A disease that needs quarantine or just failure to thrive?

[kre8ive1]

Hi! I am a new chicken mom. I hope this isn't repetitive but I couldn't find the answer to my question exactly. I got our first chicks on Wed 12/2. We ordered six chicks and upon opening the box two were obviously not doing well. I thought one was dead already but it wasn't.

When I got them home I put them into the brooder and after a couple of hours under the heat lamp they really perked right up. The two "runts" however still didn't seem quite right. Sometimes when I checked on them they all seemed to be up and about and doing well, but then other times the two runts would just be lying there while the other four were running around eating, drinking, etc. Slowly but surely the two runts just really did not seem to be doing well and this morning the worst of the two runts died and the second one looks to be on her way out too.

After losing two nights of sleep and doing nothing but reading everything I possibly can it seems to me it's just failure to thrive for whatever reason. However I just want to be sure they don't have a disease of some kind and are infecting/have infected the four that are thriving. I have seen no bloody poop so I don't think it's coccidiosis. Although these sick chicks have some of those symptoms (lethargy, poor appetite)

The things I've read about failure to thrive said that absorbing the yolk after being hatched is what allows them to live for three days and then because they have whatever wrong with them, they don't eat...aren't getting nutrients...the yolk is used up and then they die. That seems logical to me especially since it's been three days and that one died this morning.

So...in this long-winded question all I really need to know is how do you know if they have a disease or if it's just failure to thrive? Thank you so much. I love BYC!

 

[kre8ive1]

Well the second "runt" died just a few minutes ago.

I'm going to chalk it up to failure to thrive as the remaining four are almost twice the size of the ones that died and are doing well. If it is some kind of disease, live and learn I guess, but I'm hoping it's not and the remaining four continue to do well. If you have any insight I would still appreciate hearing about it. Thanks!

 

[OrganicFarmWife]

You could post this question in the emergency disease and injury forum, you might get a better answer. But it really sounds like failure to thrive to me, or just the stress of transport affected them worse then the healthier chicks.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

I personally think sometimes they aren't made correctly and they don't make it, but most of the time I think the stress of shipping gets them as well as they get low blood sugar from all the moving around. I always put a teaspoon of brown sugar to a quart of water for the first week to give them a quick energy source to get them going, I've never seen it in when hatched chicks, just shipped chicks, so they can survive three days without eating but they really need to get something as early as possible and brown sugar works well, others will use a purchased product.

 

[Folly's place]

So sorry, but it does happen, and you tried. Have you contacted the seller? Many hatcheries will refund the purchase price, or help in some way. Mary

 

[kre8ive1]

You could post this question in the emergency disease and injury forum, you might get a better answer. But it really sounds like failure to thrive to me, or just the stress of transport affected them worse then the healthier chicks.

I thought I did...ha ha! Then I looked at the top right when I pressed send and saw that it said "raising chicks."

 

[kre8ive1]

Thanks everyone! I came to the conclusion that they just weren't right from the beginning since they were doing so poorly out of the box. Also, I did contact the hatchery (Meyer) and they were very helpful and gave me a refund immediately.