2 week old Cornish X dying

[Sgbj]

Hello all,

I've been having trouble with some CX chicks dying. They are between 1 and 2 weeks old. I started with 24, am now down to 20 with a couple others showing worrying signs.

Symptoms are this, panting, wings out a little, beak opening and shutting, not walking real well(before not walking at all) and just acting sleepy and not active. They seem to go downhill very quickly, going from walking to dead in as little as 30mins. The sick ones are also hanging round the heat lamp and it seems to be the biggest birds having the problems.

I don't know exactly what the broader temp is but have been adjusting the lamp height based on what the chickens look comfortable with.


Any ideas what might be wrong??


Thanks

 

[Compost King]

Hello all,

I've been having trouble with some CX chicks dying. They are between 1 and 2 weeks old. I started with 24, am now down to 20 with a couple others showing worrying signs.

Symptoms are this, panting, wings out a little, beak opening and shutting, not walking real well(before not walking at all) and just acting sleepy and not active. They seem to go downhill very quickly, going from walking to dead in as little as 30mins. The sick ones are also hanging round the heat lamp and it seems to be the biggest birds having the problems.

I don't know exactly what the broader temp is but have been adjusting the lamp height based on what the chickens look comfortable with.


Any ideas what might be wrong??


Thanks

I feel for ya, I am following because I want to know what this is too. Never had this happen to me with CX. I have a feeling someone with a lot of experience will pop in and respond before long.

 

[Morrigan]

What is your brooder set up like and how big is it? Chicks should have room to get away from the heat lamp if they need to, and CX tend to run a little hotter and need less heat than other chicks.

 

[Compost King]

With as many as you have and as big as CX are even as chicks, you may not need a heat lamp unless temps are very cold.

 

[Sgbj]

The brooder is about 3 feet across. Night temps have been getting down close to 0 (Celsius).

So do you think they're overheating?

 

[bobbi-j]

I think it's a good possibility. Can you post a picture of your setup?

 

[Morrigan]

The brooder is about 3 feet across. Night temps have been getting down close to 0 (Celsius).

So do you think they're overheating?

Well, with freezing night time temps, they need some sort of heat.

Can you post a picture of your setup?

This would help.

From what you describe, there are only a few possibilities I can think of. First, the heat is wrong. Second, there is something wrong (spoiled?) with their food or water. Third, you got a genetically weak and unhardy batch of chicks, or finally, they got exposed to some disease.

The easiest to try to deal with, and most likely, are the first two. Make sure they have a roomy brooder with plenty of room to get away from, or underneath, a heat source as they need. If you look in the brooder, the chicks should be naturally spaced out, and making soft little peeping sounds. If they are bunched at the edges of the brooder and silent, it is too hot. If they are dog piling under the lamp or peeping loudly and insistently, it is too cool. Make sure they have good quality food and clean water available at all times.

 

[Sgbj]

Pics attached. As for the noise, I've never kept meat chicks before but it sounds fairly quiet/normal...


Also, the growth rates seem fairly different between the birds. Is this normal? It seemed that the big ones were the ones which were dying. Possibly 2 different strains of birds or just male/female? The littler ones seem the most active.

 

[Morrigan]

The temperature seems ok by that picture.

How do their droppings look? Any diarrhea? If yes, it could be something like cocci.

Finally where did you get these chicks? Did problems start immediately, or only after you had been brooding them for a few days.

 

[Compost King]

if it is at all possible allow them an option to get away from the heat lamp