Chick death troubleshooting

[budershank]

Hello, my wife and I are raising our first batch of 6 chicks that we got from TSC about 4 days ago. They seemed to be doing well in that they would use the heater, eat food, drink water and spend time both under the heater and walking around. We checked on them before leaving for work yesterday and all seemed normal. When I got home in the later afternoon two of the chicks were dead(feels real bad) and one of them seemed to be doing poorly. She wasn't moving at all, seemed to be breathing heavily and seemed to be almost falling over all the time(quick happy note is she is doing fine now). The other 3 chicks are just as energetic as ever. Rather then make this into a story I figure I'll bullet point everything and hopefully someone can offer some guidance on potential issues and what we can do different while this batch is being raised and for future batches.

• The brooder is a 45 gallon storage bin with a hole in the top and side covered with hardware cloth.
• There is a layer of paper towels and a 'premium' large pine shavings that are about 2 inches deep or so.
• We are using filtered water in your typical chick waterer from TSC
• We are using medicated chick feed from TSC
• The heater is an eco-brooder style thing that we had low enough that the chicks had to stoop slightly but could easily run in and out. They got used to this within a few minutes of getting home.
• They have never ran out of food or water.
• The ambient temperature in the room they are in hasn't gotten below 70 and hasn't gotten above 80.
• I haven't seen anything that suggested pasty bottom. The dead chicks didn't seem to have it and neither did the sick chick.
• No bloody poops
• I've seen all of the chicks eat. It's kind of hard to tell them apart but but I am pretty darn certain they were all drinking. At a minimum at least one that died was drinking since I've seen 2 out of 3 golden ones drink at at time and 2 golden ones died. The sick chick certainly drinks as well.
• Since they died I raised the heat source up a bit so they can walk under it without stooping. I also set a themometer under the heat source and on the cool side. Under the heater on the floor is hanging at 90f, probably a little warmer up at chick head level. The cool side is hanging around 75f last night. I don't know what the temp was when the heater was lower.
• I blocked the window in the side to avoid any sort of draft
• My wife realized she shouldn't name chicks until they move out to the coop.

When I get home I am going to add some plexiglass to the window to prevent a draft while still having an easy way to see in from the side.

The only real thing I can see doing differently is making sure the heat source is a little higher but the thing it seems the common way to set these things up is so that the chicks have to duck under them.

Any suggestions on what to do differently in the immediate as well as future? Thanks

 

[Acre4Me]

All that you describe sounds good. The only thing I would add is that adding a small container of chick electrolyte solution (in addition to the fresh water), and trying some Poultry Nutridrench (available at TSC, etc).

End of Feb we picked up some chicks at the hatchery, from their first hatch of the season. We had to dose a couple of them with nutridrench 2x per day for about 3 days. We just used a toothpick with straight NutriDrench and got them to peck at it or placed it on side of beak where it would get into their mouth. We always dipped their beaks 2-3x into fresh water after the NutriDrench to make sure they drank some water. It really perked them up, even the one I was thinking was going to die.

Every batch of chicks we’ve had gets electrolyte solution for several days (in addition to fresh water). And all chicks get personally introduced to the water dish by one of us, so we can see them drink/swallow.

Heat plate:sounds good, but should be able to press their backs against it. Some people will raise it to the back height of largest chick, then add something the smaller chicks can climb on to access it (like a piece of wood).

Overall, many chicks die, often without an obvious reason. Maybe shipping stress before arriving at the store. Maybe internal problem.

Hoping for the best for the remaining chicks! Enjoy them!

 

[budershank]

Thanks

I'll check our local farm supply for this today. Should the electrolyte go in a separate dish then the water?

It's worth mentioning that I did note that some of the chicks seemed smaller then the others(10-15%?). Those might have been the ones that died so maybe they were weak from the start.

 

[Ninjasquirrel]

I would contact TSC and let them know of your loss. They might be able to replace them for you at no charge.

 

[Acre4Me]

Electrolyte solution is usually sold in small packets of powder to add to 1 gallon of water. Sav-a-Chick is a common brand. Throw out the unused portion after 24 hours. Always have fresh water in another dish/container in addition to electrolytes.

I agree, call TSC and let them know. If they can replace them, that would be great.

 

[budershank]

I'll talk to the wife about contacting TSC for replacements. I felt a lot of guilt that we did something wrong so I have been hesitant about the idea of getting replacements quickly and potentially sending more to their doom due to our ignorance. You guys have made me feel a bit better about that so I am open to the idea now. I'm also fine with just raising these 4 up until coop age and then starting our next generation which I want to be easter eggers. Our current batch was 3 Wyandottes and 3 golden sex links.

 

[staceyj]

3 things on your shopping list I always recommend to have on hand when starting out:
Nutridrench
Electrolytes (sav-a-chik)
And Corid. (Liquid)

Corid is a coccidiostat -in a concentrated liquid form for treating coccidiosis.
The same “medicine” that’s in medicated feed, except in feed it’s just a tiny amount.

Coccidiosis can kill a batch of chicks in less than 24 hours.

Get it this morning and direct dose each chick with a drop to the beak *undiluted.

Then replace their current water with corid (liquid) treated water. *do NOT put electrolytes in here.
this should be the only source of water.
Make a new batch daily.
Dose is 1 tsp:gallon h2O for a mild outbreak
Or
2 teaspoons liquid corid to a gallon of water for severe.

I’d go with the severe dose since you’ve already had deaths.

Treatment length is 5-7 days.

 

[Ninjasquirrel]

I'll talk to the wife about contacting TSC for replacements. I felt a lot of guilt that we did something wrong so I have been hesitant about the idea of getting replacements quickly and potentially sending more to their doom due to our ignorance. You guys have made me feel a bit better about that so I am open to the idea now. I'm also fine with just raising these 4 up until coop age and then starting our next generation which I want to be easter eggers. Our current batch was 3 Wyandottes and 3 golden sex links.

It is important that you let TSC know regardless. If they have Mareks they will need to recall ALL of their birds sold. Thats why TSC asks for your information upon purchase in case of a recall

 

[Acre4Me]

If they have Mareks they will need to recall ALL of their birds sold. Thats why TSC asks for your information upon purchase in case of a recall

What makes you think these chicks have Mareks? Just curious as I've seen that it is not common, nor expected, for really young chicks to have Mareks.

 

[Ninjasquirrel]

What makes you think these chicks have Mareks? Just curious as I've seen that it is not common, nor expected, for really young chicks to have Mareks.

I wasn't saying that they do. I was merely stating that it is important to inform the store in case they need to recall. Sorry if that was confusing.