Chicks get sick with no reason HELP!

[kris1990]

Hello,BYC!
We have a weird problem. We have few enclosures for chicken. One of them is all secured room. We had some chicken in and they all got sick,and some died. We took everyone out of there and we sprayed the room with Desinfectant. Few weeks later we put there our new hatch and they are also starting to get sick. We already lost 2 and more are gasping and sneezing. We treated with Oxytetracyclin, but it doesn't help. They have the water source with the nibs so there can't really be cross contamination. What can we do? I don't want to loose more chicks.

 

[kris1990]

Can it be something in the room?

 

[Eggcessive]

Can you describe the room and setup? How old were the first chicks that died? Is there any mold or wet areas in the area or in their bedding? What type of heat source are you using? Have you had any disease in your chickens that died with respiratory symptoms? Many respiratory diseases are contagious and make carriers of a flock. Mycoplasma (MG and MS) and some other diseases may be passed in the hatching eggs. The best way to figure out what is going on is to get a necopsy by a poultry lab or your state vet on one or two of the chicks.

 

[kris1990]

It's a part of a barn. It has chicken wire all around and straw bedding. The only wet place is underneath the water source because it drips from the nibs when they drink. We put bricks there but still the bedding gets a little wet in this area. We put a radiator in the room as a heat source. There is no mold that I've seen there but I'll double check again. The 2 that died were less than 2 months old and they were gasping and sneezing. Long time ago we were keeping the sick animals in that room. But since we cleaned everything,changed the bedding,sprayed with Desinfectant with bleach in it and for a long time there was no one there.

 

[kris1990]

Some of the chicken before had MG. But no one of the adults now shows it.

 

[Eggcessive]

Well, MG makes carriers of the flock. If your hatching eggs came from your flock, the disease could have been passed in the egg. But also, it can be spread on equipment, clothing, and shoes., from taking care of the other chickens and equipment. MG does die in the environment in about 3 days, so it probably didn't come from the room. Brooder pneumonia or aspergillosis can occur from mold spores in wet bedding. Pine shavings is a little better than hay or straw, and less likely to hold wetness. Once again, I think a necropsy would be good to confirm what is going on. I am sorry that you have lost so many.

 

[junebuggena]

How warm is it near the radiator? How cool is the rest of the space? What are you feeding?