Chicks dying, got one sick one now. What the heck is this illness?

[Sappy]

Hello,
We've been having some trouble with our chicks, they are 3.5 weeks old now, but it started shortly after we got them home. This is weird because for the first 2.5 weeks I was losing one or two birds a day to this, but no more. All the others would seem perfectly vigorous and active, but one or two would just come down with the symptoms described below and die, each day. For the past week I have been giving them Terramycin-343 mixed with their water, and I had no more losses or cases of this in the past week. I just checked my birds this morning and one (my favorite little barred rock roo chick) is coming down with it apparently. Grrrrrrrrr

Type of bird: The current sick one is a barred rock, we also have a few buff orps and buff cochins and some of them have died from this too. 3 and 1/2 weeks old, good size, wings feathered out and he is a good looking chick who has been VERY vigorous until today.

Behavior: It's like one will come down with this all of a sudden. Eyes will be closed most of the time, bird will be sitting down, breathing may be a little labored. It's almost like they just sit down and go to sleep. The chick gets weaker and weaker, and after a few hours will be on it's side with it's neck and head flopping around a bit.

No bleeding, no injury, no broken bones or signs of trauma.

Eating/drinking: He didn't eat when I changed their food just now, I keep feed before them all the time mostly. I'm using Nutrena chick starter, I mix in some yogurt once a day (did that just now and the others have been in a feeding frenzy because they love it), and I've been keeping fresh water in the brooder with the terramycin mixed in. I've also been giving them dirt with some grass on it, which they love.

Poop: Poop looks normal. He wasn't pasting up, but he had a little poop stuck to the fluff on his rear end below the vent, and it had the normal white and grey kinda look. No bloody stool. Chicks are not pasting up and have been doing fine. (I had a few pasties 2 weeks ago but I don't think this is related).

Treatment so far: Described above, started giving terramycin at 2.5 weeks when I got fed up with losses and didn't lose any more for the past week, also been giving yogurt mixed with their feed once a day.

Intent: I would like to treat myself, or at least know what the heck this illness is, I have no idea what it is.

No picture, but it should be self explanatory, the birds that get this sit down with their tummies on the ground, keep their eyes closed unless they are pestered by me or another chick, beak down sometimes touching the floor, breathing looks a little labored but not gasping. It actually looks a lot like I probably look when I have stomach flu or food poisining... just laying down sick and miserable.

Housing + bedding: I built a 4'x4' brooder box with a wire mesh top that I can take off to get in there for feeding, cleaning, etc. Bedding is pine shavings. I do need to change the litter today, I haven't changed it for 4 days.

 

[CrazyChickMom]

I'll only respond until someone else comes along..I am no pro and have my first chicks.
Quarentine the sick chick immediately. Make sure he/she is drinking and eating. Also, I am not sure you should be giving terrmycin when you don't know what the illness is. This is never a good idea.

What is the temp in the brooder? Should be 80 degrees. Is your feed medicated? If not I would start mixing in medicated feed and gradually get rid of the non-medicated.

In the meantime, I would put organic apple cider vinegar in their water, 2 tbs per gal. mix yogrut with med. chick feed and wait until someone else responds.

This is what I know..hope it helps!

 

[Sappy]

I actually had to give Terramycin to one chick... a free one we got because they were short on our order and she was a leftover from the previous week, who had an eye infection. She's my buff cochin, named "Mongo". Mongo didn't like being separated from the other chicks, and when she wasn't getting into their area then they were getting into hers... so I gave up keeping her separated in the brooder and just gave everybody the terramycin water... since I'd already been having chicks drop off one or two per day due to some mysterious illness I figured to heck with it, try it.

As for the yogurt, etc.... been doing that. As for apple cider vinegar, I tried that for 2 weeks and it didn't do any good.

Edited to include: Brooder temp couldn't help but be 80F or above, I'm in Illinois in late June. I do turn on a single brooder light hanging up above at night to protect from chills at night, but during they day I turn it off or the poor things would just bake with the heat, humidity,and light.

 

[Shura]

Hey folks, this is Sappy, posting a new symptom under my wife's account, since she's already signed in on this computer.

It's a couple hours later now, the chick is getting weaker, breathing is more labored, and when I hold him up to my ear I hear him wheezing.

 

[Msbear]

bump

 

[threehorses]

By giving yogurt and terramycin at the same time, the medicine (terramycin) is being made to not work. You can't mix dairy products with any -mycin or -cycline drug because it binds with the drug and makes it not absorb into the bird.

You'd be best to switch medications as your birds will now likely be resistant to that drug. Give acidophilis capsules from the grocery store or pharmacy's vitamin section instead. One capsule per three chicks, mixed in just enough water to make it slightly pasty, put in their beak. Give at the opposite time of the day from fresh water.

I'd recommend LS50 if you can get it. (Spectinomycin/Lincomycin). If not, what drugs are available at your feedstore? Terramycin is oxytetracycline. Aureomycin is chlortetracycline. You might be able to use that if that's available. Don't buy a product whose label reads oxytetracycline as you're already using it.

If none are available, you can TRY to use the same antibiotic; I'd just be doubtful about it's efficacy.

I also do have to add that you should never medicate until you know for sure that the problem is bacteria. This could be viral, or could have been something else including environment.

Are you using any products in the water like electrolytes? If so, stop immediately. Also cease the dirt and grass. They can have dirt and grass then they free range and are older and more strong, but not recommended in a cage even if they do love it. I would certainly not assume that the 2 pasty butts before are unrelated. Did those cases clear up on their own?

For clarification's sake, you only started giving any antibiotics at all after losing babies, right? And the other babies died in the same way?

Were these babies vaccinated for anything from the hatchery? Or were they from a hatchery?

Are you sure that all chicks are eating well? Do you have any other chickens? Can you eliminate the possibility of parasites (mites lice) by checking the babies very carefully, please?

Is the medication in the nutrena amprolium only? Were you able to get us a temperature on the brooder? Are all babies' droppings consistent?

 

[tulie13]

Quote:
The brooder should be close to 95 F when you first get them, then supposedly drop 5 F per week. If they are only 3 weeks old, they should be at 80 F NOW, all the time, 24 hours a day, not just during the day. I think they are too cold...

 

[threehorses]

Quote:
You know, I was wondering the same thing, too. That would explain a lot.

 

[XilverAngel]

Hey i have a chick right now suffering from im pretty sure the exact same thing. Oh my gosh if it dies i dont know what to do. Sappy, did you say u used some kind of medicine or somethingn? (Terramycin-343) is it working? and can it be bought at any drug store? Is it possible to prevent a chick from dying from this? I will do anything...I only have 4 chicks, and im not even sure if they are all pullets. If one dies, i might be close to prbly only one hen...

 

[Shura]

Quote:
You know, I was wondering the same thing, too. That would explain a lot.

Heck yes it's at least 80F at night when i turn the light on in there. Easily. No way are they getting too cold. You coulda fried eggs on my bare back any day this past week, and the nights stayed fairly hot and muggy too.

They are in a brooder box, with pine litter and a 250W light a couple feet above them, inside a small shop building we have on the property. Again, I turn the light off in the morning or it would get WAY too hot for them (been 100F here lately during the day) and turn it on at night when it starts to cool off a bit.