Dyiing chicks-help

[MomLovesChicken]

PLEASE HELP! I have (had) six baby 4 week old chicks. Everything was going wonderfully, they were thriving, happy, clean and overall doing wonderfully. The weather today was beautiful so I put them in a cage outside because it was warm enough. At four I checked on all of them and again they were great. I went back an hour later and one chick was dead, another lying with its head down and eyes shut...it died about an hour later. I now have one chick exhibiting the same lethargy as the other one. WHAT went wrong? They were warm, fed, fresh water and completely safe from predators. What on earth is killing my chickens...please help before I lose the remaining four. These babies were gift from my kids. I am heartbroken.

 

[Eggcessive]

Welcome to BYC. Sorry for your loss. Did the chicks have shade when they were outside, and what was the temperature? Had they been outside before, and did they have access to chick grit to help digest the grasses they eat? Did they have water to drink? Could there habe been any chemicals on the grass? It may have been a coincidence, but they are at the age where coccidiosis can be a problem. The symptoms are lethargy, puffing up or hunched posture, diarrhea or blood in the droppings, poor appetite, and extreme weakness. Cocci is best treated with Corid, a cattle medicine from the feed store, used in the water at 2 tsp of the liquid or 1.5 tsp of the powder per gallon of water for 5 days.

 

[Sylver Queen]

I'm so sorry for your loss. I hope someone with more experience than I comes along soon, but one thought I have is: Are there any plants in the chicks' outdoor enclosure that could be poisonous? If they tried something out and it's toxic, maybe that could cause them to die quickly. Also, if there are any snakes or poisonous insects in your area that could have bitten them, that's a possibility.

If the other three are not showing any symptoms, then hopefully you'll have time to get more advice and get things sorted for them. If you do suspect poisoning, I've read (though do not have personal experience with it) that one teaspoon Epsom salt dissolved in one cup of warm water can be given them to drink to flush out toxins and is a mild laxative.

I hope the best for you!

 

[MomLovesChicken]

Thanks for our reply and wisdom. I am sick over this and I am trying to figure out "what?" went wrong. The chicks have been out nearly everyday over the last week for at least an hour or so each day. The enclosure was grass only no weeds or anything (basically they were in a cage in the front yard) we have never put chemicals on our lawn or anywhere near our home. they were under lots of shade and the temps were in the mid 70's. They were only out for a few hours. I started a new bag of feed this morning. They had fresh water all day. Is it possible grass is toxic? Would they eat enough grass to be toxic? I honestly can't tell if they ate any grass or not. As far as predators nothing could have gotten to them and we do not have poisionous snakes in the area. Although right now we are suffering from lots of buffalo gnats in the area along with skeeters. They did not exhibit any diarrhea or anything visable that I could see...it was like they just basically started labored breathing, laid down, put their head down, closed their eyes and died. I am afraid I will lose the other ones.