All Babies Dying 😭

[azygous]

Water. What is your water source? Unfiltered well water high in iron can harbor bacteria. As @LaFleche says, feed can be tainted. I've been here on BYC so darned long, I've seen both water and feed kill new chicks. Coccidiosis is a third common culprit. Overheating is a fourth.

 

[HeatherKellyB]

Water. What is your water source? Unfiltered well water high in iron can harbor bacteria. As @LaFleche says, feed can be tainted. I've been here on BYC so darned long, I've seen both water and feed kill new chicks. Coccidiosis is a third common culprit. Overheating is a fourth.

I didn't know that about the well water, so thank you for sharing and always helping us do the best we can for our birds. How is this bacteria managed? Thank you

 

[aart]

I'm betting on crowding and over-heating.
Pics of brooder set up will tell that tale.
Necropsy may be the only way to determine if it's some disease.

 

[azygous]

If you suspect well water is behind these chick deaths, start giving bottled water until you can get the well water tested. Your health department can tell you how to do it.

Many years ago, there was a thread just like this one where every batch of chicks died. They were at a loss as to why it was happening. Nothing more from the OP on that thread for an entire year.

When the thread was finally updated, the story was startling. The OP and their family had to move out of their house due to the water being badly contaminated. So that's been stuck at the back of my mind ever since, and I recall the sad tale every time I read a thread where chicks are dying en masse for no apparent reason.

Well water high in iron can be a problem due to iron binding with bacteria and supporting it. Your water should be tested to rule this out if you use well water, especially if you notice red rust stains on everything.

 

[MGG]

If you suspect well water is behind these chick deaths, start giving bottled water until you can get the well water tested. Your health department can tell you how to do it.

Many years ago, there was a thread just like this one where every batch of chicks died. They were at a loss as to why it was happening. Nothing more from the OP on that thread for an entire year.

When the thread was finally updated, the story was startling. The OP and their family had to move out of their house due to the water being badly contaminated. So that's been stuck at the back of my mind ever since, and I recall the sad tale every time I read a thread where chicks are dying en masse for no apparent reason.

Well water high in iron can be a problem due to iron binding with bacteria and supporting it. Your water should be tested to rule this out if you use well water, especially if you notice red rust stains on everything.

Wow, I never would have thought about that. So sad, yet somewhat interesting.

 

[aart]

Wonders too if it's the heat lamp.
Heat lamps that are not specifically made for poultry can have a 'shatterproof' teflon coating on them that is highly toxic to birds.

 

[CHlCKEN]

I had around 15 chicks I hatched, that were 3 or 4 days old. I picked up 4 polish at the feed store and stupidly did not quarantine.

They were on medicated food, in my living room, in a plastic tub with a heat lamp. A couple got trompled I thought because they were on their backs being stepped on. They died the next day. Then I began losing 1 or 2 a day. I was told it was probably coccidiosis so I swapped out the food for non medicated and started them on corrid. Day 2 on Corid, I just lost two more. They are insanely lethargic before they died, cry constantly, and their poop has a sickly sweet smell. And it comes on all at once. I have not seen any bloody poo in the bedding.

Please help, what am I missing?

I never buy from feeds stores because of this. I have to tell you I don’t think any will survive I’m so sorry- however, you can save them if this certain thing is the problem; If there isn’t a cool space in the brooder and the chicks are being overheated all the time their intestinal lining will begin to fall out and they will die. Check the temp, it should go down 5 degrees every day, starting at 95 degrees Fahrenheit. You can tell if they are hot if they are staying as far from the heat lamp as possible and as spaced out from each other as possible. They need an area that’s cool without heat to, where their fold and water should be and For them to be able to cool of there. One other thing is that the food you used before could have been bad, moldy or expired which could have caused something in their digestive track to kill them. If you still have one of the dead chicks or if you find another dead maybe it would be worth getting a necropsy. I’m so sorry this happened and the baby chicks really didn’t deserve this, you didn’t deserve it either.

 

[CHlCKEN]

I'm betting on crowding and over-heating.
Pics of brooder set up will tell that tale.
Necropsy may be the only way to determine if it's some disease.

I always give water from my water purifier just in case the tap water isn’t good for them. Then I clean out the water bottle really well every week

 

[Coffeebean1947]

Sorry I haven't been back on in so long. Getting ready for virtual school to start, etc.
So what I've gathered from my research, it was some sort of fungal infection. The two surviving chicks from the original group are still quite small and have no feathers around their eyes or bums. I sanitized waters, feeders, and tubs and also moved them to an unairconditioned room because they were staying colder than I liked. Here are the brooders. The white light is the new hatchlings and the red light is the survivers and older babies. Just cleaned out the bedding and left the thermometer outside so will have to get a reading tomorrow.

 

[Coffeebean1947]

Our numbers are holding pretty steady now. I've never seen anything like it. Still have no idea where whatever it was came from unless it was the water. The city tested it and deemed it safe now at least. I had them on bottled water for over a week just Incase there was still something in the lines. We are on city water. They had a power outage at the treatment plant and did a horrible job communicating the boil water notice.

The oldest surviver is almost 4 weeks old. Their poop is Tanish brown color now. It was a dark green color and thick when they were all dying. I'm feeding non medicated chick starter right now. I smelled all food I had at the time and smelled fine but tried several different brands with no change.