HELP: Chicks keep dying

[danlan]

I bought 6 chicks from a farm on July 16 and was told they were vaccinated for mareks and cocci. Everything was fine for the first few days. Then 1 by one, they started dying. The chicks were all around the same age (<3 weeks) but some were larger than others and the smaller ones have been dying off.

First chick died on 7/19, then another on 7/18. These chicks died without warning, they were just dead when we woke up in the morning. A third chick was lethargic on 7/18 and was dead on the morning of 7/19.

Having lost 50% of my chicks I bought 4 more chicks from another farm on July 22. All was fine for a few days. Then one of my new chicks died yesterday and one of the original chicks died today.

I have not seen any bloody stools or anything unusual.

Some of my chicks seem to be growing and getting bigger. Some of them are not. It's hard to say if they are losing weight when their sisters are getting bigger, but they are definitely not growing.

Breeds: Breeds are all different. So far, I've lost Barred Rocks, a Jersey Black, a Blue Cochin.

Food: They've had had free access to non-medicated Rising Chick feed and given clean water everyday.

Housing: Bedding is pine shavings. To maintain proper temperature, I've tried different locations (garage, basement) with and without a heat lamp. I started with an open cardboard box brooder and then switched the chicks to a little coop someone gave me after they got rid of their chickens. I don't know if it is a coincidence or not, but no chicks died before I switched to the little coop. In case it was contaminated in some way, I switched back to a cardboard brooder, but that may be too late...

I'm at my wit's end here. What do I do for my chicks?
Should I try some cocci medication even tho they were allegedly vaccinated? If so, will bovine corid work? All I can find from Tractor Supply near me is this bovine corid liquid and this bovine corid pellets.

 

[azygous]

Here are some common causes of multiple deaths in baby chicks. You will need to take this list and use it to investigate.

1. Moldy feed. It often will smell bad. It can cause neurological injury and death.
2. Contaminated water. Often unfiltered well water with high iron content binds with bacteria and kills tiny chicks while leaving older chickens and people unaffected. Drinking stagnant rain water that has bacteria and parasites in it.
3. Lack of grit and foods fed to small chicks that require grit to digest such as raw veggies, seeds, corn, etc. Chicks can't digest such foods without grit in their gizzards.
4. Inappropriate bedding. Some people are excited to try coffee grounds bedding or decide to use their own used coffee grounds but it could poison chicks. The commercial product might well be non-toxic if processed to remove the toxin methylxanthine, but discarded coffee grounds could poison chicks.
5. Petroleum distillates in the form of insecticides, leaking machinery, paint chips, etc. can kill chicks.
6. Brooder too hot or too cold or not large enough for chicks to get away from the heat source to shed excess body heat. Many small brooders, especially plastic totes, are "ovens" that will literally cook chicks.

 

[danlan]

@azygous Thanks for this list!

1, 2, 4, and 5 definitely don't apply in this situation.

Re #3 -- do chicks need grit if they are only eating commercial chick crumble?

Re #6 -- sometimes they are clustered together and sometimes the chicks are running around just fine. They have plenty of space to get away from heat as needed.

 

[azygous]

No, chicks do not need grit if eating only chick crumble.

Another common cause of death in chicks is coccidiosis. But that requires being on local soil for at least five days as that' the incubation time for coccidia to make a chick sick. Not all coccidia cause bloody stool.

Coccidiosis can also be passed to chicks if you've been working in the soil and don't wash your hands before handling chicks.

How old are the chicks when they start to show symptoms? How long after showing symptoms do they die?

 

[danlan]

How old are the chicks when they start to show symptoms? How long after showing symptoms do they die?

I don't know the exact ages of the original batch of chicks (just that they were <3 weeks when I bought them on July 16). I had them for 3-4 days before the first one died. For the second batch of chicks, they were 2.5 weeks old when I bought them on July 22 and the first (and so far only) chick of this batch died yesterday.

2 of the 5 chicks that died have shown symptoms of extreme lethargy. They died the next day after showing symptoms (or died that night and were discovered the next day). The others didn't present any symptoms.

 

[azygous]

If you've considered all of the common causes of death in all seriousness, and none of them fit the circumstances, then we move on to the more bizarre.

Is there any chance of toxic gasses finding their way to the brooder? One instance here on BYC, a chick keeper discovered the fumes from her husband's welding shop adjacent to the brooder was killing the chicks. Similarly, carbon monoxide from a car running in an enclosed area adjacent to the brooder can kill chicks. Or, if it is winter where you are, an unventilated gas heater can kill.

Finally, this actually happened to me, a very poisonous caterpillar killed two of my chicks after they only pecked at it.

But the most common killer of chicks is insecticides or rodenticides.

 

[danlan]

Hmmm...I don't think those fit either. I'm going to try dosing with corid and if my chicks keep dying, then I'll find some pullets who are old enough to live outside in my regular coop (it doesn't have power, so can't use a heat lamp there). Thanks for your time and expertise @azygous