How many survive?

[subhanalah]

You can also give them hard boiled egg yolks to help boost them up. I had a weak chick, and this did the trick. I also gave the poultry nutri-drench, but didn't want to overdo it with the vitamins, they are so tiny still.

My chick did not want to/know how to eat,so I would open its beak and slide a piece of egg yolk into its mouth, and it would gobble it down. Once it got a taste for it,I no longer had to use this method unless it started declining again, at which point I would do the open beak/slide in food, and it remembered that eating felt good.

 

[Sweetest]

Thanks you. We had poultry nutri-drench in our first aid kit for our birds (thank you, bumblefoot...grrr). I gave the chicks each a drop this morning, even the ones that seemed fine. The sick polish is still sick, an her sister is lethargic. All the birds have a vitamin-water dish and a plain water dish. The larger, more active (but same age) ones go for the plain water. I'm going to cross my fingers an hope that the sick polish girl is still alive when I get home at lunchtime. If not, I don't think I'll ever get chicks shipped again. Hardest part is finding the pulleys you want in a feed store around here.

 

[Sweetest]

And the sick ones, or ones that have been sick and have recovered for now, are not eating the chick crumble. I've even offered it to them soaked in water and mashed. Either they eat when I'm not looking, or they don't eat. The Nutri-Drench this morning should keep them going at least until lunchtime. Would it be safe by then to give them hard boiled egg? Last year, my chicks lived on hard boiled egg and plain live culture yogurt and crumble, with the occasional banana for a treat. I just don't want to overload their tiny bellies.

 

[SlipsWife]

What hatchery did you order from?

Here's my experiences so far. Our first shipment was from Cackle, we lost 1 out of around 40. The next shipment was from Privett, no losses out of 30. Ideal, 10 bantams and 7 roosters for warmth, lost 6 out of 10 bantams and 1 packing peanut. Ideal, 9 turken and 5 roosters for warmth, no losses. Cackle, 27, no losses. Cackle, 47, 8 or 9 losses....

I 100% feel the Ideal order with the bantams was shipping stress and way to cold (wind chills in the single digits) and I didn't order enough chicks. There were 4 DOA, another bantams with in 24 hours, packing peanut and another bantam with in 48, none after that. To me, that's shipping stress. Our last order from Cackle I don't believe was shipping stress but I don't know what it was. There are a few others that have experienced similar losses from the same shipment day but others that haven't. I've also heard of similar issues since. I had losses for a week straight. There were no DOA's but chicks kept dying.

No matter what we did, the chicks kept getting weak, lethargic and just standing around. One chirped excessively. We also dealt with more pasty butts and longer than I ever have before. After 2 days I rarely have any that need attention. We still were having some after a week.

 

[Sweetest]

We ordered from Murray McMurray. We ordered 25 chicks, they do the free extra "exotic," which I think was a Turken. And when you order a "package" of meat birds (various breeds, all heavies), they throw in another meatie free (which is another Turken). Next time, I'm going to order ALL meat or layers in one order...just to keep them separate Kinda hard to tell what we've lost so far. I have pictures of the dead chicks for identifying purposes but at this stage in the game, my life at home is spent with a chick tucked in my shirt, or on my husband's chest, getting it to drink, with little time for research into which breed we lost.

 

[Sweetest]

And those Turkens are hardy little buggers! They seem to be the strongest of the bunch!

 

[Sweetest]

Our females that we ordered are as follows:
2 Columbian Wyandotte
2 Barred Rock
2 Buff Orpington
2 Araucana
2 White Crested Black Polish

So far, these ones are all still alive, although the White Crested Black Polish chick is not doing well (still).

The meat birds (all males) that we ordered total 16, and they guarantee at least 5 of these different breeds:
Black Australorp; Lt Brahmas; Dark Cornish; Black GIants; White Giants; Buff Orpingtons; White Orpingtons; New Hampshires; Rhode Island Reds; Barred Rocks; White Rocks; Partridge ROcks; Buff Rocks; Red Star; Black Star; Turkens; Sussex; White Wyandotte; Silver Laced Wyandotte; and Columbian Laced Wyandotte.

I hope after getting a drop of Nutri-Drench into them and some Nutri-Drench laced water, and plain water... They might be doing a little bit better.

 

[SlipsWife]

We ordered the Cackle Hatchery Surprise and got Turkens last year. We love them! I NEVER would have ordered a Turken but once we got them I think we'll always have at least one! Be careful, they are addicting and will definitely contribute to chicken math. We have 2 hens and plan to keep at least 2...or 4...more.

They laid all winter without extra light.

Hopefully your sick guys will perk back up.

 

[subhanalah]

And the sick ones, or ones that have been sick and have recovered for now, are not eating the chick crumble. I've even offered it to them soaked in water and mashed. Either they eat when I'm not looking, or they don't eat. The Nutri-Drench this morning should keep them going at least until lunchtime. Would it be safe by then to give them hard boiled egg? Last year, my chicks lived on hard boiled egg and plain live culture yogurt and crumble, with the occasional banana for a treat. I just don't want to overload their tiny bellies.

you can give them boiled egg when you get home. What I like to do is put it through a garlic press (or a ricer, if you have one) and it makes them into the perfect size/shape to encourage them to want to eat it.
They can live off it for quite some time while they gain strength. You can give the nutri-drench along with the eggs, but you don't want to overdo it on the vitamins.

 

[Sweetest]

Total, out of an order of 25 with one "exotic" and one extra meat bird, we have lost 7. So we are down to 20. The others are energetic and happy. Can't wait to start sorting them out into layers and meat birds...then I can stop counting. Some of them are having problems with the crumble pieces being too big, so they will get hard boiled egg tonight, as will my existing layers. These ones left have just fresh water. Now for the job of putting them all in the sink, checking them for pasty butt, and cleaning out the brooder... I swear, by next spring, I'll have one built!
Thank you, everyone for your help. I'm sure you all know how difficult it is to put down a failing chick to look up how to save said chick. You're all a great resource. Hopefully we can make it thru the next few days with these fluffies.
PS: no one wants to lose a chick, but Murray McMurray has been crediting us back for each one lost, so they have been good about the process too. Just wanted to be clear that they are as helpful as possible. It doesn't replace dead chicks, but it's an effort at least