baby chicks dying please help!!!

[trumpeting_angel]

Good luck! Your darling chick ought to pull through, given how hard you are working for it!

 

[iwltfum]

We decided to try and brood a clutch of chicks early (this week), because of our schedule this summer, and had the same thing happen. Last week's cold was no joke.

Out of 70 birds, we have lost around 20-25 so far (seven DOA, a bunch in the first couple days, and one or two per day up until even today). I've raised several dozen clutches of chicks, some up to 100 chicks at once and I feel very experienced, but it happens some times and I can almost guarantee you it was too cold to ship them (no matter how much the person at the hatchery told you otherwise) and maybe they got placed in a cold part of the truck - could have even been in the back of a freight truck (completely uninsulated) for several hours going down the highway in the middle of the night while it was 0 degrees with a -30 wind chill - the point is you never know and the beginning of March is pretty early to be getting chicks shipped anywhere north of Florida or Texas, period. We placed our order for these chicks mid December so there was no way of knowing the weather and we decided to take the risk of it being cold - and guess what! - it was cold, really cold. Like -15 wind chill for a couple nights here.

It's easy to blame the hatchery and I've been in the position myself where I felt they didn't offer me enough help with my chicks, despite refunding my money. They honestly probably get alot of that after cold spells early in the year and, to be frank, they probably just don't have time to try and troubleshoot everyone's individual problems, plus if they start giving advice and chicks keep dying, then you could turn around and blame them, bureaucracy, liability, blah, blah, blah.

Point is, just do your best and keep your chicks in a way that you know has worked in the past - and that's the best you can do. Don't spend hours stressing and building chairs, shoes, and coddling them - they are chickens, and worst comes to worse, you get more shipped, possibly on a warmer month, and lesson learned.

Cheers and good luck!

 

[sehfergy]

update: the last dark cornish we’ve been nursing turned a good corner a few days ago. he’s eating & drinking on his own. we have been doing pt & he’s been walking more every day. he is way smaller than his clutch mates but seems to be a fighter! he’s not in general population yet. still not sure if he’s going to make it but no evidence of discomfort so we’ll see how it goes. if he can’t recover we’ll euthanize him humanely but for now things are going in the right direction.

thanks for the siggestions here.

 

[IowaChickChick]

we called the hatchery right away about the 4 dead & the 2 that died shortly after arrival. they refunded our $, but were completely useless even when i told them the issue appeared to be affecting the dark cornish disproportionately. it was murray mcmurray hatchery. i have never used them before & will never again. we lost 7/28 chicks. 25%!!! that is not an acceptable degree of loss & i think the loss & their disinterest in having produced such sickly animals demonstrates a shitty operation.

I would recommend calling in and asking for the office manager and letting them know about your experience. They have a 48-hour live guarantee with credits and/or replacements. In my experience they do everything they can to make it right.

 

[petmainia]

Help! I'm having a similar issue except I hatched my chicks. 2 black osterlope crossed with an Ayam Cemani have died. They get all bloated and can't stand then they die within 30 hours of hatching. I only had a 50% hatch rate. From this breed.
I have a 2 day old Cochin Ayam cross and she/he seems to be ok, but lonely. Will she/he get whatever these two have or do you think she/he will make it? This was the only egg from these two. I've had vitamins in the water and the brooder is 90°F with one side out of the heat.

 

[chickitychickity]

Help! I'm having a similar issue except I hatched my chicks. 2 black osterlope crossed with an Ayam Cemani have died. They get all bloated and can't stand then they die within 30 hours of hatching. I only had a 50% hatch rate. From this breed.
I have a 2 day old Cochin Ayam cross and she/he seems to be ok, but lonely. Will she/he get whatever these two have or do you think she/he will make it? This was the only egg from these two. I've had vitamins in the water and the brooder is 90°F with one side out of the heat.

Are you feeding them right after they hatch? It is usually best to wait a day or two before feeding them chick start and then once you begin feeding, have them eat small amounts until adjusted. But realistically there are so many factors during brooding that could have caused bad hatching.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Help! I'm having a similar issue except I hatched my chicks. 2 black osterlope crossed with an Ayam Cemani have died. They get all bloated and can't stand then they die within 30 hours of hatching. I only had a 50% hatch rate. From this breed.
I have a 2 day old Cochin Ayam cross and she/he seems to be ok, but lonely. Will she/he get whatever these two have or do you think she/he will make it? This was the only egg from these two. I've had vitamins in the water and the brooder is 90°F with one side out of the heat.

If you have photos those may help.
You mention they get bloated? Where at - in the abdomen? Were there navels healed? Did you assist any hatch?
Where are you putting the chicks once they hatch - photos?

It's very hard to know what's happening there's so many things that can go wrong. Bloat if it's in the abdomen, I would take a guess that it's infection of the yolk sac.

 

[Lee Nelson]

Dear Petmania, I am sorry for your loss. My experience with Murray Mcmurray Hatchery has been 100% refund for loss. Sometimes breeds (or individual hatches) just don't work out for whatever reason. It cannot be attributed to anything but "serendipity" or "Mother Nature." I have ordered from them for years after having atrocious customer service or complete loss in a particular breed at other hatcheries. Murray McMurray is the best. I have found that out the hard way. They will give you your money back and an apology to boot. No I am not a walking advertisement for Murray, but I have kept chickens for 15 years. This hatchery has proved itself time and time again. Just let them know what is going on and they will refund you gladly.

 

[sehfergy]

i am so sorry this is happening! i wondwr, too, about too-early feeding before they get enough water? another thing to consider is mineral & vitamin deficiencies in the eggs while incubating. even if you provide vitamins & lytes in the water from hatching, those deficiencies can be present from egg laying to hatching if the adult hens are deficient. it can be hard to tell w/ hens, but riboflavin deficiency in particular is really hard to overcome in deficient hatchlings so supplementing the hens can be helpful.

condolences on your losses, i know that is really tough!

 

[petmainia]

So the last chick is fine and very active. I got him/her a friend so now we are all set.