3rd sick pullet.

DeannaA

Songster
6 Years
Jul 8, 2013
1,265
160
148
Tuscaloosa, AL
I received 18 day old chicks thru the mail. 1 died 2 days after I received them, it was a Bresse. The rest were fine for 6 weeks. One Bielfelder female died. I thought it was smothered in a chick pile. Even though there are 2 heat lamps they all prefer 1. I put them closer together and they seem to spread out. All was fine until yesterday, they are 9 weeks. I found another bielfelder female very weak, laying on her side. She felt light. I pulled her out and feed her vitamin water, yolk and chick start with a dropper all day long. At first she wouldn't eat but by evening she ate a little on her own and stood up. Breathing better. She was pooping. The poops looked normal. An hour later she died. All of the other chickens were fine but I still cleaned everything. I even checked on them this morning before feeding the outside chickens, all seemed well. When I came in, another Bielfelder female was on her side. I have other breeds and Bielfelder males. No problems with the others. They seemed to be eating and drinking. They have all had Mareks vaccination. They were eating chick start but for the last few days I have been giving them layer pellets. I had to work and couldn't get to the feed store before they closed. [

Please let me know if anyone has any clue. There was no blood in any of the poops from any of them.
 
Why are you giving layer food? Give this only when they start laying.

First - They need one heat lamp in their brooder. If they pile up on top of each other, they are too cold; if they spread out and away from the lamp, they are too hot. What are you using as bedding in the brooder? Shavings work fine. Keep them contained and in a draft free room. The light has to be on 24/7 and lift the lamp as they start to grow. Watch them carefully and gauge the lamp so they are not too hot or too cold. They will tell you when they are comfortable.

Second - Feed chick starter mash - mix plain, unflavored yogurt and chick starter into a relatively damp crumble and give it to them. You may need to put a little in their beaks and show them where it is. Watch the to make sure they are eating and drinking. The yogurt gives them bacteria they'd normally get from eating their mothers' poo. Boil a few eggs and crumble the whole egg, not just the yolk and feed that.

Third - Add SuperBoost - 1/4 tsp to 1 gallon of water and do this every 24 hours for at least 4 days. Its a combination of vitamins, minerals and a general antibiotic.

Forth - Check for pasty butt; check to see that their vents are clear and if they seem stopped up, clean their butts with water and a soft cloth very thoroughly.

Are this birds in a brooder in the house? Don't put them out until they are completely feathered out in at least 3 months time.
 
Why are you giving layer food? Give this only when they start laying.

First - They need one heat lamp in their brooder. If they pile up on top of each other, they are too cold; if they spread out and away from the lamp, they are too hot. What are you using as bedding in the brooder? Shavings work fine. Keep them contained and in a draft free room. The light has to be on 24/7 and lift the lamp as they start to grow. Watch them carefully and gauge the lamp so they are not too hot or too cold. They will tell you when they are comfortable.

Second - Feed chick starter mash - mix plain, unflavored yogurt and chick starter into a relatively damp crumble and give it to them. You may need to put a little in their beaks and show them where it is. Watch the to make sure they are eating and drinking. The yogurt gives them bacteria they'd normally get from eating their mothers' poo. Boil a few eggs and crumble the whole egg, not just the yolk and feed that.

Third - Add SuperBoost - 1/4 tsp to 1 gallon of water and do this every 24 hours for at least 4 days. Its a combination of vitamins, minerals and a general antibiotic.

Forth - Check for pasty butt; check to see that their vents are clear and if they seem stopped up, clean their butts with water and a soft cloth very thoroughly.

Are this birds in a brooder in the house? Don't put them out until they are completely feathered out in at least 3 months time.
I have 65 chickens. I have raised them all. I have raised over 100. I know all of this. I have done all of this. These chickens are 9 weeks. Still in the house. I am not asking how to raise a chick. I am asking why they are dying. It's not Mareks. They don't have pasty butt. As I stated before, they were on chick start but I ran out. Everything here closed because it was cold. I didn't know everything would close just because it was cold. I am not from here. I am giving them layer pellets until I can get chick start. It's only been 3 days.
 
I have 65 chickens. I have raised them all. I have raised over 100. I know all of this. I have done all of this. These chickens are 9 weeks. Still in the house. I am not asking how to raise a chick. I am asking why they are dying. It's not Mareks. They don't have pasty butt. As I stated before, they were on chick start but I ran out. Everything here closed because it was cold. I didn't know everything would close just because it was cold. I am not from here. I am giving them layer pellets until I can get chick start. It's only been 3 days.
Lay pellets have too much calcium for chicks, period, so that could be part of the problem as in visceral and/or kidney problems. Could also be coccidiosis - what do their poops looks like? Have they lost weight? Below is a weight chart for you average sized egg laying pullet:

Source:http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ps046
Table 2.
Example of target body weights during the rearing of replacement pullets.

Age
(weeks)

Body weight
(Pounds)

(Grams)
1

0.14

65
2

0.24

110
3

0.40

180
4

0.55

250
5

0.71

320
6

0.88

400
7

1.10

500
8

1.28

580
9

1.50

680

10

1.70

770
11

1.92

870
12

2.09

950
13

2.27

1030
14

2.43

1100
15

2.56

1160
16

2.67

1210
17

2.76

1250
18

2.82

1280
19

2.89

1310
20

3.00

1360

-Kathy
 
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She just died. Does anyone have any idea what might be wrong? I know how to raise chickens. I have googled, I have read my chicken books. I can't find anything about this. Right now, everyone that is left looks fine but this one looked fine 3 hours ago. It's getting faster. I don't want them all to die. They have not been out with the rest of my chickens. I think it is very odd that it has only been my female Bielfelders. They are not smaller or weaker than the others.
 
Poop pictures are needed here and you need to get a baseline weight on the rest of you chicks and start to weigh them daily. Healthy chicks should gain weight on a daily basis - No weight gain or loss of weight means they are sick! Get a scale and start weighing them. Also get some chick starter ASAP!

-Kathy
 
She just died. Does anyone have any idea what might be wrong? I know how to raise chickens. I have googled, I have read my chicken books. I can't find anything about this. Right now, everyone that is left looks fine but this one looked fine 3 hours ago. It's getting faster. I don't want them all to die. They have not been out with the rest of my chickens. I think it is very odd that it has only been my female Bielfelders. They are not smaller or weaker than the others.
Get a necropsy done:
Thompson-Bishop-Sparks State Diag. Laboratory
890 Simms Road, PO Box 2209
Auburn, AL 36832 Phone 334-844-4987 Fax 334-844-7206
http://labs.alabama.gov/home/area-laboratories/thompson-bishop-sparks-state-diagnostic-laboratory

Ignore the CA specific details

How to Send a Bird for a Necropsy

They need the whole bird, refrigerated, not frozen. If you live in CA, there are four labs that do necropsies on poultry (chickens, turkeys, waterfowl) for free. I know that they do out of state necropsies, but I think they charge for those. You could call them and ask what they charge for out of state "backyard poultry". The lab I use is the one in Tulare, CA. If you are in CA, call them and ask for their FedEx account number, it will save a bunch on shipping charges.

CAHFS
18830 Road 112
Tulare, CA 93274-9042
(559) 688-7543
(559) 686-4231 (FAX)
[email protected]



The other labs are listed here:
http://www.cahfs.ucdavis.edu/services/lab_locations.cfm


If it's Friday, unless you want to overnight for Saturday delivery, I would suggest shipping on Monday for Tuesday delivery. What you need to do, if you haven't already done so, is put your bird in your refrigerator, NOT the freezer! Then you need to find a box, line it with styrofoam (I use the 4'x8'x1" stuff from Home Depot. You can also get smaller pieces at an art store like Michael's, but is way more expensive. Click here to see foam options. You'll also need at least one ice pack. Here are some pictures that I took of the last bird that I sent:

Box lined with foam on four sides and bottom. Seams of foam taped sealed.


Box, sides, bottom and and top.


Frozen ice pack in ziplock baggie.


Brown paper on top of ice pack.


Hen in ziplock baggie on top of brown paper.


Brown paper on top of hen.


Ice pack on top of brown paper.


Lid on top of brown paper.

Inside the box you should also include a submission form in a ziplock baggie. Do not tell anyone at FedEx that you're shipping a dead animal... that seems to really worry them. Just make sure that nothing will leak.

-Kathy
 
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Lay pellets have too much calcium for chicks, period, so that could be part of the problem as in visceral and/or kidney problems. Could also be coccidiosis - what do their poops looks like? Have they lost weight? Below is a weight chart for you average sized egg laying pullet:

Source:http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ps046
Table 2.
Example of target body weights during the rearing of replacement pullets.

Age
(weeks)

Body weight
(Pounds)

(Grams)
1

0.14

65
2

0.24

110
3

0.40

180
4

0.55

250
5

0.71

320
6

0.88

400
7

1.10

500
8

1.28

580
9

1.50

680

10

1.70

770
11

1.92

870
12

2.09

950
13

2.27

1030
14

2.43

1100
15

2.56

1160
16

2.67

1210
17

2.76

1250
18

2.82

1280
19

2.89

1310
20

3.00

1360

-Kathy
Thanks. They have lost weight but yesterday she was fine. I picked up each one and inspected them. How can they loss so much over night? It has only been Monday Tueday and today that they have been eating the layer pellets. Can it kill them that fast? I thought I had another bag of chick start. It was layer pellets. I had no idea the area would close down just because it's cold outside. I added 1/2 teaspoon Corid to their water just in case but it doesn't seem to be making a difference.
 
Thanks. They have lost weight but yesterday she was fine. I picked up each one and inspected them. How can they loss so much over night? It has only been Monday Tueday and today that they have been eating the layer pellets. Can it kill them that fast? I thought I had another bag of chick start. It was layer pellets. I had no idea the area would close down just because it's cold outside. I added 1/2 teaspoon Corid to their water just in case but it doesn't seem to be making a difference.
That is not enough! For far too long people have been using that amount, but I did the math at least three different ways and the powder dose *is* 1.5 teaspoons for the .024% level and 3/4 teaspoon for the .012% level. I even confirmed this with the mfg.

-Kathy
 

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