Baby chicks dying

[Jhogo]

I'm new to raising chicks, but thought I did a lot of research before getting them.

We got 8 day-old chicks last week, 6 houdans and 2 araucanas. We lost one overnight on the second night, and another shortly after on that morning. We've then lost another chick on the subsequent 2 nights, both passing early in the morning.

They all seem to get sleepy/lethargic during the day before, and I think they're only really pretending to eat more than anything when they others go for a feed. They are definitely slower to respond than the others. Then they slowly decline. So far we've left them in with the others.

One of the houdans passed this morning, and now the last araucana looks very lethargic, I'm extremely worried it isn't going to make it...

All of the chicks have been on medicated starter feed, and they had Amprolium mixed with their water for the first 3 days as per instructions from the poultry store. We've since stopped the Amprolium water and they've had Solvita (vitamin solution) in their water for the last couple of days.

A few of the chicks have had pasty butt, but we've tried to be on top of it, giving them a clean in the morning if we see it and keeping an eye out for it during the day. None of the chicks that have passed had pasty butt when we noticed them declining or when they passed.

They're in a 1m x 0.5m brooder box, there is a heat lamp down one end approximately 10-15cm from the floor of the enclosure. Water is down the opposite end with the food in standard feeders.

One of the chicks is a bit of a bully and pecks at the others' beaks a lot, so we but marbles and a couple of mirrors/bird toys in there to try to distract it.

I have no idea what we're doing wrong and I'm devastated! If anyone can offer any advice I'd be extremely grateful, I really don't want to lose any more poor chicks!

FYI - I'm in Australia, the chicks are inside the house. Ambient temps in the house are 21-25 C (70 - 77 F)

 

[AshVau22]

Have they also had access to fresh water with nothing added ?

 

[AshVau22]

What does there poop look like? Brooder set up looks ok, but they will outgrown that fast. Also do you have a thermometer to check temperature of brooder?

 

[Jhogo]

Thanks for the quick reply! Not so far, I'll put some in now, thanks! Should I be trying to manually get the lethargic one to drink the electrolyte water, perhaps with some honey/sugar/egg yolk or something (if so, what would be best?) in it every couple of hours for the next little while by gently dipping the end of it's beak into the water? I'm just worried about doing this too often as I read on one of the other posts here that they can't close their oesophagus and I don't want to accidentally choke it!

 

[Debbie292d]

I'm very sorry for your loss! The heat lamp looks too close to them. Can you put a thermometer on the floor and check it. It should be around 85-90°F.

Their feed should be chick crumbles.

They shouldn't have told you to give them amprolium AND medicated feed, but don't think that should have been their demise.

 

[BoundlessLove]

Welcome to Backyard Chickens!
I’m sorry you are going through this. I hope you find out what is going on with them and an easy treatment plan.
An Educator should be helping you soon.

 

[AshVau22]

Thanks for the quick reply! Not so far, I'll put some in now, thanks! Should I be trying to manually get the lethargic one to drink the electrolyte water, perhaps with some honey/sugar/egg yolk or something (if so, what would be best?) in it every couple of hours for the next little while by gently dipping the end of it's beak into the water? I'm just worried about doing this too often as I read on one of the other posts here that they can't close their oesophagus and I don't want to accidentally choke it!

I'm worried they may have possibly over dosed on the vitamins. When you give vitamins in water a good rule is 24 hours with and 24 hours without. As far as getting them to drink I'd dip each ones beak in the fresh water. For the one that isn't wanting to drink you can take a syringe and slowly drop some water the tip of the beak and it's will drink it.
Symptoms of vitamin poisoning in baby chicks include lethargy, loss of appetite, weakness, and poor growth and even death.

 

[Jhogo]

What does there poop look like? Brooder set up looks ok, but they will outgrown that fast. Also do you have a thermometer to check temperature of brooder?

I think this was the last poop that the lethargic one did just this morning. Quite small, a little dry maybe (this is an hour or so ago).

I'll go get one of the laser thermometers today, but I've just put a portable one in along the edge of the brooder for now where the chicks tend to lay down to sleep to check the temps. I'll report back if it's much outside 90-95F.

EDIT: the edge of the brooder (in the end by the lamp) is approximately 86F (30C), so I assume that under the lamp would be somewhere between 90-95F.

We're planning to get one of the big foldable pet play pen things to move them into in the next few weeks. Would that be suitable?

I also got a Brooder plate, but I'm wary of changing too much too quickly, and after turning it on for a couple of hours, it didn't seem warm enough to me...

 

[Jhogo]

I'm worried they may have possibly over dosed on the vitamins. When you give vitamins in water a good rule is 24 hours with and 24 hours without. As far as getting them to drink I'd dip each ones beak in the fresh water. For the one that isn't wanting to drink you can take a syringe and slowly drop some water the tip of the beak and it's will drink it.
Symptoms of vitamin poisoning in baby chicks include lethargy, loss of appetite, weakness, and poor growth and even death.

Thanks AshVau, the first 2 died before we introduced the vitamin mix at all, and up until last night, it was at about half the recommended strength. I've since put in some fresh water, and the lethargic one has had a drink when I've dipped it's beak. Hopefully it will keep going back for it, but if not, I'll keep encouraging it every couple of hours.

 

[AshVau22]

I think this was the last poop that the lethargic one did just this morning. Quite small, a little dry maybe (this is an hour or so ago).

I'll go get one of the laser thermometers today, but I've just put a portable one in along the edge of the brooder for now where the chicks tend to lay down to sleep to check the temps. I'll report back if it's much outside 90-95F.

View attachment 4253292

We're planning to get one of the big foldable pet play pen things to move them into in the next few weeks. Would that be suitable?

I also got a Brooder plate, but I'm wary of changing too much too quickly, and after turning it on for a couple of hours, it didn't seem warm enough to me...

Dry and hard droppings: A common sign of dehydration or heat stress is feces that are dry, crumbly, and hard.

I've never used a pet play pen brooder but I believe people use them with no issues. I've also never used a brooder plate. Lots of people love them.