6 chicks on Thursday, I died yesterday.

[Charisse]

We bought 6 chicks on Thursday and by Saturday one was dead and another one is looking questionable. We have them under a heat lamp in a feed trough. They have growth start that they scratch, and eat and we bought some sav-a-chick and put it in the water. I cleaned the bottom of the one that is in question, yesterday. It had dry poop on her backside and it was blocking her from going more bm. I wonder if the light is too much, and if they need to get out in the fresh air yet? They are 5 days old. Any input would be appreciated. The one who died, wouldn't eat and we were hydrating her with the water solution. And we also have pine shavings at the bottom.

 

[ginger c.]

so sorry to hear of your loss, hang in there, sorry i'm not much help with what to do we're very new to this. the other folks on BYC are great and will let you know everything you need to know.

 

[Bengalcats1]

If they can't poo they will die so keep their bottoms clean, I just brought a baby back from what looked like near death doing kayro syrup or sugar and water and polyvisol baby vitamins, so far he is doing great.......and No they don't need to go outside yet, I don't know what the weather is but they need a lot of warmth so I wouldn't take them out yet.

 

[ranchhand]

Welcome to BYC, sorry it's under sad circumstances.

What's the temp at chick level in your brooder? I have found that slightly lower temps are safer than too high. I tend to use less heat than most - when they say 95F, I say 90F. If they can't get away from the heat lamp they may stay too warm.

 

[Wayne&Kim1963]

When I have chicks like that I put 1cc of tylan 200 in their water to 1 quart of water.. I call it pastey butt. It is form of diarrhea. I will also boil eggs and mash the with potatoe masher shells and all and add some oatmeal to it and feed that to whole group.. Gives them some nutrients. I store it in refridg and give them some on plate in their box. I always clean off their bottoms.. Wet paper towel helps to get them clean

 

[Tikkijane]

Do some searching for pasty butt here- lots of good info. Agree with the heat- the can get warmer by huddling together, but they can cook if too hot and can't get away from light.

You might also want to think about giving plain yogurt- we put crumble in to get them eating it at first, but now we don't have to. Good luck!