Six Day Old Chick- Lethargic, dying.

[KindleTay]

Hmm, it could be due to stress due to the breeder…. considering he had other chicks with pasty butt. It’s normal for chicks to sometimes i have it as their systems are brand new.

I had one chick that died on me too, only a couple days old. So I know your heartbreak.
I think your heat is just fine, just adjust the pad as they grow.

Thank you so much for your help! This is my third round of chicks and I’ll always be learning! I’m going to keep an eye on everyone a little more often and if anyone starts getting too quiet I’ll be lowering the heating plate.

 

[CKfarm22]

Thank you so much for your help! This is my third round of chicks and I’ll always be learning! I’m going to keep an eye on everyone a little more often and if anyone starts getting too quiet I’ll be lowering the heating plate.

Have you been getting the chicks from the same breeder??

 

[KindleTay]

Have you been getting the chicks from the same breeder??

No, last year I bought them through tractor supply- some in store and some shipped. I wanted to get barred rock locally this year to avoid the trauma of shipping and have an increase of quality and care, and I’ve been looking since January… no one had any available until summer. My third baby is due end of May so I wanted the chicks outside by then! Anyway, I found this one on Craigslist but he had good reviews on Google. He did give me four chicks for free because he miscounted, so that should have been my first sign that maybe he wasn’t super involved. But that’s okay, I can fix that! Not everything… but a few things!

 

[KindleTay]

Have you been getting the chicks from the same breeder??

I’m trying to hatch my own from my chickens but we only have rooster and about 30 hens, so the odds aren’t great. Hoping to have a few Roos in this clutch

 

[Future vet]

Hi everyone-

I know this is not the first post about a lethargic chick- but I can’t quite get an answer anywhere.

My 6 day old barred rock chick (by characteristics I’ve sexed her as female) is likely not going to make it. This isn’t my first time raising chicks but I’ve changed just about everything from the last time I did them, last spring. I use the medical pads for bedding now to eliminate chicks eating pine shavings, which happened last year. I switched from a heat lamp to a radiant heat source for the brooder, and I've made their brooder much bigger.

We just got 24 chicks last night, which were 5 days old. We bought them from someone about an hour and a half away so it was quite a trip. I brought them home and made sure the warmer tray was working and that I put it at the right height. The instructions said not to allow any chick's head to touch the warmer plate, so I raised it to the second setting (out of three) because my biggest chick had to duck under it. The brooder had been warming up for about 20 hours before putting the chicks in it. I filled their water with hydro-hen for the night just to make sure we weren't going to have any dehydrated chicks, set up their food, and dipped a few of their heads in the water to show them where it was at.

I lost so many chicks to pasty butt last year because I didn't know anything about it. Every time I started to treat them for it, it was too late- they were already lethargic and gasping in the brooder. I was determined to do everything "right" this time!

When transferring the chicks from the box to the brooder, I checked butts. Anyone that was clean could go in, and anyone that even a hint of dried poo stayed in the box for cleaning. Out of the 24, I had 11 that needed to be washed. I think about 6 truly had pasty butt, and it was BAD. Probably about 1/2 inch of dried feces glued to their vents. I put vegetable oil on a q-tip and gently applied it to their vent and anywhere the poop was attached to them, and put them in the box together. I took them one by one and ran their bottoms under Luke-warm but slightly warmer water, dried gently with a towel, and then blew-dry them on low until they were puffy again and put them in a new, clean box. I'd bring them back to the brooder in batches of 3-4 so they didn't get too cold just waiting for everyone to join them. A few them did projectile poo as soon as the dried clump of poo washed away from their vent. After almost 2 hours of washing and drying, everyone was in the brooder and eating, drinking, and finding warmth. Everyone was lively and I felt so accomplished for catching it before it was problem.

This morning around 9 am I lifted up the brooder warmer plate just to check on anyone under it that I might not have seen yet this morning. There was one that didn't scurry away and just stayed there. My heart sank. I tried to give it a few drops of water and egg yolk but it wouldn't accept it, and I didn't want to drown her. She did take a bit of water but that was it.

When I took her out of the brooder, she felt cold. Like, her down wasn't warm from the plate. I don't know if maybe it is too high? Or if she was cold because she was dying. I am 100% certain that she was one I had washed last night because there was still an oily appearance to her tail end. She didn't perk up when I warmed her in my hands or my shirts, she just relaxed and kind of accepted that she was going to sleep until the end....

She did finally die in my hand/on my (pregnant) belly as I wrote this out. It never gets easier!

My question, I guess, is... Is the warmer plate too far from the bottom of the brooder? Or was it likely her suffering from the effects of pasty butt? Or something else?Everyone else is lively and chirping, they are mostly under the warming plate but they do ZOOM out from under it to get food and water and socialize. My house is about 68 degrees most of the day, I don't think it drops below 65. I can't help but think that I should lower the plate for now until they get a little bit bigger, but I also don't want to dehydrate and overheat all my chicks. Maybe after this batch of chicks I'll be a professional and just know everything!

Thanks for sticking with me!

Is she on medicated food???? That will help. When one my chicks got lethargic I started to give medicated feed. When their chicks always have them on medicated feed, when they grow up take them off. Medicated feed is a safe way to Deworm your chicks without harming them. I’m praying for you!!

 

[KindleTay]

Is she on medicated food???? That will help. When one my chicks got lethargic I started to give medicated feed. When their chicks always have them on medicated feed, when they grow up take them off. Medicated feed is a safe way to Deworm your chicks without harming them. I’m praying for you!!

I do have medicated feed but she was not even wanting to drink. In the past I’ve given medicated feed when I’ve ordered from a commercial hatchery, but I didn’t do it this time because I got them locally.

 

[CKfarm22]

No, last year I bought them through tractor supply- some in store and some shipped. I wanted to get barred rock locally this year to avoid the trauma of shipping and have an increase of quality and care, and I’ve been looking since January… no one had any available until summer. My third baby is due end of May so I wanted the chicks outside by then! Anyway, I found this one on Craigslist but he had good reviews on Google. He did give me four chicks for free because he miscounted, so that should have been my first sign that maybe he wasn’t super involved. But that’s okay, I can fix that! Not everything… but a few things!

Awww congratulations, that’s exciting!

Completely understand, everything is a learning curve no matter how much you “master” it or how much you think you know about it. I, myself, have gone through TSC and 3 other breeders. My last breeder will be the one i’m sticking with!

 

[CKfarm22]

I do have medicated feed but she was not even wanting to drink. In the past I’ve given medicated feed when I’ve ordered from a commercial hatchery, but I didn’t do it this time because I got them locally.

Even if you get them locally, medicated feed is always safe then sorry!

 

[Future vet]

I do have medicated feed but she was not even wanting to drink. In the past I’ve given medicated feed when I’ve ordered from a commercial hatchery, but I didn’t do it this time because I got them locally.

Got it...try to give her some. Give her some water through a syringe. She may be dehydrated…

 

[KindleTay]

Even if you get them locally, medicated feed is always safe then sorry!

Yes, that’s what I’ve taken away from this so far. But hopefully I won’t be buying from a breeder again, at least not chicks! I’m trying to hone in my incubating with our barnyard mixes and a few eggs I purchased online (don’t recommend getting hatching eggs online…)