HELP!! Why do my baby chicks all die right after I give them water???

[donrae]

I agree losing chicks "minutes later" is not the water. It takes time for a bacterial or viral infection to breed and kill an organism. Something else is going on, that soon after hatching is likely a genetic or developmental issue where they would have died anyway.

 

[MeepBeep]

I agree losing chicks "minutes later" is not the water.

I beg to differ, and I would not rule the water out without further study... High nitrate/nitrite levels in the water due to septic leakage or fertilizer run off (as I hinted at in my previous post) can be lethal very quickly to a day old chick that doesn't have a developed digestional tract...

http://aces.nmsu.edu/pubs/_b/b-807.pdf

Chickens lack a rumen, so higher nitrates are not too harmful to them and pass right though but on the flip side the lack of the rumen means that higher levels of nitrites are more lethal to them as they are not converted and enter the blood stream... Also there is a world of difference between the lethality of a day old chick without a developed digestional tract vs a grown adult chicken...

IMO since it's free it's foolish not to test the water and at least get a piece of mind that the water in your house is not toxic...

 

[roamingchick]

Alright so I am getting water tested and I have a hen on eggs due to hatch in a few days I am going to use bottled water and let the mommy hen show them how to drink that rules out any error in me showing them how to drink as well as contaminated water leaving only mother nature to decide. Of course ill provide adaquate heat and housing, a safe water container so no one drowns or gets wet. Id love to see my babies grow!

 

[cg21]

as said in the previous posts if you change two things your doing you wont know which is causing it..... interested in this thread.. keep us posted... if I were you I would do the same thing you did to the other chicks... but into the bottled water...

 

[roamingchick]

When chicks hatch end of week its bottled water and ill be sure to keep posting.

 

[roamingchick]

Yes there is fracking I live near PA border and I am not dipping nostrils they have been from under hen and bator I leave them in bator quite a while and then let them adjust to brooder.

 

[chicken266]

When you first give them water you have to properly introduce them!
Poke your beak in the water and they will drink it!

It's either this or they are drowning in it
Which does depends how big your water bucket or container is

I hope this helps :cd

 

[inquisitivebird]

What happened to your chicks that recently hatched? Did they survive this time?

 

[robbiebobbie]

How are your chicks? Did they survive? What was your water test results? Hope all is well!!!!!

 

[3riverschick]

Are you using a Teflon coated bulb in the brooder? ( sometimes called a "rugged use" bulb)
They outgas carbon monoxide when turned on and it kills birds. I read a poultry keeper on
BYC put one in his/her coop and the next morning 14 fowl were dead.
Best,
Karen