HELP!!

[TroyerGal]

Hi... I am very new to backyard chickening and I just got my very first chicks on tuesday. I have lost two chickies already

and I think I am losing another she is eating and drinking a little, and i was giving her some sugar water earlier to give her energy a boost... well, after i put her back in her brooder she pooped out a worm-like thing!! i don't think it is coccidiosis 'cause it did not have any blood... just yellowish white with a big ol' pink worm in it!! WHAT IS IT AND WHAT DO I DO!?!?

 

[azygous]

Can you post a photo of this "worm"? It's highly unlikely baby chicks would have worms since it takes weeks for them to grow to a size you can see. Besides, chicks haven't had opportunity to eat anything that might infest their intestines.

But losing chicks may be a sign your brooder is too hot. How large is your brooder, and how many chicks and what is the temperature directly under your heat source and what is it in the rest of the brooder?

If it's not ten to twenty degrees cooler in the rest of the brooder, the chicks will keep absorbing heat until they are heat stressed and die.

What are you using for bedding? If it's cedar shavings instead of pine, that may be the problem, too.

 

[realsis]

can you please post a picture of it? coccidosis can still occur without having bloody feces. symptoms include lethergic behavior, puffed up appearance, excessive sleepiness,foamy feces. hope this helps

 

[TroyerGal]

I will post a photo as soon as i can... my brooder was 90 degrees last I checked. everybody else is fine, they are all scattered about the brooder doing their chick things. i use pine shavings from TSC, i have heard cedar is toxic, and my brooder is quite large, i forgot the measurements, but comfortable enough for 29 chicks... thank you for your advice

 

[azygous]

Read my post again, please. I asked you for two temperatures. What is the temperature in the rest of the brooder? If it's not a lot cooler than 90, your chicks are cooking.

 

[TroyerGal]

The temp was 95ish directly under the lamp, i just checked a moment ago. i don't think it's too hot, since the others are all busy scratching and doing other things...

 

[TroyerGal]

the thermometer said it was like 60 degrees out of the brooder... the rest of the brooder is not much warmer, it would barely register on the thermometer...

 

[TroyerGal]

here is the "worm"...
and here is my chick, princess. she is just kinda acting lethargic, not as much as the ones that died though
btw, can ducklings transmit disease to chicks?

 

[TroyerGal]

BTW, the temp in the rest of the brooder is 70 degrees.

 

[TillyPeeps]

That looks like blood poop or shed intestinal lining for me. Please start treatment for coccidosis ASAP.

You can find the dosage here:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/818879/updated-corid-and-amprol-amprolium-dosing