Help, please!

[jj&hpcole]

6 chicks hatched Sept. 2 first day mom and roo pecked one to death, a few days later one died, now two weeks old biggest chick dies. They just get sluggish and sit still can't move around with the others and this last one seem to have an abcess or growth on the side of its little 'chest' (don't know the right chickent anatomy yet) and was blowing bubbles at times, vomiting? I don't know - we're hoping the three left are not going to get sick one by one and die, they seem fine right now.

 

[WildflowerJLH]

Not much help, but the "growth" on the side of its chest might be its crop. Is it on the right side of the chicken?

 

[jj&hpcole]

Yes on its right side kind of squishy when I pushed it - but its the one that's dead now. Thanks, what's its crop?

 

[PunkinPeep]

Are they being raised by a mother hen? What is their setting? What are they eating? Please tell us more about their circumstances so we can help.

Have they been on the ground? How long?

 

[WildflowerJLH]

jj&hpcole :

Yes on its right side kind of squishy when I pushed it - but its the one that's dead now. Thanks, what's its crop?

Crop: an organ, a part of the esophagus, located at the base of the neck and used as a storage place for food after eating but before digestion.​

 

[jj&hpcole]

The chicks (only three now - six on 9/02) have been on the ground since day one. Mama hen dropped them from the nesting box and we've put the box on the ground where they sleep in, under her, every night, and venture in the say 9 x 12 area (covered pen) every day. Not able to get back up to sleep in the coop where they hatched in the box in the beginning. We feed them chick starter, dried meal worms (I wet them to make them come to life), boiled eggs, lettuce, and scratch feed (corn). They have fresh water and sunlight comes in from all sides. I've recently added wheat straw and raked out a lot of the top surface before putting down the wheat straw. Do you think I need to get some Corid to give to them all? We're working on an attached run, but haven't been able to put them in it yet. Saturday when I was working on cleaning the pen a little and adding the straw I could tell Henny Penny wanted to take them out! I'm trying to get them into the run ASAP! We didn't plan for these chicks as well as we should and now we're or they're paying the price. All help is much appreciated.

 

[FlipFlopFarmer]

good luck, there are many many things that can happen to tiny new chicks. they need warm dry predator free environments. It is best to take mom and babies out if the current habitat isnt chick secure. OR remove rooster if he is the only other one with them. Also, adding electrolytes to the water helps boost them up a bit.Also, most everyone on here has learned very valuable info from some very hard lessons, so dont be to hard on yourself, it sounds like you are a very caring chicken farmer!