Bantam Chicks slowly dying 1 by 1, at a rate of 1 per week, seemingly without reason

[Auruo]

Hello,

I currently have a flock of 6 week old bantam chicks reliably dying at a rate of 1 per week. I started with 10 and we are down to 4 as of today. We got a full size flock expansion at the same time (kept separate) and they are all healthy and thriving, as are our existing grown flocks.

The dying chicks are showing absolutely no signs of illness anymore. The first few deaths showed some signs like lethargy and loose stools before dying, but the last 3 deaths are completely without warning. The one that died today was acting both energetic and normal less than an hour before dying.

We have treated them for coccidiosis and with a vitamin regiment after the 5 day treatment but nothing affects their rate of death. At this point, we are near certain that none of our bantam chicks with survive. We had 3 bantam Cochin, 3 silkies, 2 serama, a polish frizzle, and a day old wyandotte. The wyandotte died first, and what we have left now is just the seramas, one silkie, and one bantam Cochin. Oddly the Cochin still alive is barely growing and is still way smaller than the biggest Cochin chick which was the second chick to die.

Any help would be really appreciated.

 

[Eggcessive]

Sorry for your loss. I would suspect either coccidiosis or failure to thrive. If you lose another, I would send 1 or 2 to your state vet to necropsy, and possibly find a reason. Here is a list of most state vets to contact:
https://www.metzerfarms.com/poultry-labs.html

 

[fluffybuttfarmstead]

Hello,

I currently have a flock of 6 week old bantam chicks reliably dying at a rate of 1 per week. I started with 10 and we are down to 4 as of today. We got a full size flock expansion at the same time (kept separate) and they are all healthy and thriving, as are our existing grown flocks.

The dying chicks are showing absolutely no signs of illness anymore. The first few deaths showed some signs like lethargy and loose stools before dying, but the last 3 deaths are completely without warning. The one that died today was acting both energetic and normal less than an hour before dying.

We have treated them for coccidiosis and with a vitamin regiment after the 5 day treatment but nothing affects their rate of death. At this point, we are near certain that none of our bantam chicks with survive. We had 3 bantam Cochin, 3 silkies, 2 serama, a polish frizzle, and a day old wyandotte. The wyandotte died first, and what we have left now is just the seramas, one silkie, and one bantam Cochin. Oddly the Cochin still alive is barely growing and is still way smaller than the biggest Cochin chick which was the second chick to die.

Any help would be really appreciated.

I have been having similar deaths in my 2 year old chickens since Tuesday. Nothing has changed except we introduced some chickens that we inherited a month ago to the coop. My 10-12 week old chickens ( still in a separate coop) are doing well and my 3 week old chicks ( just moved to a different coop about 500 yards away from the coop with the older chicks and enclosed for now until they are bigger) are also thriving. We are thinking bird flu. The older birds were giving us about 10-12 eggs one day and dropped to 2 Guinea eggs (we have 2 Guinea hens) and one chicken egg a day.
One of my roosters was found dead in his coop Tuesday. We assumed the new chickens killed him because he was aggressive. Wednesday everything seemed fine. Thursday two of my girls started acting very strange, so I separated them and put them in the trauma coop. By evening, one of them had passed and the next morning, the other one died Friday two of our other birds were acting Like the first two that had died, so I took them to the chicken, trauma tractor, by Saturday evening they were both dead. This morning I noticed one of my girls also acting lethargic and sick, and separated her. We have disinfected the entire coop, by locking out all of the chickens, opening the main door and window, removing all of the bedding, all of the floor covering the rubber mat, And disinfecting the entire coop with bleach water. We disinfected all of the feeding dishes, as well as the water dishes, and have done so daily. We began looking for any mold or fungus that they could have been exposed to, and began giving an anabiotic in their water that has oregano oil, basil, oil, and cinnamon oil, we’ve introduced vitamin B complex to their water as well. The inherited birds had a foot fungus, but we’re treating that with a spray that our vet suggested . Our vet said that this would not cause the sudden death.
Strangely, the inherited birds have not died at all. The birds that we are losing are from my original flock. The rooster that died first was about a year old, and with the exception of one of the other birds that died the rest were two years old plus. And one was one and a half years old. The one in the trauma coop is also 2 +.
Good luck with your birds. I hope you find a cause.