dropping like flys!

[Harleychicks]

What is an acceptable loss rate for chicks? Our brooder is 7x7 with tarp as a base covered with pine shavings,as recommended by a chick that has chicks at Tractor supply. We are losing about 1 every other few days. We keep a heat lamp on at night.Temps around 80°.Bedding is clean. I wash out the water and food trays 2 times a day. Just wondering

 

[GitaBooks]

I think something is wrong with your chicks. You shouldn't be losing any of them, let alone one every few days. Chicks at supply stores do have a tendency to be sick, and if one gets sick they can spread it to the others.

Here are some ways to help. Get them some coccidia medication to treat them for this potentially deadly parasite.
Make sure they are warm enough (but not too hot) and that they are dry and there are no drafts in the area.
Make sure there is nothing toxic that they can get to and that they aren't eating their bedding (you can try changing to an old sheet if you are worried about that).
Make sure they are getting proper nutrition. Sometimes food is old and loses value at the store and doesn't provide proper vitamins. Offer some scrambled eggs, finely chopped greens or grass clippings (not long stems), and tiny bits of wheat bread to supplement their diet.

Watch for these signs: Standing under the heat light, standing while sleeping, bloody or green droppings, breathing with mouth open, clicking while breathing, hunching up with wings hanging down and head pulled back against the shoulders, loss of appetite, unresponsive or weak.

I hope they get better. Best of luck!

 

[dawg53]

What is an acceptable loss rate for chicks? Our brooder is 7x7 with tarp as a base covered with pine shavings,as recommended by a chick that has chicks at Tractor supply. We are losing about 1 every other few days. We keep a heat lamp on at night.Temps around 80°.Bedding is clean. I wash out the water and food trays 2 times a day. Just wondering

How old are your chicks?

 

[Harleychicks]

They are around 3 to 4 weeks old, the bedding is less than a week old,we just picked them up at a guys house who has dogs chickens and ducks.

 

[dawg53]

You might want to get them started on Corid for cocci. TSC carries it; either 9.6% liquid solution or the 20% soluable powder. I know they're closed now, try and get it tomorrow. In the meantime, give them buttermilk mixed in a little bit of their feed, or if you dont have buttermilk, regular milk will do. Either will slow the cocci effects until you can get the corid.

 

[Harleychicks]

Cool i will try that in the morning, I'm in the medical field and have been reading a lot on raising chicks doing all the hand washing and such.
I clean the water and feeders 2 times a day, they don't look sick or ill, they just die. The bedding is fresh and less than a week old. I have a heat lamp on at night even tho the temps are mid 80's.During the day the temps get up into the mid 90's. They do huddle under the lamp ,I read that's a sign of either too cool or cocci. No bloody diarrhea, all chicks are ravenous when it comes to eating and drinking. they chase the odd June bug that gets into the screened in porch. We live in south Mississippi so the temps are not going to drop lower than 75 degrees till November. People and dogs I know chickens are new to me.

 

[dawg53]

You're right. If they cuddle under the heat lamp, they are too cold. I recommend adjusting your heat lamp. You'll have adjust it and watch their behavior at night as well, and adjust as necessary until you get it just about right...so to speak. I'd still give them the corid, it wont hurt them. Make sure they are being fed chick starter ONLY; no treats, no scratch. After the corid treatment, you can add save-a-chick in their water if you wish. As they grow, elevate the waterer and feeder. That way they wont be able to poop in them. I use plain 2x4 wood scraps to raise the waterer in the brooder, not pressure treated wood...bricks work also.

 

[Harleychicks]

got home this morning to find 4 dead ones. I removed all the pine shavings they were mostly untouched and i'd say 98% poop free.Seams like there should be more poop. Started them on Corid this am,new waterer, new feeder cleaned everything with bleach.
didn't find and loose poop or anything looking bloody have this one that looks like he ain't gonna make it long.
I'm feeling like they all DOOMED!!!! its in mid peck the only thing different from this one and the rest is the wet looking butt and the drooping wings. The heat lamp can be seen in the top left corner so its less than a foot off the ground. They feel light.
I work nights so i gotta go to bed now I hope i dont loose any one today..

 

[GitaBooks]

Really sorry to hear about that.

Coccidia certainly can be a problem, and it can lead to rapid death. There are other diseases it could be. Hang in there.

 

[pitbullnh]

So how many do you have left? Have you spoken to the guy you bought them from?
Dawn