I got a shipment of chicks this morning. My second shipment ever. I'm a newbie. So please bear with me...
One chick arrived dead (Chick #1). I think it got trampled?
After getting everyone settled, I noticed that 2 seemed weak, shaking, wobbly and lethargic, so I set up a second brooder to keep them isolated.
I've been watching them all day. The weakest one (Chick #2) has been pretty much face-down sleeping. But every once in a while, this afternoon, it seemed to have a spasm and kicked its legs and flapped its wings a bit, and then went back to laying still. The last time I went down to check on them, it was barely breathing and in the classic Mareks pose.
The other one is still lethargic and face-down (chick #3).
I ordered all of the chicks from a popular multi-breed online supplier.
I paid to have all of them vaccinated for Mareks. The 3 chicks mentioned are all different breeds.
Can chicks get Mareks from the vaccine? Am I just having bad luck? Is this something I need to be worried about or just a "bad batch"? I know that losses happen. It just seems like a lot for having only ordered 17...
One chick arrived dead (Chick #1). I think it got trampled?
After getting everyone settled, I noticed that 2 seemed weak, shaking, wobbly and lethargic, so I set up a second brooder to keep them isolated.
I've been watching them all day. The weakest one (Chick #2) has been pretty much face-down sleeping. But every once in a while, this afternoon, it seemed to have a spasm and kicked its legs and flapped its wings a bit, and then went back to laying still. The last time I went down to check on them, it was barely breathing and in the classic Mareks pose.
The other one is still lethargic and face-down (chick #3).
I ordered all of the chicks from a popular multi-breed online supplier.
I paid to have all of them vaccinated for Mareks. The 3 chicks mentioned are all different breeds.
Can chicks get Mareks from the vaccine? Am I just having bad luck? Is this something I need to be worried about or just a "bad batch"? I know that losses happen. It just seems like a lot for having only ordered 17...