Barred Rock Chicks Dying

[shelby528]

Hello,
My name is Shelby and I am very curious to find out why my chicks are all of a sudden dying?

We got our chicks at a auction (like the rest of ours) right now I have 13 wonderful chickens that are about a month old (buff cochin and sussex) and two ducks. This past weekend I decided it was time to get some new chicks. We came home with 7 beautiful barred rock chicks, no more than a couple of days old. When I got home, I noticed one of the chicks was gasping for air, unfortunately it died. However, since this past saturday I have had 2 more die and one that is about to die.

Symptoms: Chicks will just gradually lay down, legs stretched or not and fall asleep.

Housing: Rabbit cage with plenty of space and a heat lamp on them 24\\7.

Our chicks are eating and drinking regularily and I have checked there bums for pasty butt and there is none. Also, we have found diarrhea in our cage? I have looked all over and researched about what to do and have found nothing. Does anyone have any advice?

I came home with 7 and now have 4 left.

PLEASE HELP!

 

[Judy]

Where do you live? What is the temp in the cage? It sounds like they could be too hot.

What about the feed? Any chance it got moldy or is stale? This time of year, around here, it can come that way from the feed store easily.

 

[shelby528]

Well, I am not sure of the temperature but I do know it is warm enough. I moved the heat lamp up higher so that it would not be to hot. My friend and I also believed that it was to hot for them.
I live in Southeastern ontario and the feed is reliable because our month old chickens are eating the same feed and they are perfectly healthy. We are feeding them medicated starter feed.

 

[Judy]

I hope that's all it was. Good luck!

 

[shelby528]

I'm not exactly sure what to do though, our one little guy is laying down and I believe that he is going to die.
I brought them in the house last night and moved the heat lamp up a little higher but we found one dead this morning! I'm not sure what to do!
I don't need another one of our chickens dying and I'm heartbroken when I keep finding them.

 

[Judy]

You can try a "booster" meal, a little feed mixed with about a tsp of plain live culture yogurt and a bit of baby applesauce. You can pick up some infant liquid vitamins without iron and give each a drop or two. I really would pick up an inexpensive thermometer and make sure it is no more than 95F in there (35C.) You can put just a little sugar in the water, but don't do this for more than a day or so.

Actually, I wouldn't go over 90F now (32.2C)

 

[shelby528]

Thanks for the advice.
I read online that I should put some acidophilis in their water? Should I do that?
At the moment, all the chicks are thriving, happy and seem to be doing fine except our one little guy.
Do I need to mix the yogurt in with the feed? how much of the yogurt should I put in the feed?
I also read that I should boil their water? Should I do this to make sure it is not bacteria or anything in the water doing this?

 

[mypicklebird]

Get a thermometer, then you will know what the temp is, and won't have to keep moving the lamp up and down. Depending on the age- 95 or lower is appropriate right under the lamp- and they have to be able to get away from the heat to a cooler part.

Chicks from auction are a dangerous buy, you are bringing home birds from a mixing pot of birds- and you can bring home any number of infectious agents.

Quarantine them immediately from the other birds, and hope the problem is not contagious.

Gasping can be actually due to respiratory disease, but it is also what any end stage chick/chicken will do right before it dies. If they have runny/puffy eyes, runny noses or coughing/sneezing- you probably have an infectious upper respiratory virus or bacteria.

They could have a 'hot' strain of coccidia, and may be dying before they get the icky diarrhea. Fecal check will detect this, search BYC for coccidia treatments.

REALLY consider sending a chick to your state lab, sudden multiple deaths would really make me want to know definitively what I was dealing with- for the remaining chicks sake, as well as your older birds.

 

[Judy]

Acidopholous would do the same thing as the yogurt. You can also buy probiotic capsules for people. They all do the same thing. Don't know about putting it in water; I'd sprinkle it on feed, myself.

Never heard of boiling water. It does need to be changed once a day at least. If it's safe for you, it should be safe for them.

I like to use organic apple cider vinegar in the water, about 1 tsp to 1 gallon. It is also a probiotic and has other benefits -- including preventing algae from growing in the waterer.

 

[kycowgirlchick]

I got a book the other day and I cant remember the name. ?Back yard flock? Well very good ideas. One of them was to put calf milk powder with their milk. More nutrients. Mix bag of antibiotics with a bag of vitamins. Then put 1 tbs per gallon of water.