Chicks dying, they were shipped today

[Want Less]

We received an order of 30 chicks this morning from McMurray. One arrived dead. The rest looked fine until a couple hours ago we found one suddenly weak, laying down, not wanting to eat or drink. We removed it and put it under a separate light, but is continuing to get weaker and weaker.

Now we have a second chick doing the same thing. In both of these cases it came on suddenly.

We've always hatched our own chicks, these are the first we've had shipped (other than ducks). Could it be the shock from shipping? Any other ideas?

 

[ohiochick2013]

Have you given any sugar water or quik chick to give them a boost? Did you dip their beaks in the water? You can make some extra sugary water like 6 tbsp per gallon for a difficult journey. Good luck! I hope you don't lose more.

 

[fish220]

do you live i a cold area because they can get cold really fast and get weak and will die warm them slittly each day dont over warm them or they go in shock and will die

 

[Want Less]

They have been under 100w bulbs since 9am this morning. Because there are so many of them I have them divided between two brooders. One brooder also has 3 ducklings in it. The two chicks came from the same brooder, not the one with the ducklings in it. They are also not the same breed.

I have sugar water in both brooders now. I dont know if the two with the issue have had any, but have no interest in it now.

UPDATE: first chick has died.

 

[welderskelter]

You said a 100 watt bulb. I think most heat lamps are 150 or 250 a regular light bulb wont work. Best to get a heat lamp that is infrared it isnt as bright and cuts down on canabalism. Remember you need to make it so they can get away from it because they can get to warm.

 

[Want Less]

You said a 100 watt bulb. I think most heat lamps are 150 or 250 a regular light bulb wont work. Best to get a heat lamp that is infrared it isnt as bright and cuts down on canabalism. Remember you need to make it so they can get away from it because they can get to warm.

The light is down pretty low for them... we've always used 100w bulbs for our chicks with no problems. They are in 55 gallon fish tanks so they have plenty of room to move away or closer to the heat. No one is chirping loud, so they are acting plenty comfortable.

 

[TravisE]

i got a order of 27 from them today to. i opeaned the box 10 were doa

. 2 of them was very weak. one has perked up some. they was nice on the phone and refunded my money on them. they said on the phone if they dye within 2 day of you getting them they will refund them.
hope this helps.

 

[tadpole98]

i have found shipped chicks arrent as healthy. when they arrive always dip their beaks in electrolyte water, and feed them sugar water for a day or two. then make sure they have regular feed. you might not have enough heat, with 100W bulb make it closer to them. stick a thermometer in the brooder and make sure it is at 95*+ good luck!

 

[Want Less]

i got a order of 27 from them today to. i opeaned the box 10 were doa

. 2 of them was very weak. one has perked up some. they was nice on the phone and refunded my money on them. they said on the phone if they dye within 2 day of you getting them they will refund them.
hope this helps.

Travis, thanks for letting me know that. I will have to give them a call. The two I mentioned died (plus the one that arrived dead) and we have 3 that are very weak so I have them in a separate brooder. Our chicks were shipped out on Saturday from the hatchery, which I thought was weird. I'm not happy that because of the date shipped, they sat at a post office 30 minutes from us for over 24 hours on Sunday. I was wondering if that was common practice for McMurray? Other hatcheries I have dealt with or read about seem to ship on on Monday or Tuesday specifically to avoid the chicks from having a 24 hour layover in a cold post office warehouse.

 

[vtmom]

I'm curious what breed of chicks you have that are dying? We too got our shipment of chicks yesterday. Of the 25 3 have died so far and 3 are pretty weak, actually im suprised they survived the night Ours that are doing poorly are silver polish. We got 5 other breeds in our shipment and all of those are doing great, so it's odd that just the polish are doing poorly