Chicks Dying

[eworms]

One of my hens went broody and I allowed her to hatch eggs. On Friday and Saturday (2-3 days ago) nine healthy chicks hatched. Today, two of them are in a bad way and I'm hoping for some info about what might be wrong so I can save them, save the other seven if they're in danger, and generally do a better job of taking care of them.

One is breathing steadily, but largely unresponsive.
The other is gaping like it's trying to breathe, but can't.

What might cause that?

I've got them under a brooder plate right now to isolate them from the others in case it's disease related.

I've also noticed that the mother hen seems exhausted. Her eyes don't stay open well and her comb looks pale.

Any advice would be appreciated.

(To compound all this, my two year old was the one who found them. If they pass, I'll do a necropsy to look for bruising. I thought it was the nine year old who went up since I asked her to go just before. Normally, we don't allow him near the chickens alone.)

 

[eworms]

I'm going to cross post in the sick chicken thread in case I get a quicker answer there.

 

[eworms]

The one that was gaping died. I attempted a necropsy. I don't see any bruising or broken bones so I no longer suspect my son for that one. All I found in its crop was chick feed.

The liver was a pale yellowy color. That doesn't seem normal to me. Does that suggest some sort of illness to y'all?

 

[BlindLemonChicken]

“cross posting” just makes it show up twice. I will tag a couple educators for you to get quicker help @coach723 @Eggcessive

What is the temperature in the coop? Has the hen gotten up to eat? Are there any other eggs under her? Is there another broody hen that can access the chicks?

 

[eworms]

“cross posting” just makes it show up twice. I will tag a couple educators for you to get quicker help @coach723 @Eggcessive

What is the temperature in the coop? Has the hen gotten up to eat? Are there any other eggs under her? Is there another broody hen that can access the chicks?

OK, sorry about that and thanks for tagging folks.

Temperature in the coop is mid 70s or so. The hen has gotten up to eat. Yesterday she led all nine chicks out of the coop to scratch around in the yard. There are no more eggs under her. After two days of hatching, I candled the last couple and found that they had died and disposed of them. There is another broody hen in the coop that is sitting on eggs, but I moved the hatchlings away from her since she pecks at anything that comes near.

My nine year old tells me that she saw the one that died get its head caught in some chicken wire last night. It got itself loose, but it's possible there was a neck injury.

That doesn't explain the other chick that's struggling. That one tries to get up occasionally, but seems unconscious much of the time.

 

[BlindLemonChicken]

There is another broody hen in the coop that is sitting on eggs, but I moved the hatchlings away from her since she pecks at anything that comes near.

Can she get to the chicks at all? I’ve seen chicks squashed by broodies fighting over them

 

[eworms]

Can she get to the chicks at all? I’ve seen chicks squashed by broodies fighting over them

I don't suspect that hen, but, now that you mention it, another one that hasn't been showing signs of broodiness fought the mother hen over the chicks yesterday. She lost, but it's possible she tried again this morning. I let her sit eggs last year and the one with chicks this year fought her for them.

I'll restrict access to that corner of the coop this afternoon.

 

[Ridgerunner]

One is breathing steadily, but largely unresponsive.
The other is gaping like it's trying to breathe, but can't.

I've also noticed that the mother hen seems exhausted. Her eyes don't stay open well and her comb looks pale.

They seem really young for it to be disease related. I'd be concerned with some type of poisoning. I assume the other chicks are fine.

A broody hen's comb should be paler than normal. When they quit laying the comb is supposed to go pale so a rooster is no longer interested in mating with her. I don't know that her closing her eyes is a symptom of anything.

Are they in a low spot where carbon monoxide or some gas heavier than air could gather? This doesn't sound right for what you are describing but it has happened to some people before. I think that one was from a gas water heater while brooding in a utility room. But you are looking at where they are so I'm just throwing it out. You might see something.

Could they have gotten into some type of pesticide: rat poison, something for the garden or lawn? Maybe two got into it and the others did not.

Failure to thrive is when they are hatched with some type of birth defect, often something internal you can't see even with a necropsy. They are about the right age for that to show up. Two out of nine seems like a lot for this but maybe it is something genetic. Not sure if the eggs were from the same flock.

I don't know of anything you can do to treat the others, just watch them and see what happens.

Usually when another hen kills chicks she pecks them and wounds them, leaving obvious injuries. I assume you looked for injuries. Still, I don't see anything wrong with keeping that other hen away.
Good luck with the rest of the chicks.

 

[eworms]

They seem really young for it to be disease related. I'd be concerned with some type of poisoning. I assume the other chicks are fine.

A broody hen's comb should be paler than normal. When they quit laying the comb is supposed to go pale so a rooster is no longer interested in mating with her. I don't know that her closing her eyes is a symptom of anything.

Are they in a low spot where carbon monoxide or some gas heavier than air could gather? This doesn't sound right for what you are describing but it has happened to some people before. I think that one was from a gas water heater while brooding in a utility room. But you are looking at where they are so I'm just throwing it out. You might see something.

Could they have gotten into some type of pesticide: rat poison, something for the garden or lawn? Maybe two got into it and the others did not.

Failure to thrive is when they are hatched with some type of birth defect, often something internal you can't see even with a necropsy. They are about the right age for that to show up. Two out of nine seems like a lot for this but maybe it is something genetic. Not sure if the eggs were from the same flock.

I don't know of anything you can do to treat the others, just watch them and see what happens.

Usually when another hen kills chicks she pecks them and wounds them, leaving obvious injuries. I assume you looked for injuries. Still, I don't see anything wrong with keeping that other hen away.
Good luck with the rest of the chicks.

Good to know.

The second one started gaping and then died.

She seems more haggard today than yesterday. Could be a fight, if she was in one.

They're in a coop away from the house and machinery. I'm also not sure where they'd find poison.

Failure to thrive is possible. I had twenty hens and two roosters when the eggs were laid. One of the roosters is proven fertile and his offspring aren't known for dropping. The other is younger and it was his first opportunity. If another batch of chicks has the same problem, I'll suspect the younger rooster.

I do not suspect the other broody. She is glued to her eggs like no chicken I've seen before. The fight between the mother hen and that other hen yesterday was pretty vicious. If they fought again, it'd be trampling instead of pecking. Still might expect visible injury though.

Thank you. I appreciate having a variety of ideas to try to sift through.

 

[coach723]

Sometimes something as simple as temperature fluctuations and humidity can be enough to affect the developing embryo's. Usually there are more issues with incubator hatched eggs, but even a broody can have issues sometimes, particularly if she's sitting on a lot of eggs and they don't get moved around enough. Failure to thrive is not that uncommon and it can be really hard to know, but they are at the right age for it to be that. Due to experience, I always separate my broodies into a separate pen now. I know many people don't do that, but i've found they are happier and more relaxed, and the chicks are safer til they are big enough to learn to get out of the way. Best of luck with the rest of them.