2 day old chicks dying. help plz!

[1RedheadedChick]

Well this morning I lost 2 chicks. They were fine and then within 2 hours they were gone. I have a 3rd I’m holding and giving duramycin with an eye drppoer. The only symptom I can see is yellow kind of mucous poop right when they get sick. I’ve put duramycin in the drinking water for the rest of them. They are all clean and warm and have been eating medicated feed since hatching.
Any advice would be appreciated.

 

[enola]

How old are they? How warm is the brooder?

 

[1RedheadedChick]

they are 2 days old and are under the brinsea eco brooder in a 70 degree room

 

[enola]

Antibiotics are not needed at this age. Electrolytes would be better. Are they eating and drinking? How warm is it under the brooder?

 

[1RedheadedChick]

everyone was eating and drinking fine. i had put electrolytes in but on advice of the feed store put the duramycine in. i cant tell what the temp oif the brooder is. this is what the brinsea directions say ... "Because the heat from the black underside of the EcoGlow is largely radiant, measuring the temperature with a thermometer is of little value. Radiant heat passes through air without warming it. Only a solid object will absorb and be warmed by Radiant heat. So a thermometer will register the air temperature but not the radiant heat and will usually show some 5 to 10°F lower than the effective temperature felt by the chicks. Always watch the behavior of the birds. They will naturally huddle together if they are cool. The more of them, the less external warmth they need."

They are kind of spread out under it so i don't think they are cold.

 

[1RedheadedChick]

i typed out a whole thing but it said it went to the moderator. ughhh

They eat and drink fine up to 2 hours before yhey die.
i gave them electrolytes and then put in the duramycin on advice of the local feed store. i can't tell what the temp is under the brinsea. according to their site it is radiant heat. i got it because so many people say it is worry free. they dont huddle tightly together so it seems they are warm enough.

 

[ten chicks]

i typed out a whole thing but it said it went to the moderator. ughhh

They eat and drink fine up to 2 hours before yhey die.
i gave them electrolytes and then put in the duramycin on advice of the local feed store. i can't tell what the temp is under the brinsea. according to their site it is radiant heat. i got it because so many people say it is worry free. they dont huddle tightly together so it seems they are warm enough.

How much duramycin are you giving them and why are they medicated with duramycin? Did they die before or after the duramycin? Are they eating/drinking? How many chicks do you have? Any symptoms? They are two days old as of today? Are you familiar with Coccidiosis? Although your chicks are just two days old,a cocci overload can happen to young chicks.

It is also possible that shipping stress may have been too much for them,make sure brooder is correct temp,place a thermometer in brooder and get a temp reading. What are you using on floor of brooder?

 

[1RedheadedChick]

i didn't do the duramycin until after two had died. i told the feed store guy what happened and he said whenever they get their chicks in the give them duramycin in the water the first week they have them and have only lost 5 chicks in 5 years so I went with what he said. they were eating and drinking fine and then 2 hours later they were gone. They have been eating medicated chick feed since they hatched so I didn't think it could be Coccidiosis. Am I wrong? They have been enthusiastically eating and drinking from the time they hatched.

The only symptom was a yellow mucousy poop right as they got sick. I hatched these here so they weren't shipped. I am using the ecoglow brooder so I can't get a temperature but they don't seem to be too colld or too hot. Ughh I'm failing as a chick mom!

 

[ten chicks]

i didn't do the duramycin until after two had died. i told the feed store guy what happened and he said whenever they get their chicks in the give them duramycin in the water the first week they have them and have only lost 5 chicks in 5 years so I went with what he said. they were eating and drinking fine and then 2 hours later they were gone. They have been eating medicated chick feed since they hatched so I didn't think it could be Coccidiosis. Am I wrong? They have been enthusiastically eating and drinking from the time they hatched.

The only symptom was a yellow mucousy poop right as they got sick. I hatched these here so they weren't shipped. I am using the ecoglow brooder so I can't get a temperature but they don't seem to be too colld or too hot. Ughh I'm failing as a chick mom!

I have never heard of giving duramycin to chicks for no apparent reason. Tetracycline (duramycin) is usually given for respiratory issues. Possibly the chicks that died were just frail and nothing else is wrong,unfortunately it happens. Are the other chicks fine? I do not believe it is cocci either as they are very young(cocci has an incubation time of approx 2-4 days)but watch for this as cocci is the leading cause of death in chicks and kills very fast.

Chicks on medicated feed can still have a coccidiosis overload/outbreak and die. Coccidiosis is a parasitic infection of the intestinal tract and is spread by droppings which get into feed/water via droppings,but it can also be spread by our own clothes/shoes/hands/other chickens/feed utensils/wild birds/etc. Know the symptoms and administer a coccidiostat immediately. No you are not failing as a chick mom.

 

[1RedheadedChick]

I have never heard of giving duramycin to chicks for no apparent reason. Tetracycline (duramycin) is usually given for respiratory issues. Possibly the chicks that died were just frail and nothing else is wrong,unfortunately it happens. Are the other chicks fine? I do not believe it is cocci either as they are very young(cocci has an incubation time of approx 2-4 days)but watch for this as cocci is the leading cause of death in chicks and kills very fast.

Chicks on medicated feed can still have a coccidiosis overload/outbreak and die. Coccidiosis is a parasitic infection of the intestinal tract and is spread by droppings which get into feed/water via droppings,but it can also be spread by our own clothes/shoes/hands/other chickens/feed utensils/wild birds/etc. Know the symptoms and administer a coccidiostat immediately. No you are not failing as a chick mom.

I have a new one sick tonight. It was perfectly healthy this afternoon. OK I wasn't even looking at the possibility of Coccidiosis since I have been feeding them medicated food from the start. Where would this come from? I have no other chickens around, I wash everything. Well I don't know what else it could be. Like I said the only symptom has been yellow mucousy looking poop and while I've read 3 different descriptions of the symptoms, the one here on BYC says yellow "foamy" poop. I wouldn't say it was foamy.

The other thing it says is to separate out the sick bird. Since these chicks have all been in there together for 3 days now don't I just assume they will all get it and treat them all? Once they show symptoms they're gone in 2 hours.