- Apr 11, 2013
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I've raised chickens for about 15 years now which has included starting from baby chicks from both Tractor Supply and Agland (Heritage) about every 2-3 years. I've never had any issue with the chicks dying or being ill. This batch of 8 we got last Thurs so I'm assuming they are about 7-10 days old now. This morning, one chick looked sprawled out and I thought dead. When I picked her up she seemed to "wake up" chirp and open her eyes, so I looked her over and put her back down. She immediately spun in circles twisted her neck 180 and fell down on her side. I've seen wry neck in older hens but this was more than just the neck twisting. I tried to get her to take some water from my finger but she won't. She just keeps spinning and falling like she was on a merry go round. None of the other chicks seem ill, but this one was also fine last night only 6 hours ago.
I looked up possible causes: Marek's, New Castle. avian encephalomyelitis, vitamin E deficiency, etc. Is there any way to tell if this is viral vs. nutritional? They were all fed Dumor chick starter feed and nothing else. I read that Tractor Supply is supposed to vaccinate against AE but I'm sure that in a mass breeding situation they can't be 100%. I'd hate to loose all 8 chicks to this but I guess the next 3 days will tell.
Any suggestions/advice?
See more at: http://www.poultrydvm.com/condition/avian-encephalomyelitis
I looked up possible causes: Marek's, New Castle. avian encephalomyelitis, vitamin E deficiency, etc. Is there any way to tell if this is viral vs. nutritional? They were all fed Dumor chick starter feed and nothing else. I read that Tractor Supply is supposed to vaccinate against AE but I'm sure that in a mass breeding situation they can't be 100%. I'd hate to loose all 8 chicks to this but I guess the next 3 days will tell.
Any suggestions/advice?
See more at: http://www.poultrydvm.com/condition/avian-encephalomyelitis