Chicks dying, no idea why

[shmccarthy]

I seriously doubt it is cocci as well. And even if it was, corid treats more strains so that's what I would use. I've heard nothing but great things about cackle and I was really apprehensive about ordering, but all the good stories and reviews convinced me otherwise. The chicks were supposed to be shipped at 5am Monday morning and didn't get accepted at the post office until 4pm.... That 11 hour difference caused them to be the following day I think. :/ I just emailed the manager of the hatchery and gave her an extensively detailed log about what happened, who I spoke with, exactly when and how the chicks died, my brooder setup and all that. I do expect to be compensated for the 13 that have died since Thursday, or I will never recommend or order from them again.

The one that has bad pasty butt I am worried about. I think I am going to sneak him and a friend up to my room and keep them under a lamp in my empty aquarium I just bought hehe. I don't want him getting worse and keep getting picked on by the others.. It's amazing I can already identify the pecking order with the 5 day olds. I think the rest will be okay too, I'm just going to moniter them very close. I'm checking on them about every hour making sure they're all doing good.

Thanks for all the help, you and everyone else! I will continue to keep you updated.

Here's a few pictures of the babies

This is fleck, the chick with the bad past butt and slightly prolapsed vent. He's mostly blue but has a big brownish black spot on his crest. He's at the bottom of the pecking order but is really sweet.

Vador, the smallest one I have. He likes to dart around and zigzag everywhere.

Sunshine, the biggest and brightest colored chick I have. This one it the top of the pecking order and likes to be the first to do everything.

 

[red horse ranch]

I would suspect that your pasty butt chick is female by the dark spot on its head. The one in the bottom picture is probably male since he has no dark spot. Not scientific, just an educated guess.

 

[shmccarthy]

I would love if that one is a female! I'm only wanting to have one or two boy silkies and that one has been my favorite. The other ine, sunshine, acts really bossy and is a lot taller than the other chicks. I know there's not really a sure fire way to tell but I do like to guess

 

[polarbearforge]

It's definately a shame. Everything does sound identical to what I experienced, except for the customer service from the hatchery. That's terrible.

I'm glad I didn't order from Cackle and based on this, I doubt I ever will. While I had losses, the customer service where I ordered was great.

Jamie

 

[shmccarthy]

I expected a lot more from them. They knew it was their mistake and all I want is is them to recognize that and conpensate me for the losses that were out of my control. I don't feel like that's asking too much at all.

I've been checking on the chick several times a day, looking each one down head to toe. I started with 5 pasty butts, then 2 and now only 1 so I feel like I'm doing something right! Lol
The only one I have concerns about is fleck. He is the last one with pasty butt and part of his vent seems to be lesioned. It's pretty small but I think the chicks were picking at it. I've been cleaning up his bum a few times a day so I ended up just shaving him there and putting Vaseline all around so it won't stick anymore. The ACV in the water seems to be helping a lot. They got mashed eggs again this morning and they all ran out to it to eat.

I also discovered fleck has frankenfeet. He has funny looking feet even for a silkie. He's the only one whose feet are webbed.

Fleck gets around perfectly okay so as long as it doesn't bother him, I'll leave it be. Although I'm not sure there's anything I can really do about that at this point.

 

[shmccarthy]

Good news!


All chicks are very happy and healthy again this morning. I don't think I will have to worry about losses like that again. Fleck still has pasty butt so I think I might sneak him indoors so I can moniter him a bit easier.
I just got off the phone with the hatchery and talked to the manager. She apologized about what happened and is agreeing to send me 15+ more silkies in April, and she even picked up the shipping. I am very pleased

 

[red horse ranch]

Good news!


All chicks are very happy and healthy again this morning. I don't think I will have to worry about losses like that again. Fleck still has pasty butt so I think I might sneak him indoors so I can moniter him a bit easier.
I just got off the phone with the hatchery and talked to the manager. She apologized about what happened and is agreeing to send me 15+ more silkies in April, and she even picked up the shipping. I am very pleased

Cackle came thru! That's great.

 

[ten chicks]

New problems arising.


So I just got off the phone with someone from cackle hatchery. I am not very pleased with how it went. The person basically told me it was my fault for not medicating with anti cocci medicine right off the bat, and that's why they died. I told the person that I recieved them Thursday early morning and they went to say that it's the post office's fault for being a day late. (Shipped Monday 2-3 day shipping) and try got chilled and developed cocci, which is why they keep dying. This doesn't make sense to me because they're not showing symptoms, they're just dropping dead. No bloody poo either. ( I understand only a couple strains have bloody poo but that's what I've dealt with cocci). They also said that I waited too long to contact them to get compensation. I contacted them an hour after they arrived as well as the following day telling them that more chicks are dropping dead.

They told me to medicate them with sumlet. I have liquid corid 9.6% and asked if I can use that and they said no because it will not work because corid doesn't treat symptoms. I treated 8 week old pullets that were almost dead from cocci and was able to bring them back with corid??? Thoughts on that? Can I treat them with corid? The chicks are 5 days old. Do you think they have cocci? Thoughts/opinions?

I just want to clarify that the person you spoke to at Cackle Hatchery does NOT have any clue as to what coccidsosis is,and in my opinion should not be working there and definitely not be giving out advice.

Corid(amprolium)is the best coccidiostat to treat coccidiosis(amprolium is a thiamine blocker,parasite needs thiamine to reproduce,stop reproduction and parasite comes under control) it will target at least 9 strains,whereas Sulmet targets only 2. Sulmet is also hard on birds,Corid is not. There is not always blood with coccidiosis(only 2 strains have blood as symptom)further by the time you see blood,chicks have already had this a couple of days.

Please call them back and tell them that unless they can give correct information,to not give any at all. I wonder how many chicks have died as a result of this ridiculous misinformation,i am speechless at them telling you this!

 

[Branch Chickens]

Good news!


All chicks are very happy and healthy again this morning. I don't think I will have to worry about losses like that again. Fleck still has pasty butt so I think I might sneak him indoors so I can moniter him a bit easier.
I just got off the phone with the hatchery and talked to the manager. She apologized about what happened and is agreeing to send me 15+ more silkies in April, and she even picked up the shipping. I am very pleased

Happy to hear that they're making it right! Or as right as they can.

 

[gander007]

Good news!


All chicks are very happy and healthy again this morning. I don't think I will have to worry about losses like that again. Fleck still has pasty butt so I think I might sneak him indoors so I can moniter him a bit easier.
I just got off the phone with the hatchery and talked to the manager. She apologized about what happened and is agreeing to send me 15+ more silkies in April, and she even picked up the shipping. I am very pleased

I am very happy for ya about the hatchery working with you on the replacements of 15 sounds like they want to keep their customers happy for the next sale and picking up the shipping too awesome to hear that also