HELP! Baby chicks are dying! Lost 25 in 2 days

[sonew123]

ok my chicks weren't vaccinated -phew--I got brave and went to see them all well-yeah---on med food for now!

 

[ChickenCat]

sorry for your loss.
The chicks I received from McMurray's on April 12th are growing fantastic. They are eating Purina starter/grower, grit, grass, bugs. They were vaccinated for marek's only. All seem to be happy, healthy little chicks.
I also bought 6 bantams from TSC 10 days earlier. They have been on the exact same diet and doing great.

 

[petitesphinx]

So sorry for not being able to log on until now! I missed my BYCs.

Okay, update, I threw out the chick starter as I suspected it was a bad batch. And I bought the little guys another brand of chick starter which is less mash in texture and is kind of crumbly; they like it better and it lasts longer, too.

I moved them out of the brooder that was built for them and into a large box into our living room with 2 heat lamps on one side so they could walk away if they became too hot.

My loss is less, but almost EVERY single one of our Frizzles just fell over dead and mostly the small chicks are dying; and the feather legs. I think all we have left are the larger clean legged breeds from Murray.

I don't know what I did wrong, I'm afraid to re-buy the Frizzles from their Hatchery in case their birds are ill or just not a good hatch.

 

[petitesphinx]

And no, I didn't opt for the hatchery to vaccinate them.

I'm thinking that might have been my mistake.

I started them on chick starter for the first 3 weeks, ran out then gave them a bit of the cracked corn. (Sorry, left that part out.)

The brooder that was built for them had contact paper in the bottom, would that kill them if they pecked at it?

I'm just frying my brain to learn what I did wrong so we don't lose any more.

 

[petitesphinx]

One side is a bird cage wire and the other is a wood door; so half door and half open wire for venilation. The brand of food, it's in a brown bag and is made at our Co-op, I believe; there's no brand on it.

We had 3 little chicks hatch yesterday in our incubator and I'm afraid to put them with the others. They're tiny and in a shoe box in our bedroom with a lamp over it. I fed them the NEW chick starter and they didn't die (so far, praying for them) so I'm upset thinking that I gave the bad feed.

Oh, their crops were empty. I thought that was strange; like they weren't eating. The sicks ones wouldn't eat, they just sat there with their eyes closed and would fall over. I'd put their beaks in the water to get them to drink, but they wouldn't walk around, eating, chirping like normal chicks.

 

[MissPrissy]

Newly hatched chicks don't always immediately start eating. They have an absorbed yolk they are can survive on for up to about 72 hours. Dip their beak in clean water to get them drinking. Sprinkle a little crumble on the floor to get them pecking. If you give these new hatched chicks the cracked corn they will get sick and they will die just like the others.

Cracked corn = BAD! in chicks in this young. In fact, you shouldn't give the corn except as a treat to chickens that can be in a run and forage for themselves. The cracked corn is like candy and is not a food staple for them.

 

[firedove]

petitesphinx, were you giving your chicks grit or letting them out on the ground before giving them the cracked corn? They really can't handle cracked corn without grit already in their system, at least I'm pretty sure not at that age. I did have 6 weekers that I gave scratch to before they ever had any grit (was my first batch of chicks ever), they did fine, but my friend told me that older chicks and adult chickens can actually use coarse cracked corn as a temporary grit itself. I don't know how true that is but it seemed to work just fine with my 6 week olds. By 7 weeks they were going outside and picking up their own grit.

Another thing about cracked corn is that it has little nutritional value for the rapidly growing chicks so they wont get all the nutrients to build strong systems.

It is unlikely that your chicks are dying from the things that you can vaccinate chicks for. Mareks I believe requires contact with an infected area or the poop of infected birds. Cocci has definite symptoms before death.

Your small chicks may not have been able to eat the crumbles because small chicks sometimes need crumbles ground up smaller. They may look like they are eating but you have to watch close because sometimes they are just picking up the food bits and dropping or tossing them.

As for the feather legs, I have no idea other than possibly the cracked corn dietary issues.

 

[petitesphinx]

I fed the new chicks the chick starter from the co-op, it was a mash type texture. I fed this and after the first batch died within the first 72 hours, they all did fine. I fed them this bag for about 3 weeks. Then we ran out and I gave them crack corn and they loved it. They ate this for about a week, then we gave them a new purchased bag of the chick starter (the bad bag, I think) and then they started dying in groups of 10-12 in one night/day.

I thought it was too cold or hot...I didn't think it might be the food until after I brought all the chicks indoors and they still kept dying. Their crops were empty though, like they stopped eating the chick starter. They had water, my neighbor brought antibotics and put that in the water to try and keep the rest alive.

This morning, I went out and found 4 more dead (my last Frizzle

) and a top hat. All of the rare breeds are gone now and I spent so much on those, it's saddening. After going through something like this...it makes a gal want to give up. Our large chickens are doing great! Free ranging and running the property-chasing the cats around. It's just these little ones from the Hatchery that aren't making it.

I don't know. I waited all year to be able to buy Frizzles and they're gone now....those were my husbands and I's most anticipated buy. Tear....