Chicks dying

[21hens-incharge]

To rule out water/ability to drink properly I suggest swapping out to plain water in a chick water container that is more open.

In nature birds drink from open water. It's what instinct tells them to do.

Just trying to rule out dehydration.

 

[AshVau22]

To rule out water/ability to drink properly I suggest swapping out to plain water in a chick water container that is more open.

In nature birds drink from open water. It's what instinct tells them to do.

Just trying to rule out dehydration.

I second this about the water. And do you have a thermometer in with them to make sure they are warm enough? Doesn't take long when one gets to cold and can't warm up again they usually die.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

We udually start out with 10 or 12 in a large plastic tote about the size of your original "chest." After a week we separate them into two totes, so there are only six to a tote. We have had one get smashed in a corner when they were overcrowded which is why I mentioned it.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Heat:eco glow brooder. Height is varied front to back and they seem happy under it.

I agree, I'd give them an open water station, they like to drink together, so it would be very hard to do with just 1 nipple available.

I'd also raise the heating plate to all 1 height instead of sloped from front to back, looks like chicks in the back may not be able to get free very easily if they get too warm. Make sure there's space all the way around the heating plate so chicks can freely come and go at all sides, don't place it close to the cage or brooder walls, pinned chicks get trampled or suffer heat exhaustion.

 

[Alicethewhiterabbit]

I frequent take the sick chicks from my local feed store. I was treating with and sulfadimethoxine and an antibiotic (amoxicillin or doxycycline) and if I did this right away (as soon as I get in the car) I’d get a high surviving rate. I’d get these chicks when they were actively dying.
I feed with a 1ml syringe and give digestive enzymes as their absorption are slow. Monitor their strength, temp and and behavior (when they are on the mend they will start to preen themselves)

While sulfadimethoxine is a cocidia drug it also treats salmonella. These chicks are too young for coccidia. They had the symptoms of coccidia (salmonella can also have bloody stool). Not all my sick chicks had bloody stool. sulfadimethoxine does block folic acid (forgetting which b this is) so once treatment is done you will need to provide b supplements.

sulfadimethoxine is known as albon


You can get this from a vet almost immediately or order from a falconry.


Wishing you luck

 

[WingItRanch]

After seeing the brooder setup, I agree with the others that it's likely a heat and water issue. Try switching to a waterer that has an open mouth so multiple chicks can drink at the same time. Raising the heater up to horizontal instead of angled will prevent the chicks from crushing each other. Those heaters aren't typically meant for 20 birds.

Good luck!

 

[Sparrow Farm]

I am having a similar issue as the OP. 31 chicks from Mt Healthy hatchery arrived on 4/4. One was not doing well the day of arrival and ended up dying. I had another die yesterday and now one that is very weak and falling to the side today. The one I found dead yesterday was a shock. The one that seems like it will die today is displaying the same symptoms as the one that died on Friday. The chicks are in an 8x4 brooder in the chicken coop. I have three heat lamps up but have turned the middle one off as needed as well as raising/lowering the lamps as needed. The chicks were on electrolyte water for the first three days. I switched them over to plain water yesterday, but after seeing this last chick, I have replaced that with nutridrench water. The chick that is weak, I have a couple of drops of nutridrench directly and also tried to feed some egg yolk. The only yolk she got is from reflex if swallowing when I dipped her beak in he yolk. My chicks are currently in puppy pads. I lay clean pads over the old as needed. When they are a week old, I switch them to pine shavings. They are meat birds so I started them off with Purina game bird feed. Did the same with the batch I raised last year and all 30 survived-though it was late April when they arrived, and they came from Meyer Hatchery instead of Mt Healthy. I have been seeing runny droppings so I don’t know if the temperature fluctuating is the cause. Next year, I am going back to having the birds delivered at the end of April. I just tried a little earlier this year because the birds seemed very hot by the time they reached processing age. However, last night and tonight, the low will be 27. Then the temp jumps to 45-50 degrees during the day. I have found it very hard to regulate the temp and am worried it is the cause.