Chicks not growing fast enough??

[LikeTurkeys]

The BCM chick in the photo passed away today (they are all about the same size as him). He had a swollen abdomen which upon necropsy revealed a lot of clear yellow fluid. @casportpony in the other thread think ascites, and I think so too.

So I was thinking, are the others genetically predisposed to this? Could a predisposition be contributing to their slow growth?

 

[aart]

The BCM chick in the photo passed away today (they are all about the same size as him). He had a swollen abdomen which upon necropsy revealed a lot of clear yellow fluid. @casportpony in the other thread think ascites, and I think so too.

Wow, that's young for ascites.....some kind of organ failure.
Only a lab could tell you for sure, and they may be kinda busy about now.

So I was thinking, are the others genetically predisposed to this? Could a predisposition be contributing to their slow growth?

Definitely.

 

[casportpony]

@LikeTurkeys, what elevation are you at? I have read that ascites is more common in meat birds a higher elevations, so if you're in the mountains of San Diego that might explain it. Personally, I have seen ascites twice in young birds, first time was in a peachick. UC Davis performed the necropsy and said it was caused by a defective heart valve. Second time was in a baby pigeon.

 

[1muttsfan]

Ascites is simply fluid in the abdominal cavity. It can be caused by heart issues, liver disease, low serum protein levels (such as from severe parasitism), and other things.

 

[LikeTurkeys]

Wow, that's young for ascites.....some kind of organ failure.
Only a lab could tell you for sure, and they may be kinda busy about now.


Definitely.

I going to ask my friend if she had cases of this with her own chicks. She hatches fairly regularly from her own flock so I think she might know.

@LikeTurkeys, what elevation are you at? I have read that ascites is more common in meat birds a higher elevations, so if you're in the mountains of San Diego that might explain it. Personally, I have seen ascites twice in young birds, first time was in a peachick. UC Davis performed the necropsy and said it was caused by a defective heart valve. Second time was in a baby pigeon.

1430 feet. I don't think that's high enough to cause a problem.

 

[LikeTurkeys]

Okay, so my friend I got the eggs from said that she has not had any illness related deaths in her Marans flock. I'm hoping that I don't have some genetic predisposition to this, but nothing is sure especially considering their size and that they're all the same.

 

[aart]

Okay, so my friend I got the eggs from said that she has not had any illness related deaths in her Marans flock. I'm hoping that I don't have some genetic predisposition to this, but nothing is sure especially considering their size and that they're all the same.

Did you send her a pic of the chicks...had she seen anything like that?
To me they look kinda 'stunted' somehow, feather size is odd in relation to body.
I guess time will tell.

 

[LikeTurkeys]

Did you send her a pic of the chicks...had she seen anything like that?
To me they look kinda 'stunted' somehow, feather size is odd in relation to body.
I guess time will tell.

I'm very sorry for the late reply! Unfortunately no, I did not send her a picture of the chicks. (I will though, and ask if her chicks have been stunted). Yes, the feathers do seem too large for their size. They are all growing but you can tell now just by holding them that some are heavier than the others. One appears to be a little cockerel who looks to be the same size as the others but when you pick him up clearly is not.

What I also find interesting is that I had to assist 3 of these eggs. One of the causes of ascites is premature heart failure, so maybe they had weak hearts from the get-go?

 

[LikeTurkeys]

So I weighed them (they are 7.5 weeks now), with a rather inadequate scale that only goes to 500 grams. The DOM x EE was off the scale, but out of the BCM chicks the smallest was 360 grams and the largest 470. What do you think? What's normal for a chick their age?