baby chicks dying please help!!!

[Wyorp Rock]

we lost 4 dark cornish, the one sick one left is dark cornish-he looks pretty good but is lame-he can’t walk. had chick shoes on for 2 days, took them off & toes not curled but still can’t walk. his legs aren’t out to the side so not sure if spraddle or just weak. i thought i’d try a chair, but not sure at all what i’m doing.

how long in the chair? how many times a day? are there other things i can do to strengthen his legs? should i try leg hobbles instead?

chicks were immunized so no medicated feed. no diarrhea. i’ve been giving vitamins/lytes/mash/brewer’s yeast every 3 hours w/ a dropper, the one still alive is doing well except he can’t walk (see reply message above).

2 died over the weekend, they were too far gone i guess. 2 others died last week 12 hours after arrival , looked normal initially, died very quickly (all dark cornish). 4 dead on arrival of 2 different other breeds, probably cold & shipping stress.

Brewer's yeast is good for B Vitamins, b-2(Riboflavin) for leg health.
I would try a chair.
Depends on how you make the chair I suppose. Most people leave them in the chair for several hours at a time. Just make sure the food/water is there so they can reach it but not drown in water. You can try gently massaging the legs too.

I'm sure you have contacted the hatchery, but if all one breed is dying, then that's a strong case that genetics is playing a role.
DOA chicks, very sad, but I would mark those up to shipping.

 

[sehfergy]

Brewer's yeast is good for B Vitamins, b-2(Riboflavin) for leg health.
I would try a chair.
Depends on how you make the chair I suppose. Most people leave them in the chair for several hours at a time. Just make sure the food/water is there so they can reach it but not drown in water. You can try gently massaging the legs too.

I'm sure you have contacted the hatchery, but if all one breed is dying, then that's a strong case that genetics is playing a role.
DOA chicks, very sad, but I would mark those up to shipping.

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.

 

[sehfergy]

Brewer's yeast is good for B Vitamins, b-2(Riboflavin) for leg health.
I would try a chair.
Depends on how you make the chair I suppose. Most people leave them in the chair for several hours at a time. Just make sure the food/water is there so they can reach it but not drown in water. You can try gently massaging the legs too.

I'm sure you have contacted the hatchery, but if all one breed is dying, then that's a strong case that genetics is playing a role.
DOA chicks, very sad, but I would mark those up to shipping.

here’s a pic in the chick chair. watching him/her closely. not terribly unhappy but not ecstatic

 

[rebrascora]

Be careful you don't cook that chick whilst it is in the chair. It can't get out of the heat and the water will get warm too, so it will have no way to cool down. Better to be slightly cold as too hot. It should cheep when it is cold to let you know.

 

[sehfergy]

Be careful you don't cook that chick whilst it is in the chair. It can't get out of the heat and the water will get warm too, so it will have no way to cool down. Better to be slightly cold as too hot. It should cheep when it is cold to let you know.

yes i’m sitting right next to the brooder supervising. he lasted in the chair about 10-15 minutes & then got very upset so i took him out. will sit him in the chair every few hours for 10-15 min to see if it helps.

 

[JSIDEWAYS]

i just had my 3rd baby chick die in only 6 days & i don’t know what to do. i have 2 other sick/slow ones that i’ve sequestered & i’m concerned about.

background: ordered 28 from murray mcmurray & 4 were dead in the box. we got the other 24 settled in the brooder & they looked good-drinking, eating, moving around. the next morning 2 more were dead. all others behaving fine. day 3, 2 of them started to look weird-weak, unable to get up. thought maybe riboflavin deficiency so started supplementing w/ vitamins, electrolytes. we didn’t add lytes/vitamins on day one as we’ve never had to.

we have hand fed these 2 sick ones w/ a dropper every 2 hours & they are holding their own, but it’s upm& down. day 5 (yesterday) a 3rd one was suddenly week so we brought it out of the main brooder & started same treatment w/ hand feeding. today the 3rd one kept getting more & more lethargic & i just found it dead.

so a total of 7/28 chicks has died within 6 days of hatching, 4 in transit & 3 within 5 days of arrival. i have called mcmurray multiple times & they are totally useless. i am so worried about these last two & the whole clutch frankly. they are immunized & from different breeds. we have thermometer is the brooder & are watching them like hawks. they are not having diarrhea.

i’ve been raising baby chicks for years & never had losses like this!! any advice? what am i missing?

This is my own opinion, but when you’ve received 4/28 dead right away it isn’t a good sign. When we get 60-100, I consider over 2 dead a bad shipping situation. Sometimes they can be only in the mail for two days and still have a hard time because it was too cold. When we get more than 2 dead we do electrolytes and probiotic. The electrolytes seem to get them up and moving. After that, I seperate the weaker ones and give them some Nutri Dench. Sometimes there is nothing you can do and you feel hopeless. Hatcheries don’t care if they die once they are in your care. It sucks but I understand their reasoning. I wish you luck.

 

[JSIDEWAYS]

I am having the same problem but got them from local farm store. Got 20 on sunday, 10 each Black Australorp and Silver laced wyandotte. The only thing we did differently is not putting the stuff to prevent coccidiosis in their water because they were out. Stopping to get that tonight as well as the nutri drench. Called the store and they are going to reace the 3. Hopefully we can save the rest.

 

[sehfergy]

I am having the same problem but got them from local farm store. Got 20 on sunday, 10 each Black Aistralorp and Silver laced wyandotte. The only thing we did differently is not putting the stuff to prevent coccidiosis in their water because they were out. Stopping to get that tonight as well as the nutri drench. Hopefully can save the rest.

i would highly recommend adding riboflavin to the water as well, i think this was the issue w/ our chicks b/c the first signs were lameness & curled toes-it came on suddenly. you can buy riboflavin drops at walgreens &/or add brewer’s yeast to their food. good luck! i hope things go well!

 

[rebrascora]

Forgot to say how very sorry I am that you have had so many losses. I agree that some will undoubtedly be travel stress, especially if the temperatures are cold where you are and in the future it might be wise to wait until spring has sprung before having an order of chicks despatched. There is no knowing how these boxes of chicks are handled and stored in transit and some will undoubtedly be treated with more respect than others but waiting to order during the warmer months will give them a much better chance of survival in my opinion.

 

[sehfergy]

Forgot to say how very sorry I am that you have had so many losses. I agree that some will undoubtedly be travel stress, especially if the temperatures are cold where you are and in the future it might be wise to wait until spring has sprung before having an order of chicks despatched. There is no knowing how these boxes of chicks are handled and stored in transit and some will undoubtedly be treated with more respect than others but waiting to order during the warmer months will give them a much better chance of survival in my opinion.

thanks. yes, agreed. i could kick myself. i actually called the hatchery a few days before shipment b/c i saw the forecast called for such cold temps & they assured me it would be fine. i have never used mail order before, we have always gone to hatcheries within a couple hours for exactly this reason. i don’t think i’ll ever do mail order again-certainly never from mcmurray-unless, as you point out, i try later in the season whem temps are more moderate. interestingly we got FOUR day-old ducklings shipped from california the same day, took 2 days to arrive & they were & have been fine.

anyways, crossing my fingers this runt of the litter who’s struggling can recover. 19/28 have done great w/out issues so there’s a silver lining i guess.