Runny Poo in 6 day old chicks

[BrahmasMama02]

I have lost 2 chicks out of 26 in the past week. The first chick passed from pasty butt. The second I do not know what ! She died this morning after acting lethargic and week the past couple of days. She had runny poop… tried everything to save her but she didn’t pull through. I still have a couple chicks who are acting “off”. Past few days I’ve been checking the chicks every night. I have approximately three booties to clean a night because of pasties. (Brooder is not to warm ). More chicks have runny stools and are acting extra tired. Lots of laying down … seldom worried about eating. Skinny babies

Isn’t this too early to worry about coccidius? The food they are on is also a preventative so…

I ended up putting the 24 chicks in the one brooder after the second chick died this morning. I wanted them all under the light because it was doing better temperature wise. I have also added another small feeder to the brooder.

(I know it isn’t a lot of space for growing chicks but this set up is the best I got for one more week until they have more feathers so the hot plate will be more reliable)

HELP ME

 

[azygous]

Take the temperature on the floor of the brooder directly under the lamp. Then take the temp again at the farthest point from the lamp footprint. Please tell us what they read.

What are you feeding? Including treats.

 

[BrahmasMama02]

Temperatures I'll have to get back to you on that tonight. My fiancé threw our thermometer in the woods and i just dug through a pile of bedding to find it and it was ruined. I will say that the far side of the brooder feels cool, and under the lamp feels warm but not "hot" I'll also follow up with a video below. Also, they are on Country Road starter-grower feed medicated. (I got the chicks at Rural-King). Well for my sick chicks I was mixing some electrolyte hydro-hen/ water and egg yolk and giving it to them in a needle-less syringe/dropper. Then for some of the weaker chicks in the brooder today I gave them some as well and some of them went crazy for it (the healthier ones) the more lethargic chicks liked it but needless to say not as much as the healthier chicks. (the past two hours some have perked up while others have not) Before yesterday I was mixing the Hydro-hen in their water (room temp) but I was told not to overdo it on the electrolytes, so I stopped putting it in their water. I know I might be panicking over nothing but something in my gut is telling me that there's something off about some of them. Especially comparing them to the others. I know sometimes they just die but with those other chicks I just knew something was off about them- for the first one hours before death and the second one a couple days before. I'm trying not to handle them as much but when you see them collapsed in the brooder listless you revive them and then it happens over and over again, I can't help but to doctor on them. Especially with the pasty butt issue. I have to pick up each chick one by one every day and check (the past couple days multiple times) And trust me it's true pasty butt. Their vents get clogged, and it's not just snagged poop. I KNOW THE handling is stressing them out. :/ sorry for the essay^ I just wanted to give you as much detail as I could.

 

[BrahmasMama02]

 

[azygous]

When you do check the temperature, it should not be over 90F the first week. If the chicks are indoors and it's 70F, the brooder doesn't need to be 90F. 80F is plenty. The reason is that indoor temps cause chicks to lose body heat much slower than chicks brooded outdoors. An over heated brooder can cause many adverse symptoms, dehydration and death. The warmest part of the brooder should be right under the lamp. The rest of the brooder should be cool. As a comparison, chicks brooded outdoors have a warm place, but the rest of the brooder can be as cool as 50F. Sometimes even cooler. Chicks are able to handle very cool temps as long as they have a warm up spot.

What kind of shavings are you using? Pine? or something else?

 

[BrahmasMama02]

Pine shavings ^

 

[azygous]

Pine should be safe. I'm sorry I can't think of anything else that could be sickening your chicks. Do get another thermometer and check the brooder temps. It's the only think I can think of that could cause all the symptoms.

 

[BrahmasMama02]

Pine should be safe. I'm sorry I can't think of anything else that could be sickening your chicks. Do get another thermometer and check the brooder temps. It's the only think I can think of that could cause all the symptoms.

Will do! A theory I have is that they are a little screwy because of their shipment from IOWA to VIRGINIA....but idek

 

[azygous]

Shipping stress does take a toll. Warm sugar water and some chicken vitamins usually cures that unless the weather was very cold and chicks on the perimeter got irreversibly chilled.

 

[BrahmasMama02]

Who knows. I will also switch to bottled water if something is wrong with my well water. Gonna get my water tested by this weekend. (although the water doesn't bother me or my dogs you never know) it's an older system. It's definitely gotta be something! My Maran chicks who were acting funny the first couple of days have perked up while a couple of my buff chicks who were wired as all hell the first couple of days are now acting lethargic. It's gotta be something.