Baby chicks are dying and not sure why

[chickengal2010]

We bought 8 baby chicks from Tractor Supply on Friday 3/13 they are very little and still have crust from their belly cord but were doing fine. We got them home and put them in a tote like container with a wire lid and placed a heat lamp over them. We gave them water and starter food and they were doing great. Later that night we went to check on them and 2 were laying down and soaking wet. After a little research we found out they had sour crop and with further research were able to treat it and they were lively again in a few hours. Saturday morning rolls around and they are all fine again. Sunday arrives and the one from Friday night and a different one were ill and not chirping and laying over almost motionless. No sour crop and they were dry. After force feeding them a little water every half hour or so and spending all day confined and under heat lamp they passed away Sunday night. Now I wake up to find another one dead this morning. Whats happening? Is it because they are so little or did we do something wrong? The others are doing great and thriving. Any advice would be helpful, thank you.

 

[BusyBearMama]

I got 6 tsc chicks recently, by the time we got home 4 were floppy, I had only peeked in before then and they certainly weren't very perky and they were very small. I'd never bought from a feed store either. I placed them in the brooder with the proper temp and warm water and proper food and bedding and within a few hours there were only 2 left. They're scrawny and jumpy but they seem ok though I just logged on because I have a minor concern that they aren't infact the breed they are supposed to be, though they might well be, I don't know what hatchery was used and I'm not going to call and complain. They refunded me for the sick chicks and said sometimes they do that after they come in, which they had just done and they like to keep them an hour or so but sometimes some have just been through too much already. They didn't have what I wanted for a replacement and I went and got replacements at agway where they had healthy looking lively normal seeming chicks and aside from one of them Being runty and needing a but if extra tlc they appear in much better condition and seem like regular healthy chicks. Tsc also informed me they don't get vaccinated chicks and they had been shipped in very cold conditions so who knows but the two who are fine never showed any signs of distress and have been just fine, I didn't do anything wrong and its possible you didn't either. Though I can't really ever say without looking at soneobes set up. But the fact that you had done what you had and that some seem ok... It could really be the chicks. I was there last week and they have 2 week old chicks in a 95 degree brooder and they were giving huge pellet food to the bantams and a woman was getting the employees to fill the waterers because they were ALL empty and the ducks were starting to look ill over it... I love tsc but I don't think I'm going to get any birds there again :-/ they just don't seem to know what they're doing like I think they should & they aren't kept informed about the Incoming chicks either. Bad communication and execution all around with that :-/ sorry to hear about your issues, wish I had some advice for you, maybe someone will know something to do :-/

 

[newmarch2014]

So, this is my 2nd year raising chicks but I am going to relate my experience from last year since I learned a bit last year and so far have avoided as many problems. I got 6 chicks and all were doing seemingly great for a few days but one started getting really lethargic. She layed down and the others were tramping her and she was barely flinching but if I picked her up she would lift her head. I isolated her and did the following 1) put electrolyte water in a dish and then to trick her into drinking (since she would not drink) I sprinkled a little feed in the electrolyte water. I just layed her very close and she did peck at the moving specks which got a bit of the electrolyte water into her. after doing this for about an hour every 10 minutes or so she was strong enough to sit upright so then I switched to water treated with corrid (she and some others had runny though not bloody poop) the recommend was that it does not hurt to treat while not treating if you are not sure about coccidosis can prove deadly. I still floated the specs of food in the water every 20 min or so (she didnt like the full on wet mash that some recommended but would pick out and eat (while getting some fluid) about 20 pieces each time. after a day of thinking she was a goner and getting up in the middle of the night each hour to do as I wrote, she started improving. after a week she was only 1/2 the size of the other chicks but alive. She is now 2nd in the pecking order and one of my best layers and caught up in size after a month. By the way I treated the rest of the flock for coccidosis with the corrid just in case and their poop stopped being runny after about 3 days so I am thinking the coccidosis was just proliferating way to much for the sick one to handle it while the others were fighting it better. Once I treated them they all seemed to be more hungry and gain way faster.

 

[BusyBearMama]

Oh I'm glad you mentioned that! I had a runty chick last October and we had to do a lot to perk her up. She's gorgeous now! And after our sicklings this year I did treat the two survivors and clean them up before introducing the new chicks. The others were in far too bad shape when they got home but I really think these little girlies(?) are gonna be fine. One is trying to fly already and its wings are really getting big!!

 

[BusyBearMama]

Its so hard when you get them places there are just so many variables :-/

 

[newmarch2014]

"Its so hard when you get them places there are just so many variables :-/"
I agree, the best thing is to anticipate the problems and be ready. Now I know, new chicks = electrolyte (even taking some with to the feedstore in a little container to give them before you leave if it is a long drive home or hot car) and corrid on hand so that the treatment can start right away if the runny poops doesn't improve or start. And which hazel to clean pasty butt or epsom salt soak, both reduce swelling.

 

[BusyBearMama]

Oh and you can find alcohol free witch hazel at homestead baby . Com

 

[song of joy]

Double and triple check your brooder temperature, as it can get really hot, really fast in plastic totes. The temperature at chick level under the heat source should be no warmer than 90 degrees F, but on the cooler side of the brooder (away from the heat source) it should be around 80 to 85.

 

[chickengal2010]

Thank you all for the advice and sharing your experiences with us. We currently have 4 that are thriving and healthy, they are eating, drinking, and no runny poop. Also I called tsc and they said some come in dead in the shipment for various reasons. They are willing to replace the chicks and duck that we lost and we are going to give the chicks the medicine for coccidosis just to make sure. Hopefully they continue to thrive. Best of luck to all of you with your chickens!