Feathered Chicks Suddenly Dying

[Ashelton0123]

My friend and I have been having fully feathered chicks suddenly get weak and die out of nowhere. The are outside in a brooder (off the ground) and it’s not been cold enough to kill them. We clean the brooders regularly and use pine bedding. We use purina medicated feed (which we’ve never had a problem with before) and tap water that are available at all times. We use heat lamps but they have plenty of room to get out of the heat. Almost all of them have been perfectly fine one day and then weak and lethargic the next before dying. I also had two inside, a little younger, that acted drunk before dying as well. They staggered around a lot before being unable to get back up. Any ideas what could be going on? Don’t think it’s coccidia....

 

[JustAChickenLoverOverHere]

Sorry nobody has answered yet... where did you get them from?

 

[Ashelton0123]

Different places. The ones that’s been dying most recently were from a reputable breeder in TN and I’ve had them well over a month.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I trust @casportpony as much as anybody on the forum with this type of stuff.

From what you describe nothing jumps out at me. The same thing happened in two different locations. You said "which we’ve never had a problem with before" so it's not your first rodeo. You've had then over a month so not babies and should be pretty well feathered out. How many dead out of how many chicks?

I think the two different locations eliminates a lot of things. As long as the brooder is dry and the water is clean it's not Cocci.

First thought, is the feed moldy? That's probably the only thing that's consistent in the two different locations.

My second thought is some type of disease. From your second post this seems more likely. Can you contact your extension office and see what it would take to get a necropsy? That's where they cut the chicks up to look inside and try to determine what killed them. Different states handle that differently, in many the cost is not much but ask. Find out where to take them and how to handle them. The don't want them frozen but want them refrigerated, maybe on ice.

 

[sassychickens76]

Have you had any more deaths? What did you do?

 

[Ashelton0123]

We had a couple more deaths but all seem ok now. We had both bought a bag of feed from town a little while before this started and we think it might have been the feed causing the problem. After switching back to purina and cleaning the bedding, I only lost one more but she continued to lose some. Hers were in a coop outside and mine still in the brooder bc I hadn’t had room to move them out yet. She ended up discovering mites on hers and treated and hasnt lost any since.

 

[Tartaylor75]

I’ve been having the same thing happen to my chicks. I live in Virginia and I was using the Purina medicated feed as well. I’m starting to think that’s the cause. Maybe something was out into it at the wrong dose, or wrong substance, or it’s just bad, but I have lost a lot of chicks between 1-3 weeks old from it.

 

[Swbertrand1]

I’ve been having the same thing happen to my chicks. I live in Virginia and I was using the Purina medicated feed as well. I’m starting to think that’s the cause. Maybe something was out into it at the wrong dose, or wrong substance, or it’s just bad, but I have lost a lot of chicks between 1-3 weeks old from it.

Make sure to keep the bags with the LOT# and report to the manufacturer, Purina, or whatever company. Also, run searches under your brand of feed and see if there is/was a recall for any lot numbers and why.

That three of you in this thread in different locations have had chicks dying suddenly on different brands of feed seems to be a symptom of a larger issue, possibly an issue with a supplier to both feed companies.

 

[czmarie]

My chicks are doing this too. One by one, same symptoms as yours and it’s devastating. Any advice?