Help Please.....

[Annie Eggcarton]

This is our second year to brood chicks. We had 100% success with our 2015 flock..... yet disasterious results thus far this year. Below is the basic chain of events.... our babies get medicated feed, parakeet grit, and tiny amount of chick treat mixed in and offered free choice all day. They get fresh water 3x day. They are in our homemade brooder out in the garage under a warm light that keeps the temp around 90 and they have ample room to move to the other end of the brooder if they get too warm.

We purchased 2 Barred Rock pullets from a Mother Earth News Fair three weeks ago. They had the dreaded "pasty butt" from day one and we washed their fuzzy butts usually once a day or it would build up on their vents and cause them distress. We chalked it up to their geneic make up as they never "squatted" to poop, thereby leaving it deposited until we removed it manually for them. Even grit added to their diet didnt help. When we purchased them, we were told they were "bred to be disease free and that vaccinating them wasnt necessary.....so they were not vaccinated. Their legs seems to grow and their wing feathers were beggining to change from fuzz to actual feztbers, however they didnt really seem to "thrive" they stayed very small.

A week later, we received our first mail order back of 5 hens and a male Silver Laced Wyandotte. Upon arrival, they seemed happy and happy and were very energetic and happy to be out of this shipping container. When placed in the brooder with the two Barred Rocks, we could immediately see just how small our Rocks were who, at 2 weeks older than the Wyandottes were significantly small in girth and much more energy. We chalked it up again, the basic genetic difference between Rocks and Wyandottes and just kept and eye on them.

We lost one of or Rocks three days after the Wyandottes (whom we paid to have vaccinated!!) And we lost our second Rock two days later. We lost our first Wyandotte on Friday. We added 4 new Rocks to the mix just yesterday and have already found one more of our Wyandottes dead this evening....... we are devastated and clueless as to what we are doing wrong and wondering how in the world our 2015 ladies managed to survive our lack of parenting!!!

Any ideas or suggestions to help us from loosing our entire flock and our sanity would be greatly appreciated!!

UPDATE: We have since removed all treats and grit and have left only the medicated chick feed for them to forage free will. We have also now added the powdered version of Corid to their drinking water and will continue that for 5-7 days. We are hoping and praying that we have seen the last of our babies die from whatever it is that they have freely passed to each other. Any other suggestions or advice is always welcome! I can't express enough thanks to those who took the time to reply so quickly that I was able to take immediate action (call feed stores to locate local feed stores who had Corid in stock) and to start getting our sweet babies back on track to healthier days ahead!

 

[chickadoodles]

This is our second year to brood chicks. We had 100% success with 2015 flock..... yet disasterious results thus far this year. Below is the basic chain of events.... our babies get medicated feed, parakeet grit, and tiny amount of chick treat mixed in and offered free choice all day. They get fresh water 3x day. They are in our homemade brooder out in the garage under a warm light that keeps the temp around 90 and they have ample room to move to the other end of the brooder if they get too warm. If your brooder is to large you may need to add another light for more heat. They need to stay warm with out a draft.

We purchased 2 Barred Rock pullets from a Mother Earth News Fair three weeks ago. They had the dreaded "pasty butt" from day one and we washed their fuzzy butts usually once a day or it would build up on their vents and cause them distress. We chalked it up to their geneic make up as they never "squatted" to poop, thereby leaving it deposited until we removed it manually for them. Even grit added to their diet didnt help. When we purchased them, we were told they were "bred to be disease free and that vaccinating them wasnt necessary.....so they were not vaccinated. Their legs seems to grow and their wing feathers were beggining to change from fuzz to actual feztbers, however they didnt really seem to "thrive" they stayed very small.

A week later, we received our first mail order back of 5 hens and a male Silver Laced Wyandotte. Upon arrival, they seemed happy and happy and were very energetic and happy to be out of this shipping container. When placed in the brooder with the two Barred Rocks, we could immediately see just how small our Rocks were who, at 2 weeks older than the Wyandottes were significantly small in girth and much more energy. We chalked it up again, the basic genetic difference between Rocks and Wyandottes and just kept and eye on them.

We lost one of or Rocks three days after the Wyandottes (whom we paid to have vaccinated!!) And we lost our second Rock two days later. We lost our first Wyandotte on Friday. We added 4 new Rocks to the mix just yesterday and have already found one more of our Wyandottes dead this evening....... we are devastated and clueless as to what we are doing wrong and wondering how in the world iur 2015 managed to survive our lack of parenting!!!

Any ideas or suggestions to help us from loosing our entire flock and our sanity would be greatly appreciated!!

Since your SLW are vaccinated you need to stay with getting vaccinated chicks or chickens. Some of the vaccines like Mareks are a live virus and the chicks will excrete the virus and the other chicks will then get it and could succumb to it.

 

[Eggcessive]

Mareks is usually not a problem until they are older, and it takes at least 3 weeks to show symptoms after exposure, so I doubt if that is what is happening. More common when mixing multiple age chicks is coccidiosis, an intestinal infection. I would treat them with Corid 2 tsp of the liquid, or 1 1/2 tsp of the powder per gallon of water for 5-7 days. It's best when bringing in new chicks, to keep them in a separate brooder that has been disinfected, and slowly expose them to other chickens as they build up resistance to cocci in the soil and droppings.

 

[Annie Eggcarton]

Wonderful and very helpful information, indeed! Thanks so much for taking the time to reply. We keep a close eye on the brooder temps to make sure they a) have enough room to move about if they get too warm and b) we keep a thermometer at their level and try to maintain the appropriate temps for their age.

At your suggestion, I have removed the grit and treats. So they currently are only getting free choice medicated chick feed.

I went to the feed store today and picked up some Corid (powder) and have started them on that this morning as well. That's their only access to water, so they have no other options but to drink the medicated water. I dipped each of their beaks into the newly medicated water to make sure they were at least getting some and will continue putting their beaks into the water throughout the day to try to keep them drinking.

I have noticed that their poop is different looking that regular chicken poo. One in particular looked like a really long (one piece) worm that was excreted with clear looking fluids. I don't think it was a worm (surely not as it resembled what I would imagine their tiny intestines must look like, definitely not a normal chick poo). The order of the poop is horrific as well, nothing like I've ever come across with any of our healthy chicks or chickens! Does the consistency and/or "fragrance" I've described possibly what could be going on with our chicks??

 

[chickadoodles]

Wonderful and very helpful information, indeed! Thanks so much for taking the time to reply. We keep a close eye on the brooder temps to make sure they a) have enough room to move about if they get too warm and b) we keep a thermometer at their level and try to maintain the appropriate temps for their age.

At your suggestion, I have removed the grit and treats. So they currently are only getting free choice medicated chick feed.

I went to the feed store today and picked up some Corid (powder) and have started them on that this morning as well. That's their only access to water, so they have no other options but to drink the medicated water. I dipped each of their beaks into the newly medicated water to make sure they were at least getting some and will continue putting their beaks into the water throughout the day to try to keep them drinking.

I have noticed that their poop is different looking that regular chicken poo. One in particular looked like a really long (one piece) worm that was excreted with clear looking fluids. I don't think it was a worm (surely not as it resembled what I would imagine their tiny intestines must look like, definitely not a normal chick poo). The order of the poop is horrific as well, nothing like I've ever come across with any of our healthy chicks or chickens! Does the consistency and/or "fragrance" I've described possibly what could be going on with our chicks??

I am not great with cocci. Sorry. I know I have to treat my grown chickens for it when the ground stays to wet after a lot of rain. In a grown chicken their poo can be runny or even have a blood tinge to it though. There is a poo chart that might help you later on when your babies are grown.
http://chat.allotment-garden.org/?topic=17568.0

 

[Annie Eggcarton]

Thanks so much for the info! Your prompt response may have help save at least some of our new flock. I was able to finally find some of the Corid powder and have started them on it. I dipped each one into the water hoping to get them started getting the medication on board.

So, for future reference, its best to have either ALL vaccinated or NONE?? What about when we begin merging our SLW into the older flock, are we going to be exposing our yearling ladies to the Merck? I had NO IDEA getting the vaccination would have such broad affects on the rest of the flock. I was just hoping to ensure,, since they were shipped via mail, that they had a healthier start with the stress of shipping. Have I, inadvertently, exposed all of our babies and, when the time comes to get them outside, our yearling ladies to this dreaded live virus?

I still have a couple of babies that appear somewhat weaker than the others, is there any way to tell if they are getting better and/or have crossed back over into the healthy chicks again?

 

[Annie Eggcarton]

GREAT article. I have printed it out for future reference/comparisons.

Thanks again for all of your help and information!

 

[chickadoodles]

GREAT article. I have printed it out for future reference/comparisons.

Thanks again for all of your help and information!

Your welcome. I wish you luck with your chicks.

 

[DreamsInPink]

I am not great with cocci. Sorry. I know I have to treat my grown chickens for it when the ground stays to wet after a lot of rain. In a grown chicken their poo can be runny or even have a blood tinge to it though. There is a poo chart that might help you later on when your babies are grown.
http://chat.allotment-garden.org/?topic=17568.0

Wow... that's a great bit of information in that link. But, wow again, sooo many are considered normal. I just have to pray that I am able to recognize if my babies ever come down with anything.

 

[chickadoodles]

Quote: You can save the link or email the link to yourself to keep it.
Many times sick birds will look like they are feeling cold they will fluff up their feathers and huncker over.