I'm so sad!

[allgr8dogs]

Hi all, my chicks seemed to be doing well and then bang! I would find a chick either dead or obviously not doing well. 3 out of 4 of my chicks have died. What can I change? I feel like a horrible chicky killer.

 

[Aunt Angus]

Hi all, my chicks seemed to be doing well and then bang! I would find a chick either dead or obviously not doing well. 3 out of 4 of my chicks have died. What can I change? I feel like a horrible chicky killer.

There are soooo many things that can go wrong. Don't beat yourself up. Some just fail to thrive.

Were they hatched at home or shipped?

 

[docteurshepherd]

Oh dear, I'm so sorry. There's lots of things that could go wrong as Aunt Angus said. I would suggest you get friends for the little one from a store if possible but honestly probably not a good idea until you know what is going on.

What were the chicks exhibiting before they passed? Sneezing? Stumbling? etc? Have you raised chicks before? How's the last one doing, is he showing any signs of anything? I would monitor it closely. Have you seen them eat and drink?

 

[docteurshepherd]

By the way I completely understand where you're coming from by feeling terrible but please as tough as it is, don't think of yourself as a chick killer. You obviously aren't doing anything intentionally and it may not be anything you've done anyways, as Aunt said some just fail to thrive. You obviously care a lot as you feel bad and are trying to figure out what's wrong which is great, or else you wouldn't be asking on here. To me, that means you are a good chick owner

 

[keesmom]

More information is needed. First suspect would be coccidiosis.

Were you giving them medicated feed? How old are they? Where did the chicks come from? What does your brooder setup look like? What are you using for a heater?

 

[CluckerFamily]

Are you using a heat lamp or heating plate?
What are you feeding them?
Were there any sign of sickness that you may have observed or anything wrong with their poop?

 

[allgr8dogs]

There are soooo many things that can go wrong. Don't beat yourself up. Some just fail to thrive.

Were they hatched at home or shipped?

I bought them from Pratt's Feed Store. They were so very cute...

 

[allgr8dogs]

Oh dear, I'm so sorry. There's lots of things that could go wrong as Aunt Angus said. I would suggest you get friends for the little one from a store if possible but honestly probably not a good idea until you know what is going on.

What were the chicks exhibiting before they passed? Sneezing? Stumbling? etc? Have you raised chicks before? How's the last one doing, is he showing any signs of anything? I would monitor it closely. Have you seen them eat and drink?

They were all eating and drinking. Then one chick seemed weak, and so I made sure it could get to the food and water. It seemed to be doing better, but then in the morning it was dead. The two silky chicks seemed really lively, were eating and drinking, moving in and out from the warmer. Then I found one who seemed weak, so again I made sure the precious little chicky had water and and food. It seemed to perk up, was eating and drinking and then in the morning it was dead. The last little silky seemed fine, alert moving around a lot and this this morning I found the poor little thing dead. The last chicky is an Easter Egger and seems fine. He/she likes to be held (to my surprise), is eating and drinking but I dread tomorrow morning. Pratt's recommended Save a Chick Electrolytes and Probiotics so I've been putting that in their water. I've been changing their water every day. I wonder if I should change it 2 or 3 times a day...

 

[21hens-incharge]

What temp is your brooder at?
Age of chicks?
Feed being used?
We need lots more info in order to try and help.

 

[allgr8dogs]

By the way I completely understand where you're coming from by feeling terrible but please as tough as it is, don't think of yourself as a chick killer. You obviously aren't doing anything intentionally and it may not be anything you've done anyways, as Aunt said some just fail to thrive. You obviously care a lot as you feel bad and are trying to figure out what's wrong which is great, or else you wouldn't be asking on here. To me, that means you are a good chick owner

Well, I'm going to sterilize everything and get a couple more chicks because little Princess Gloriosa (named by my 5 year old granddaughter) seems lonely. I just hope and pray I don't kill anymore. Plus, I have 6 American Bresse chicks coming in a couple of weeks.