Help chicks dying! Could chicks in contact with adult hens die from worms?

[hotpotato3]

4 weeks ago, we picked up 8 chicks and we are raising them in a crate "brooder" inside our chicken coop. We currently have 3 adult hens which have in the past had worms. They do not interact but do live in the same space. We have since then have had 5 of them have die gradually not all at the same time. No bloody poops so not codicidis, they are getting medicated feed. None have acted sick. One of them may have been heat stress, and one may have been genetic but the rest are definitely not. Can chicks have dewormer? I have Nemex-2. How would I calculate dosage? What else could it be?

 

[nuthatched]

3 weeks is not long enough for worms to infect and kill a bird.
What are is their brooder temp? General temperature? Diet?
Coccidosis doesn't always have bloody poops and medicated feed doesn't always prevent it

 

[Eggcessive]

Where did the chicks come from? A breeder, feed store, a sale? How old,were they when the deaths started, and what symptoms did you see? Did they have a heat source? Were they on the same bedding as the older chickens had been before? Were they eating and drinking, or were any having diarrhea before they died? Or were they lethargic or standing puffed up? Sorry for your loss.

 

[hotpotato3]

3 weeks is not long enough for worms to infect and kill a bird.
What are is their brooder temp? General temperature? Diet?
Coccidosis doesn't always have bloody poops and medicated feed doesn't always prevent it

The temperature has been ranging in the coop from 75-85 (depending on the weather) but they have a heating plate. They eat purina starter/grower medicated feed.

 

[Eggcessive]

That sounds like they could be getting too warm. Have you seen any pasty butt issues?

 

[nuthatched]

The temperature has been ranging in the coop from 75-85 (depending on the weather) but they have a heating plate. They eat purina starter/grower medicated feed.

They might be too hot but eggcessive is asking some good questions

 

[hotpotato3]

Where did the chicks come from? A breeder, feed store, a sale? How old,were they when the deaths started, and what symptoms did you see? Did they have a heat source? Were they on the same bedding as the older chickens had been before? Were they eating and drinking, or were any having diarrhea before they died? Or were they lethargic or standing puffed up? Sorry for your loss.

We got them from from Mt Healthy Hatcheries. The first one died about 1 week old but I think it was genetic because she never acted right and wasn't really growing. The others were about 2 and a half weeks old and today (so 1 month). Yes the have a Brinsea ecoglow heating plate. They are not on the same bedding we did a complete coop clean and put in new pine flakes.There were no symptoms other that the most recent one was behaving completely normal except being puffed up.

 

[hotpotato3]

That sounds like they could be getting too warm. Have you seen any pasty butt issues?

We have a big dog cage in the coop with a heating plate on one side and we put a fan when it gets warm and a space in between for them to go back and forth. And no pasty but

 

[nuthatched]

We have a big dog cage in the coop with a heating plate on one side and a fan on the other and a space in between for them to go back and forth. And no pasty but

I'd Treat for coccidiosis and remove both fan and heater

 

[Eggcessive]

Sorry for all of the questions, but hopefully, we can help you figure out what might be happening. How long were they in shipping? Are you close to Mt. Healthy? It won’t harm them to treat for possible coccidiosis with Corid or get a sulfa antibiotic, such as this one:
https://globalpigeonsupply.com/products/sulfadimethoxine-12-5-powder#:~:text=Use for treatment of disease,coryza in pigeons and turkeys.&text=Dosage:,drinking water for 6 days.

Corid dosage is 2 tsp of the liquid or 1.5 tsp of the powder per gallon of water for 5-7 days. The sulfa antibiotic could treat both coccidiosis and some other infections.