Dying Bantum Chicks

[MLay]

I have successfully brooded standard size chicks numerous times with a 1% loss rate.. I recently purchased 50 bantam chicks of mixed breeds. I purchased from a reputable hatchery so I'm sure the chicks were handled well.

Sadly, I have lost 15% in the first 4 days. The bantam chicks were purchased with 75 regular chicks and I have had no losses in the regular chick brooder . . . the bantum brooder is another story.

I picked the chicks up at the hatchery and drove straight home so I'm sure travel temps were good.

(day1) The chicks started showing issues after 24 hours and I had a lot of pasty butt within 24 hours. I cleaned the pasty butt. (1 chick died)

(day 2) I changed the chicks to medicated feed and put probiotics in the water. I also started crushing their food into smaller pieces for easier consumption. Continued to clean pasty butt. (2 chicks died)

(day 3) found some bloody stool so I suspect Cocci. I called the hatchery and they agreed so I put the brooder on sulfa in the water. Still a lot of pasty butt. (1 chick died)

(day 4 - today) started out great! The chicks had been on sulfa for 24 hours. They were chirping loudly and zooming around the brooder. Everyone looked great except for I chick was a little sluggish and died around noon. At 3pm this afternoon, all chicks looked great. We were feeling good. By 5pm - 2 were dead. The others looked great. At 7 pm another died. I'm dreading going back out there because all the chicks look great and I fear more will die

Maybe all the pasty butt cleanings stressed them out too much. The brooder has been in a high stress situation dealing with all the pasty butt. Over 50% of the brooder had pasty butt.

The brooder was very clean and sanitized so I'm sure there were not residual issues prior to putting the chicks in the brooder. I've never had these issues so I'm sure there was nothing to transfer but we always sanitize.

The latest chicks to die clearly didn't have pasty butt and appeared to never have had it. Of the 7 deaths, 3 were silkies and the others of mixed breeds. 3 of the 7 deaths had no sign of having pasty butt.

I've been closely monitoring the temperatures and they are within range for bantums. The brooder is big enough that if they get hot, they can get away but most of the time they are scattered around so it looks like the temps are acceptable for them.

I'm not sure what to do and any and all suggestions are greatly appreciated.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

I have no idea, you seem to be having a rough time. I haven't had a different between brooding bantam and large fowl. Pasty butt can sometimes be because the brooder is too hot or too cold, so check your temperatures. I have read mixing some raw cornmeal into their food can help as well as adding some greens to peck at. I hope you get it figured out. Wishing you luck.

 

[mg15]

How awful. I am so sorry.

 

[Jensownzoo]

I have two thoughts:

(1) they are getting an overdose of the sulfa drugs; this can happen if the batch is mixed incorrectly or if the chicks are drinking more than normal.

(2) presuming they do have coccidiosis, it can predispose them to bad bacteria crossing the damaged gut wall and entering the blood, resulting in septic shock

-----

Amprolium is a coccidiostat with a much wider margin of safety for chicks. In addition, it can be administered concurrently with a probiotic (sulfa will kill the good bacteria in the probiotic, so it's useless to give them both at the same time). You may consider switching. You may be able to find the liquid form (Corid) in with the cow meds at the farm store.

Adding some electrolytes to their water wouldn't be a bad idea. Diarrhea (pasty butt) can result in imbalances.

Some people do recommend feeding ground rolled oats + cornmeal for a bit to help firm up the stool and provide quick energy.

 

[realsis]

I agree. Amprolium kills a wider range of cocci. The brand name verys in what part of the country your in. where I'm at the brand name is Corid
you might consider switching and see if they have any improvements. I just want to say I'm really really very sorry your chicks are sick. I hope they get better really soon. let us know what you decide to do. Best wishes.

 

[chikadoodles]

my chick is leaning to th side bap

 

[MLay]

I have Amprol in my chicken first aid kit so I am switching to that.

I used exact measurements on the sulfa so I'm 99.9% sure it was correct. By switching to the Amprol hopefully I can cover more strains of Cocci. Maybe the Sulfa missed something

I have unfortunately lost 2 more chicks in the last hour so I'm not sure what I have. They are fine one minute and then they lay down and die within about an hour or so of laying around. They act like they are taking a nap and just die. The other chicks are still zooming around but I know that doesn't mean anything. This is just happening so fast I can't seem to get in front of it.


I know I am destroying all the good bacteria in the gut with all the medicine.. Any thoughts on when to start adding back in probiotics?

 

[chikadoodles]

leaning and falling over. like he is deaf. any clue

 

[realsis]

does Amprolium kill the good bacteria? when they are finished with their Amprolium treatment you can give a good probotic. I really like Probios. It can be used on chicks. in fact, I use on chicks and adults both. if you look up online probios for poultry you will find a store that sells it. it has over 10 million colony forming units of beneficial bacteria like lactobacillus acidophilius, enterococcus casei, and lactobacillus plantarum. it has more complete probotics than most I've seen available. it will benifit the chicks.I really hope this helps and I sure hope the Amprolium works. what did the hatchery say? will they be replacing the lost ones? I'm so sorry you have to go through this! Hang in there and know your doing everything you can. keep us posted please. God Bless.

 

[Jensownzoo]

You can always consider sending one of the recently deceased chicks to your state lab for necropsy so you can find out what's killing them. You should be able to google the webpage, or if you want to tell me your state, I can probably find it for you.