3 week old chicks, sick and dying one by one

[pinkl72]

I changed the bulb to a ceramic bulb and the temp changed to 81-85 beneath the light and 68 on the cold end but they all piled up underneath it as if they were cold so I changed it back. Any thoughts? I have a mama brooder heating pad set up but I'm using it with my healthy chicks and I don't want to mix them.

 

[pinkl72]

Another very good reason to provide chicks with grit first thing!

In your thread last week you were wanting to give them Tylan. What is the reason for this? You don't report any symptoms of respiratory disease. Do you note any coughing, sneezing, wheezing, bubbles in the eyes, mucous from the nostrils, etc.?
If not, then no, I wouldn't start them on Tylan.

The type of feed you are giving looks o.k. to me. Do check the date on the bag and smell the feed to make sure it's not old, moldy or rancid.

Provide them with chick grit free choice. See that they are drinking very well.
Offer their feed wet for a few days, it may be a little easier to process.
Are you certain the lice or mites are gone?

In a warm house, they don't need quite as much heat. Raise the lamp to where it's about 80F or so under it. If they start screaming their heads off, then lower it just a bit to get it to read around 85F. Let the rest of the brooder be "cool" or whatever temp the house is. Chicks can stand cooler temps better than most think.

I thought tylan because the first sick birds were breathing heavily as if short of breathe and made a little sneeze sound and it was 9pm and I had it on hand and mostly desperation. None of the remaining birds are making a sneeze sound and they die after appearing mostly fine. They all look sick but the rest of the chicks that passed didnt look grave with heavy breathing before passing; I would just look in the brooder and see a still chick =(

I'm unsure if the date on the bag is the date it was made or the expiration but it said November 2022. It smells and looks fine.

I let them outside once but it's been nasty outside, 20s and windy, for about a week. I can put a little bit of granite in there with them.

I gave then food mixed with a raw egg last night and they didn't touch it some is gone by this evening so I guess they tried it.

I do not see the bugs. We dusted them a second time to be sure to get any new hatches but I can do it again. They were visibly crawling on them before.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I changed the bulb to a ceramic bulb and the temp changed to 81-85 beneath the light and 68 on the cold end but they all piled up underneath it as if they were cold so I changed it back. Any thoughts? I have a mama brooder heating pad set up but I'm using it with my healthy chicks and I don't want to mix them.

They still need heat, so put the lamp back, but move it to one end, so only one end is heated instead of the whole brooder.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

gave then food mixed with a raw egg last night and they didn't touch it some is gone by this evening so I guess they tried it.

@Wyorp Rock , this concerns me because of the raw egg being left out for almost 24 hours. Do you think it would be safe that long, or would it be better to remove it after a couple of hours?

 

[Wyorp Rock]

@Wyorp Rock , this concerns me because of the raw egg being left out for almost 24 hours. Do you think it would be safe that long, or would it be better to remove it after a couple of hours?

If it were me, I'd remove after a couple of hours.

Even if I make a wet mash with water, I only put out a small amount at a time, chicks stand and poop in it (Yep! ) so I change mash frequently throughout the day.

 

[New duck mommy 2021]

I don’t know how chicks are but my ducklings by 3 weeks hardly used the heat plate
I would think over 100 would be way to hot for any bird
You mentioned pasty butt on a few that can be from to high of heat
It also can make them just die
I really like to avoid heat lamps but when I have had to use them I found every 3-4 days they were moving away from the Centre so I would raise it up
Hope this all gets figured out so you can hopefully have some healthy babies make it through all this

 

[FunClucks]

I looked at the pics you loaded of the feed bag analysis tag and date code. Nov 2022 is recent, 18% protein is good. The methionine is a little low, so if they were not sick and taking Corid, I'd say give them some vitamins that have B vitamins in them. But for now, I'd leave it until they're better. If the feed looks and smells good, I don't think it's the feed.

I also am not convinced that temperatures are your issue. When I brooded in the house, I would raise up my lamp, and check that right below the lamp was the recommended 95F the first week, 90F the second week, etc decreasing by 5F a week until they reach 80F or the outdoor temperature and can go outside. If right beneath the lamp is the recommended temp and the edges of your brooder are room temp, going by chick behavior is a good thing to do - if they huddle right under for a while, they are too cold, they will ring the lamp at the temp that is most comfortable for them, you just have to make sure they have plenty of room beyond the lamp to do it. For instance, mine would leave about 6-12" under the lamp uncovered, and they'd sleep in a circle about the center. I just had to make sure the walls were far enough away that they could make that "circle" and have room left to expand if needed.

I think you could be fighting egg transmitted diseases, an airborne illness, or genetic issues. You mentioned the first chick was sneezing prior to passing away. There's a number of diseases that will cause chicks to die young or things that can be transmitted through the egg. Might research those if you're interested. The takeaway though is that this may not be something you can help or prevent, and that you should do everything possible not to expose your other chickens or chicks to dander or bodily fluids from these chicks.

I'm so sorry you're going through this. I'm not a long-time expert on chickens, but I've doing this for a year, and have been reading a lot. If I were you, these are the things I would consider.

 

[NatJ]

I changed the bulb to a ceramic bulb and the temp changed to 81-85 beneath the light and 68 on the cold end but they all piled up underneath it as if they were cold so I changed it back. Any thoughts?

How long did you give them before you changed it back? Chicks will also huddle when they are scared, and any change makes them scared. If you left it for at least half an hour, and they were still huddling, then changing it back was probably the right choice.

I have a mama brooder heating pad set up but I'm using it with my healthy chicks and I don't want to mix them.

Keeping them separate sounds like a good idea.

 

[pinkl72]

How long did you give them before you changed it back? Chicks will also huddle when they are scared, and any change makes them scared. If you left it for at least half an hour, and they were still huddling, then changing it back was probably the right choice.


Keeping them separate sounds like a good idea.

I left it for a few hours and they stayed huddled under it everytime I looked.

 

[pinkl72]

I looked at the pics you loaded of the feed bag analysis tag and date code. Nov 2022 is recent, 18% protein is good. The methionine is a little low, so if they were not sick and taking Corid, I'd say give them some vitamins that have B vitamins in them. But for now, I'd leave it until they're better. If the feed looks and smells good, I don't think it's the feed.

I also am not convinced that temperatures are your issue. When I brooded in the house, I would raise up my lamp, and check that right below the lamp was the recommended 95F the first week, 90F the second week, etc decreasing by 5F a week until they reach 80F or the outdoor temperature and can go outside. If right beneath the lamp is the recommended temp and the edges of your brooder are room temp, going by chick behavior is a good thing to do - if they huddle right under for a while, they are too cold, they will ring the lamp at the temp that is most comfortable for them, you just have to make sure they have plenty of room beyond the lamp to do it. For instance, mine would leave about 6-12" under the lamp uncovered, and they'd sleep in a circle about the center. I just had to make sure the walls were far enough away that they could make that "circle" and have room left to expand if needed.

I think you could be fighting egg transmitted diseases, an airborne illness, or genetic issues. You mentioned the first chick was sneezing prior to passing away. There's a number of diseases that will cause chicks to die young or things that can be transmitted through the egg. Might research those if you're interested. The takeaway though is that this may not be something you can help or prevent, and that you should do everything possible not to expose your other chickens or chicks to dander or bodily fluids from these chicks.

I'm so sorry you're going through this. I'm not a long-time expert on chickens, but I've doing this for a year, and have been reading a lot. If I were you, these are the things I would consider.

I appreciate the input. They are able to get away from the heat. They stay mostly scattered throughout the brooder closer to the heat but they do have the option to go further away. I raised the light up a few inches and now its 95 under the light.