Dying chicks

[ATXChickens]

Hello all,

We had 10 chickens a few days ago, four of which are a year old and another six which are about 16 weeks. A few days ago, a couple of the younger birds (which have been living in a tractor seperate from the main coop with the four older birds) started acting pretty sluggish, not eating, kind of hanging by themselves when let out to roam. The first one had real glassy eyes and appeared pretty zoned out before dying over night a few nights ago - she would just lay down and not move much. The second bird was acting the same way, but then got some yogurt and some Corid (it might be coccidiosis) and was acting a good deal better yesterday, though she would still roam go off by herself a bit. She died last night.

The other four seem fine and normal, and I'm trying to figure out how to keep them that way. Besides coccidiosis, it seems like it could be worms or mites. One bird did have some mites and we treated with wood ash and that has seemed to help. If anyone has any ideas or guidance, it'd be much appreciated. Still learning about these cool little creatures and this is the first time we've had to deal with something like this.

Thanks much!

 

[ChickFuentes]

Were you giving them Medicated Feed?

 

[ATXChickens]

We've been giving them the starter feed for chicks - I honestly don't know if it's medicated, but I will check shortly.

 

[Eggcessive]

Just guessing here, but I would guess that the younger chickens were exposed to coccidia by the older chickens in the tractor. Usually if a chicken has been on the premises or has been fed medicated chick starter/grower for 14 weeks they will have built up an immunity to coccidia. But if those chickens were on another property they wouldn't necessarily be immune to what's on your property. Anyway, I would treat everyone with Corid.

 

[ATXChickens]

Thx Eggcessive, the other chicks seem to be fine so far and they are all getting treated with Corid now.