HELP- one month old chicks started dying this weekend

[silkiechicken]

3-4 months!

Mine are out on dirt within a week. I can't imagine keeping even a dozen chicks inside for over a few weeks. Out earlier the better if you can ensure the heat they need.

Best of luck! Hope you can find answers!

 

[winekntrychicks]

Quote:
I have chicks in the house right now. I am extremely careful what I spray around them. Such as household cleaners, windex, etc. I won't even spray hair spray around them. Are you cooking with teflon pans? I know that cooking with Teflon pans will kill parrots and other types of indoor birds. I used paper towels to line brooder until they were about 4 days old and they learned to eat from the feeder. Now at they are on pine shavings. Good luck.

 

[winekntrychicks]

I have a question for silkie chicken. Background;
We have had a lot of rain this past week. The runs are muddy and smell like ammonia. I have shoveled off the top layer of dirt but it's not really making a difference. Still very wet and stinks. I let them out to forage when I have time to watch over them. I would really love to let them free range; but am afraid of loosing them to predators. An age old lament, I know.
I have 3 week old silkies in the shower with momma right now. They were outside for 2 of those weeks, mom stopped sitting on 3 of the eggs so I put them into the bator. 2 died in the shell; 1 hatched. So I brought mom and all 7 of her babies into the house until the baby from the bator could keep up.
I have 6 others from the bator no mom in a brooder box in another part of the house.
I want to put them all outside but with all of the rain we've had and the smell, the pullets that are already outside have changes in their poo, should I wait for before I put the babies out?? We have spent so much time and money on coops and runs. I just don't feel they are adequate. I now wish I had a big barn. I appreciate your thoughts and advice ahead of time.....

 

[silkiechicken]

If it's really muddy and you suspect something is up with your adults, I'd hold off till it dries up a bit. If you can find some sandy soil for a dust bath from a different part of the yard for the chicks inside, that would be good for exposure to stuff in the soil. If wet and damp isn't your norm, and the coops are not draining well, a few weeks inside more won't hurt and would likely be better.

For something like cocci which loves to live in wet soil, it is everywhere, however, if it goes though a bird and reproduces, the numbers can exponentially increase in areas where immune adults are living. A young chick can eat enough plain oocysts in the soil to get sick, even if they cannot reproduce in the gut due to medicated feed. That is a reason why medicated feed doesn't stop chicks from getting cocci, as it doesn't do much other than keep them from reproducing in the bird.

If you get the chance, if you could add drainage to the bottom of the runs maybe that would help with the mud. A few inches of sand should be able to do the trick.

Hope I made some sense, brain is a bit fried today from work.

 

[CA Bean]

This may be totally off but look closely for mites and lice eggs on the feathers and quills also near vents. I had this happen where the smallest one died and I couldn't figure it out but they were all covered in mites! ( usually doesn't happen to baby chicks though) so but atleast you could rule it out.

 

[DDRanch]

I am so sorry for your losses. I can't offer any advice except to let you know that Davis will do autopies free of charge but they need to have the deceased bird in a particular time frame. I don't know what the time frame is. I wish I could help you. We have a very good vet here who sees chickens and is quite compentent. PM me and I will give you his info.

 

[sugarbush]

Did you get them from Ideal? There are many complaints floating around the internet about their chicks dying at 4-6 weeks of age of respiratory problems right now...

I called them about it last week and they deny any problems, so if that is where you got them from you need to call them and let them know.

 

[crazyhen]

Num. 1. clean all the area with clorox water,,, rinse, rinse ...... rinse. Take them out to another box and clean their box. I know they have all been exposed to each other but maybe its a build up of some kind. Move to another area. Have you been using unfiltered apple cider vinegar in their water. If not start. It helps to keep down bacteria and helps their digestive tract.
I sure am sorry about your loses. I lost two right after I got my little ones last fall. Jean

 

[lisahaschickens]

Crazyhen -

I hadn't heard about the vinegar in the water, but I would like to try it. What is the proportion of vinegar to water?

Thanks for the tip!
~Lisa

 

[crazyhen]

I use unfiltered apple cider vinegar from the health food store with the mother in it. ( Thats the white stuff in the bottom of the jar that helps to make it into vinegar. ) Suppose to be good for all of us. Several of the ladies use vinegar for their health on here. Use about a tablespoon for each gallon. The poultry man that is in NC told me nothing is more affective than clorox when cleanning around chickens. I was asking about oxine. I still would like to have it to spray their coop in winter because you don't have to completely scrub it down first and it can even be sprayed over the hens. Thats the oxine not the clorox. I hope this helps. Also a little plain all natural yogurt can't hurt either. Just a small amt. Too much and they get the poops. LOL I learned the hard way. Jean