Baby chicks died

[Grimm]

It's kind of a mechanical failure! One poor little one had it so bad, about an inch & a half of poop shot out when I got the stuck poop off its little butt!

That's what happens. I have been able to catch the pasty butt early enough that while I am cleaning them with a warm wet towel they are stimulated to poop. Its like when you have a bottle feeding baby kitten or puppy. You need to stimulate them to eliminate after feedings.

 

[rides2far]

Well, it sure caught me by surprise!

 

[Blooie]

I'm from the opposite school, and I hate to confuse the issue. But like a lot of other people who have been at this game much longer than I have, I just can't see how a chick can build up any immunity if the opportunity isn't there. I brood my chicks outdoors in the run - I put an x-pen from my old dog training days in there, Mama Heating Pad and a cave of straw, and they do the rest. They decide when they want a little warm up, they decide when they want to explore, and they decide when they want to eat and drink. At night, as the sun goes down, they head into the cave or snuggle on top of it, and sleep the whole night through. In the morning they are up and raring to go. I don't separate them from the other, older chicks and older chickens except with that little bit of wire between them. The floor of their brooder is the same litter that all the chicks and chickens have been on, with the caveat that I do remove the top layer of bedding and put new down for them. I really don't know if that makes a difference, since within hours they've scratched down to the original layer, but I feel better with them having some fresh.

Even chicks that were brooded in the house were given a big clump of sod from outside, which they promptly ripped to shreds, enjoying themselves immensely. As the sod breaks down, they dust bathe in the dirt left behind. I haven't lost a chick yet, mine are totally integrated with the rest of the flock by no later than 5 weeks, and they are strong, healthy, curious and happy. And best of all, I'm not all stressed out - I actually get to enjoy them.

 

[rides2far]

I did give mine some dirt; however, I noticed the pasty butt within 30 minutes of getting them home. I think they must have had it at the feed store. Once I 'doctored' them once or twice, the problems went away. They are now very healthy 12 week olds. BTW, I have been following your mama brooder thread & I willl definitely be using a heating pad next time

. Your video is so cute.

 

[Grimm]

I waited until my current chicks were 2 weeks before I gave them the dust bath. I wanted to make sure they were no longer stressed from shipping and all happy in the brooder. They are in the same brooder the hens were in when they were fluffybutts. I didn't sterilize everything but I have been trying to keep decent bio-security between the 2 groups. Once the weather warms up the babies will go out in the playpen during the day so they can see the hens.

I'm sure the hens will be okay with them seeing how they didn't mess with one of the chicks they brooded with that was stunted in development. That little one would nest under "Mama's" wings for warmth. Mama didn't mind but at 7 weeks old she didn't have any mothering instincts.

The reason I am keeping them separate is my older girls are from a local lady and we had 5 out of the 8 die before 8 weeks old. That is if you count the last one which my husband culled. The new babies are from a hatchery and are a lot more active and overall healthier than the older girls were. Just making sure I give the babies every chance to survive and thrive.

 

[Blooie]

Yep, pasty butt is an entity all to itself! I wondered last year with my first batch of chicks how in the world 22 chicks could have 120 butts! Life for days was a never-ending drudge of washing butts and oiling butts, then worrying whether I missed one somewhere! This year I did have two chicks out of one batch of 11, one batch of 4, and one batch of 8 with pasty butt. But one or two treatments and they were over it and it didn't come back

Theories about pasty butt abound. Too hot, too cold, wrong food, not enough water, stress - sometimes I think all of the theories are just subtle ways to put us on guilt trips, like we need another reason for that!

The two cases I had this year came to me that way. I tend to go with the shipping stress theory, especially after Beekissed pointed out that we never see pasty butt on chicks being raised under a broody. Now, how can that be unless Mom knows something we don't? She sees something on their feathers that shouldn't be there and she just pecks it off. End of story.

I think the issue in the OP's case is that he/she doesn't KNOW why her chicks died, and that's what was being asked. For some reason the topic got on pasty butt and everyone sorta stayed there, assuming that was it. I am leaning more toward coccidia, not that I am an expert. That pesky protozoa lives in all chickens, but when they are stressed or even a little weak it just multiplies like crazy and overloads the chick's natural ability to cope with it. They usually have a "manageable" level of it and build up their immunity to it slowly. But if it takes over, then the chicks just can't fight it anymore. So if was me, I'd be giving the remaining chicks Corid. It most likely won't hurt them if they don't need it, but could be a life or death difference if they do.

Edited to add: Thanks for the good words about the heating pad method...it works, it really does!

 

[chickengeorgeto]

I am having problems with our baby chicks dying and hoping someone can let me know if I am doing something wrong because I do not want to lose anymore. The first chicks were shipped to us and I gave them electrolytes right away and fed them a non medicated starter feed. I started losing one a day. They would seem fine and when checked on a couple hours later there would be a dead one. I also gave them a probiotic but that did not help. I then switched them to a medicated feed. 1 chick survived out of 11. Then I hatched some shipped eggs. Same thing happened again. This time though I gave the electrolytes and probiotic right from the start
and also the medicated feed. I added scrambled eggs once they started dying again. None survived. Temp in brooder is good with plenty of room to go if they get to hot. The only other thing I noticed is that they had poopy butts. What else do I need to do? I am very sad that I lost almost all of our chicks. By the way these are silkies in case it makes a difference.

I did clean there butts every time I saw it. Is there something that causes it?

If they really are suffering from "white pasty butt" I am afraid that your chicks and hatching eggs are infected with what the old timers called White Bacillus Diarrhea, It is better known today as Poultry Typhoid Disease aka Pullorum disease. This disease is the most fanatically serious and deadly (to baby chicks) disease on the planet.

It can't be cured, and any bird that survives Pullorum will become a Typhoid carrier for life. While Pullorum Disease can be transferred horizontally (from bird to bird) the more common mode of transmission is from mother hen to her chicks through the eggs. If you have Pullorum be advised that the only cure is to depopulate the flock. Anyone who ships eggs or chicks in interstate commerce is required to have a certificate stating that their flock has been tested and that it is Pullorum Disease free before they can ship eggs or chicks across state lines.

http://inspection.gc.ca/animals/ter...se/fact-sheet/eng/1344181819473/1344194671356

If you have Pullorum in your flock then you as well as any vet etc that you employ is required by law to report your flock to the authorities.

 

[rides2far]

I have learned so much from this site. I have just enough info to be dangerous! It humbles me. I have a lot to learn about poultry.