Hatchery Chicks dying - 2 - 3 per day

[lazy gardener]

Glad you have some from that shipment that are doing well. I wouldn't hesitate to ask MMc to replace all of the birds that have failed, even if it's been more than the 48 hours. It doesn't hurt to ask. You have done everything in your power to nurse them along.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

..... As soon as they were placed under the heat lamp they were provided with their grogel on a paper plate and chick starter was sprinkled under the lamp and also provided in a tray away from the heat lamp. Most began pecking..... the newspaper under them, the walls of the box, the food. They also seemed to be comfortable, because during naps the group would lay in piles or two or three with beaks resting on the back of the next one. Never all piled over each other.

What is "grogel?"

Chicks learn about their surroundings by pecking everything that they see.

 

[Then I Will]

What is "grogel?"


Gro-gel is a powder that when wetted, expands into a green gelatin like substance for the chicks to eat. Most hatcheries offer this for a few dollars in checkout as a feed starter for the chicks.

 

[lzbloomy]

Purchased 15 Black Sumatras from Murray McMurray.
They arrived Wednesday the 7th. When I opened the box, most were on tiptoe smashed against one another in the corner. One was already dead.
It took them some hours to come off their tiptoes. I wondered if they would forever walk oddly. I dipped each bird's beak into the water as I set it in the brooding area. As soon as they were placed under the heat lamp they were provided with their grogel on a paper plate and chick starter was sprinkled under the lamp and also provided in a tray away from the heat lamp. Most began pecking everything, the newspaper under them, the walls of the box, the food. Others sat with their necks craned skyward cheeping.
6 hours later, I provided electrolytes in the water. Unfortunately, when I checked on them during that time period, one had drowned in the water dish and another had curled up in the corner and died. Every eight hours, another one followed. I began noticing a couple that weren't eating or drinking and pecked the food infront of them with my finger like mama hen does. I dipped their beaks in the water repeatedly, some would drink. Some would act like it was poison. None of the weak comprehended what grogel or chick starter was for.
By the end of the day, I supplied grit, lightly sprinkled on the food, and continued putting just a sprinkle of starter under the lamp for the weaker ones to continue "learning." I took an eye dropper and force fed some electrolyte water to a weak one, hoping to buy it extra time to try to live.

At this point, the weak ones did not even seem to be trying. They would stare skyward, peeping pitifully while my "healthy" birds ran circles around them, pigged out on starter and grogel, and pushed them over. That night, another dropped. Next morning, another cold body. They weren't all likely smothered or too cold, because sometimes they were laying just outside of the middle of the heat lamp where any cold chick would have huddled. They also seemed to be comfortable, because during naps the group would lay in piles or two or three with beaks resting on the back of the next one. Never all piled over each other.

I called McMurray at the 48 hours mark and reported 7 deaths. Four hours after I made the call, numbers 8 and 9 were falling into comas under the heat lamp and having spastic breathing and bubbles in their spittle. (Congestive heart failure?) I was tempted to remove the dying bird early, but always let it die as comfortably as possible in the warmth of the lamp.

Friday morning the 9th, I expected to have find only one more dead and that would be the last of the weak ones...
There were three cold bodies stretched out under the lamp. All with empty crops. No poop at the vent in any of the deaths. Seemingly dead from dehydration and starvation. Strange, because I had checked their crops the other day and most had a little ball of food in there.

I ordered 15 more from Meyer hatchery, and am tempted to call McMurray back and report the other deaths whether they give me a credit/refund or nothing at all. It's been extremely disheartening watching so many die after following the books to the letter. I think it is worth noting that McMurray has all bad reviews on their Sumatras, but Meyer has all positive reviews on their Sumatras and is more confident in their live bird guarantee on their polices page.

Has anyone else had a bad experience like this with hatchery chicks where deaths are quite inexpiable? Also, since Sumatras are smaller than standard breeds, should they be brooded differently?

Thanks for reading through,
Laurisa

Aside- The Meyer hatchery batch is arriving Monday/Tuesday/Wednesday, making them a week different in age with any survivor I happen to have at that time. I plan on brooding them in a separate box due to temp differences, but may integrate them if they outnumber the remaining from the first batch.

 

[lzbloomy]

we lost 11 out of 22 from MMcM in May. Two dying when the box was open. One smeared in the green supplement. doctored them everyday for a month - pasty butt then scaley butt some seemed ok then drooped and died. one of the still alive ones has a deformed foot and bald bottom. another is small and has a crusty substance still coming from his vent and heavy lidded eyes. the healthy six or seven were always healthy and doing fine. got most of my money back in several calls to MMCM and I kept asking, is it me? what is going on? think they have just gotten too big too fast. sad thing for my granddaughter to experience they were her birthday present. good to learn about Death I guess but this was terrible. I will never order mail order again..

 

[Then I Will]

I hear you lzbloomy. I got my replacements from Meyer Hatchery Thursday, and lost one several hours after opening in the box. I have two more struggling and nothing is making them perk up. I feel I've had better success with these so far due to giving them a sugar water concoction spiked with electrolytes and nutri-drench. I think it's sad so much nursing and doctoring has to be done to mail order chicks!!
As badly as I want to save the struggling ones, I feel that spending days nursing them back to health- which is hardly a 50/50 chance at saving them anyway- will only yield a weak and dependent bird. Or a bird that will die after the warranty period anyway and then I won't get my money back...
The only reason, and I mean, The ONLY reason I ordered hatchery birds is because I wanted to raise rare breeds and could not find them elsewhere.
I really think poultry should only be overnight-ed. Priority 2 day shipping had them trapped in that box for over 3 days!! It's cruelty.
Well... enough cackle. I'm off to nurse the little ones and save what I can.

 

[MrDeMaistre]

Sounds awful.

I've had great luck with McMurray, have been using them for decades. I have 28 four-day-olds under the heat lamp right now: 100% survival, 100% peeping, eating, drinking.

The x-factor is the post office, something over which McMurray has no control. When I'm getting chicks, I notify the postmistress (very small town) and tell her to call me when the chicks arrive no matter what the time of day. She's a chicken person and is very careful with them. I drive right to the P.O. to pick them up so they don't have to ride around all day in the mailman's jeep. Frankly, as averse to responsibility as most governmental and quasi-governmental employees are, it's a wonder any of them survive. Too bad private carriers won't handle chick shipments: they certainly do better with any other sort of parcel than USPS does.

Another factor might be the electrolytes. If you study the concentrations recommended, it takes a remarkably tiny dose of powder to make up a chick waterer's worth of drinking water: just a little pinch. Might you be adding too much?

It's possible too that they are getting too much heat, perhaps in too small a space so that they can't escape to a cooler place. I always shine the heat light on one end of my chick pen so that the chicks can choose by walking just how warm they want to be.

Or, maybe they're just sick. I assume that happens, though, as I say, I have never gotten a dead chick from McMurray, and the vast, vast majority of their birds have done just fine.

 

[Then I Will]

Hey MrDeMaistre,

Yes, that post office really has power over the hatcheries reviews. My small town post office called me between 5-6 am both times to come get the chicks. And they handed the box to me with care. But those inbetween people, the freight guys who throw crates around.... they might not care so much.

I've followed my electrolyte mix's instructions as closely as possible. They said 1 tsp per gallon, and my waterer is a fourth of that, so they get 1/4 tsp.

And the lamp hetas only one corner of the box. So there is plenty of room to escape the light and actually freeze to death in some other corner.

I've given raw honey and egg yolk to my two sick ones. It seems however, that once the "gasping" begins, there is no turning back. Not even nutri drench or honey makes them "perk" and open their eyes. They're both wrapped in an old shirt piece around my neck right now and we're just hoping for the best.
But these two I'm dealing with now were replacements from Meyer when McMurray didn't have any more of my kind. They also had a rough shipment that lasted one day longer. But they got nutri-drench and sugar water on arrival so I think they're faring much better.
Thanks for caring,

 

[tk10]

What is pnd? I had a similar experience with ducklings

 

[Then I Will]

What is pnd? I had a similar experience with ducklings

Poultry Nutri-Drench. Because they make Nutri-drench for other livestock and you would want to have one specifically for poultry.