Baby chick acting weird!

[KamillaRay]

About 5 days ago I bought 6 chicks from TSC. Within 24 hours one had passed away for what seemed like no reason. Now a second chick has begun to make popping or clicking noises, open her mouth as if gasping for breath, jerk her head upwards, sneeze occasionally, and seems a little wobbly when standing. I have raised chicks before but have never had any problems.

 

[Granny Hatchet]

did they inhale some water? Possibly fell in their water dish ? Things you can try, sav=a=chick, sugar or gatoraid mixed in water 50/50, check poop for blood=Corrid, scrambled eggs, vitamins withOUT iron.

 

[azygous]

Where are you brooding these chicks? How large is the space? What is the heat source? How warm is it right below the heat source? How warm is it in the rest of the space? How warm is it in the room or barn or coop or garage where you have the brooder?

Is it real dusty there? Have you had an ant or other insect infestation for which you've sprayed the premises? If so, what was it you sprayed with?

What are you using for bedding in the brooder? Pine shavings? Straw? Is it very dusty? Hamster cedar shavings by any chance? Have you added anything to it to control the odor such as Sweet PDZ or DE?

I'm so sorry you've lost a chick and another seems sick. Chicks can get sick and die from nothing you've done or didn't do. Some have genetic defects that prevent them from ever functioning properly. There's a good chance this is all that's going on and you won't lose any others. But if you can answer the above questions, there may be a clue in there that could help us prevent losing any others.

 

[CKMore]

Since the chicks are experiencing this within 24 hours of receiving them, I would say that if the chickens are getting sick so soon then perhaps they were getting sick before you got them or there maybe an environmental problem within the brooder.

I had a similar problem a few years ago. Baby chicks were getting sick all of a sudden. I took them out of the brooder & placed them in a new brooder. I dumped the old brooder stuff onto the compost pile. The next day there was white mold all over the brooder debris. So I figured the spores were in that brooder & was what was making them sick. Even though when I dumped it I did not see mold at that time.

 

[KamillaRay]

They are in my bedroom in 4 square foot cage that has been used many times before for the same purpose. They are under a heat lamp that is keeping the cage between 80° and 90° depending on where they are. The rest of the room is at 75°. They are on newspaper bedding. I lost one this morning. The other 4 seem perfectly healthy but the one that I lost this morning seemed perfectly healthy a few hours ago.

 

[azygous]

What are you feeding them besides chick starter? What is the mill date on the bag of chick crumbles?

And your cage may be a bit too small for a 250 watt heat lamp. Try using a 75 watt incandescent bulb instead.

You might also want to put down paper towels over the newspaper as it can get slippery and leg problems are more likely.