HELP! my 5 day old chicks re dying!

annabell254

Chirping
7 Years
May 21, 2012
471
12
93
south Ga
I have silkies and sebrights together in the brooder... 5 of the silkies are a week older, the other 4 blue silkies and 8 sebrights just came on Thursday...they were weaker and one had died and most of the rest had pasty butt, which I have kept clean...they ate and drank sugar water with vitamins and all seemed great that night, the next day Friday I found my 2 year old son with one of the sebrights and I thought he had crushed it (and he may have) as it was having trouble breathing and with every gasp there was a popping sound in it's chest and it was very lethargic, eyes closed...I thought dying, well by that night it was no worse and by the next morning (Saturday) it was up and eating, I still heard some popping in its chest but it was more active so I thought it was fine...and it might be....that was yesterday, last night all was fine I checked for pasty butt, which has almost cleared up, loved on them and said good night...This morning I had one of my new blue silkies down... very lethargic, floppy feeling, with a popping coming from its chest, eyes closed, gasping and with every breath its head would bob up and down,....I freaked set up a sick box separated it and checked the rest over, and another blue baby was down...this one has a bum foot and we call it hop along :) It is very lethargic, and wont get up but is still able to eat and drink...I separated it as well...within 30 mins the bad one flipped over on its back, when I turned it over its legs stayed back, it died 5 mins later...The other is sleeping and is so far just very lethargic...The first baby that I thought was crushed still seems a little off and rests more than the rest but the popping sound has completely stopped and it eats and drinks fine...HELP!
Should I re-separate the first chick that seems fine now,
could it be the same thing and the 1st chick recovered, would it still be contagious
WHAT COULD THIS BE!
I am so scared I dont want to lose them all!
I fully cleaned the brooder and have the one baby separated so far and am awaiting further advice
 
I am no vet by no means but just wander if you might call the vet and ask what you could do for them. Id almost suspect a upper respirtory infection but like I said Im not even close to knowing what Im talking about. My vet will tell me to try this or that and if they think they need to be seen. Im having problems this morning also with a real sick one too and sooooo feel your pain. Just thought maybe a vet might beable to direct you to a medicine like at TSC or farm store might sell. The Amish feed supplies here are nice to find medicines ect... that TSC doesnt carry or might even try a feed Mill the one in Fredricktown has a good supply of chicken medicines ect... Id give them all a call and see what they think if the vet cant tell ya. We only have one bird vet here now that I have my reserves about on how much they know about birds. So ya cant always tell who would know more about bird sicknesses. Id get all thier advice and sum it up after by possibly- if like 2 of the sources said it sounds like this- kinda thing. Go with your gut feeling has been my best bet so far. Oh I sure do wish ya the best for your lil guys!!!!!
 
I am so sorry to hear about your chicks. I don't know what's going on but I have read that a clicking sound in their chest is bad heart or heart valve. Hope you don't loose any more.
 
I would rather it be that than a sickness! the one seems about the same, maybe a little better...but it had some clear goo coming out its butt!
barnie.gif
my husband brought home Vet RX smells like camphor oil and I put it on their beaks, and fed the sick one a drop (like the directions said to do) it is supposed to be fine for preventing disease as well as treating it...maybe the goo was just the oil going through it's system
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TSC (and most other smaller feed stores) have a small envelope-type package of medicine called Sav-a-chik. I have never used it, but I have heard many many many people say fantastic things about it. You may want to wander over and read the package for more detailed info (or simply look it up online). Our TSCs in Ohio generally have one expert per store who is like a chicken guru. You could ask if your store has anyone in who specializes in or raises poultry specifically.
 
I lost the other blue silkie this morning...it never seemed overly sick just lethargic and never had the popping sound that the others had (it did have a bad foot and was never able to stand on it, I think it was too short...maybe it had an internal issue not related to the others? the other in quarantine that was the first to get sick (but got better, and was the one I thought my 2 year old crushed) does still have the popping sound and is still doing fine...and is very up-set to be alone....how long will it be contagious? maybe my son did hurt it as that was exactly when I noticed the popping sound...and maybe he hurt the other blue that died with the popping sound...I dont know if it is 3 different things, or one thing that acts very differently in each bird,
barnie.gif
 
You might want to take one that died in to get a necropsy done so you know for sure what's going on. It could be respitaory problem :(.
 
Awe Sweetie I am so sorry to hear that. I was gone yesterday and my phone went dead so had no way of checking in. I sure feel for ya. Gosh its such a heartbreaker. I dont understand why these things happen but I am determined to learn. I wonder if possibly there is some kind of bird vet schooling books at a college store where people are going to school to become a vet for birds? In my heart I think it would help figure out what going on and how to treat it kind of thing. I dont have anything like that around here but would love to find out if there is such a thing. It sure feels helpless to not know when someone or myself is in need of knowledge of that sort and I dont have it, the vets around here have all retired that knew anything about birds so there is no help when ya need it. I dont mean to blabber on, just thought someone might have a idea on how to find study books even already used, see this and post the proper terminology to find such books or even where to get them? I sure send ya big XOXOXOXOXOXO
 
Yea, my vet knows nothing of birds and to send it off would have been pricey for him....but on a brighter note, no one else is sick today :) and my one that is still in quarantine is so up-set and healthy it is already flying out of the box! haha the rasp/popping sound is almost completely gone...I have been using Vet RX...and am just hoping beyond hope that my son hurt the two with popping sounds, and the one just recovered better, as the sebrights were healthier than the silkies...and the other silkie that died simply had an internal problem...as its feet were already messed up and I know that these things do happen...but now what am I to do with my quarantine baby...how long 'if is is respiratory' does it need to be isolated...should I put a new baby in with it once it seems better to see if the new one gets sick....that seems kinda cruel but I can handle loosing one or two more than I could handle losing all of them!
 

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