Advice for Cornish cross chicks dying

[jbofky]

I had 150(they actually sent 159) chicks shipped from Cackle on Wednesday 3-30. They were delayed and we picked them up at 7:30 Saturday morning, so they were in transit almost 72 hours. One was DOA, another died within an hour. There were several that weren't moving well, not eating/drinking much. 12 more dead Sunday morning, 3 yesterday, and at least 1 but probably more today. I have an Ohio brooder and don't want to raise it until it warms up a little.

I called cackle yesterday morning and she said that the shipping delay had caused an outbreak of coccidiosis. Try 1tsp ACV per quart of water and if any more chicks die, give sulmet. I've not seen any bloody poop and when they come out from under the hover, they have plenty of energy. I just doubt she diagnosed my problem correctly. What do you all think?

 

[sourland]

I think it may very well be stress related from the 3 day shipping period, but would keep an eye on things. I doubt that 5 day old brooder raised chicks are dying of cocci infestation.

 

[donrae]

Yeah, I totally call BS on the cocci. Where on earth would those chicks have been exposed to it? Not at the hatchery, or in that box. Doesn't matter how long they were shipped, cocci doesn't magically appear like that.

sounds like regular shipping stress to me. I don't know that acv would hurt. I'd go an electrolyte solution route myself, just to help perk them up a little. But I'd think after your initial die-off from shipping, you should be good on the rest of them.

 

[jbofky]

The total that died today was 3.

I noticed just a few minutes ago that there are still one or two that are having trouble walking. They are weak in their legs and hobbling very slowly. I'm feeding a locally sourced non gmo with 21% protein, and all the rest are very active. Does this sound like something I've done or could it be caused by shipping stress? I guess it's possible that a few were injured during shipping.

For future reference, would you all recommend ACV, probiotics, electrolytes, or just plain sugar water unless there's a reason to treat further?

Thanks for all of the help!

 

[blucoondawg]

As long as you are providing heat feed and water you aren't doing anything wrong, it's a bad shipping situation it maybe they somehow got chilled that will cause losses too. I like to give shipped chicks electrolyte mix in their water the first day after that they just get feed and plain water

 

[ejcrist]

I totally sympathize with you and agree the advice you got was off the mark. I'm sure the shipping had an effect. I started my 1st batch of 31 Cornish Crosses two weeks ago and lost two so far, but couldn't see anything wrong that would've caused them to die - no obvious signs of anything. This is only the second batch of chicks that I ever raised so I went over all the usual stuff but wouldn't do anything different than I did. I kept their feeders supplied for the first two weeks and then cut back to feeding morning and afternoon so I'm hoping that minimizes additional losses. My wife raised them years ago and she said she always only fed morning and afternoon and lost few if any. These birds are certainly different than raising regular chicks that's for sure. I hope yours all continue to do ok.

 

[reitzm98]

we lost 2 at about 4 weeks and 1 today at 6 1/2 weeks. Is this normal? I thought I read somewhere to expect to lose 10-30%. This would be 3 of 10. Each time they started to act very tired for about a day or so before they died. We are feeding organic starter mixed with conventional meat feed. Should I be worried, or is this normal?

 

[twisted-acres-farm]

The total that died today was 3.

I noticed just a few minutes ago that there are still one or two that are having trouble walking. They are weak in their legs and hobbling very slowly. I'm feeding a locally sourced non gmo with 21% protein, and all the rest are very active. Does this sound like something I've done or could it be caused by shipping stress? I guess it's possible that a few were injured during shipping.

For future reference, would you all recommend ACV, probiotics, electrolytes, or just plain sugar water unless there's a reason to treat further?

Thanks for all of the help!

I always use acv from day one with my chicks definitely helps with pasty butt. Once they are feathered I stop. I also always order from cackle and have never had any problems with them . Whose fault was the delay ?? were they insured ?? might be worth trying cackle again for a partial refund or the po

just my 2 cents. and now I am broke

 

[ejcrist]

we lost 2 at about 4 weeks and 1 today at 6 1/2 weeks. Is this normal? I thought I read somewhere to expect to lose 10-30%. This would be 3 of 10. Each time they started to act very tired for about a day or so before they died. We are feeding organic starter mixed with conventional meat feed. Should I be worried, or is this normal?

I'm very new to chickens in general and broilers in particular, and my take on it is that it is fairly normal based on everything I read. I lost a total of 3 out of 31 now coming up on 3 weeks this Friday. I get the feeling though that if you refine your raising techniques and nail down the timing, amount, and type of feed that you can minimize your losses quite a bit. I know I'm going to get this stuff figured out for my particular setup and location because I really want to raise my own meat birds from now on. Despite the difficulty I'm finding it a lot of fun and look forward to some BBQ.

 

[reitzm98]

I'm very new to chickens in general and broilers in particular, and my take on it is that it is fairly normal based on everything I read. I lost a total of 3 out of 31 now coming up on 3 weeks this Friday. I get the feeling though that if you refine your raising techniques and nail down the timing, amount, and type of feed that you can minimize your losses quite a bit. I know I'm going to get this stuff figured out for my particular setup and location because I really want to raise my own meat birds from now on. Despite the difficulty I'm finding it a lot of fun and look forward to some BBQ.

They do taste delicious! We did a batch last year but only lost 1 at about 2 weeks. I just worry I'm doing something wrong. I don't want to make my family sick.