, we bought from the same store.
I use a 150 watt bulb in a wire dog kennel until the last one is fully feathered. The first 2 weeks, I fully cover the kennel with a large blanket. I feed vitamins, probiotics and medicated feed. All my chicks have done well. I keep them in the basement for the first 8 weeks. Then they stay in their brooder inside the coop until they are full sized. I have adults to integrate with.
I hope you have better luck with the new ones!

Thanks for the advice, I am brand new at chicks. I had 2 15 yrs ago and they were healthy and never had a problem ( I guess I assumed chicks were easy, and I had bought at the same time of year. The first ones I kept inside under a lamp for a few weeks, the ones we just bought at Easter, I was told it was ok to put them outside as long as they could huddle up and had a box to go into, since we are in FL) so, this time around, I am very disappointed I did not learn more , although I asked questions when I bought them, I was given wrong info. Now, I think I know a bit more, plus, it's much warmer here now, in May. I still have a lot to learn and will continue to seek before I act !