11 days old chicks dying left and right!

[brendapa]

Last year I had a hen hatch out some chicks and one had a deformed foot and splayed leg. After 3 days I brought it into the house to tape up it's foot and legs. to my horror I found some kind of bug on it!
I use DE religiously and thought I keep the pens pristine. I've never seen them scratch, just preen and I would have bet anyone my hens were clean. Right.
I do use Frontline on my cat so I moistened a Q-Tip with Frontline and rubbed it on the back of the neck of the chick. Within 1 hour the paper towel was full of dead bugs.
All of the other chicks were treated using a moistened Q-tip and the hens & roo each got 1/3 of a tube on thier necks. I just lifted up the feathers and applied it onto the skin.
I only have 8 hens and Frontline is expensive but it worked well for me.
Brenda

 

[AHappychick]

Quote:
I doubt its mites if they are being brooded indoors and these are the first chicks I think that tends to happen when you use broodies to raise or do it outsde or in brooders that have been used often. Just fyi as I saw you are a new egg