4 days ago I had a dozen+ coturnix chicks hatch. They were all quite healthy and strong, no problems with the hatch at all. They all came out quick and lively. Today I've lost 3 chicks quite suddenly in the span of about 3 hours. They lay down to sleep(?) and just fade away. At the end they arch their necks way back, gasp for about 5-10 minutes and then just die. I'm not seeing any other symptoms or warnings they are ill at all. No crying, nothing. They're active and eat and drink just fine until they just lay down and die.
This happened on my last hatch (link here) and I thought I had it figured out with low temps and have been vigilant this time. The brooder is a steady 100 degrees, no drafts at all. I bought new game starter (that I crush real fine), so I don't think it's mold or fungus. They're on plain white paper towels for bedding, water is changed 4-5 times a day, I've sterilized everything before the hatch and again since I've lost these 2. I've got 2 brooders so I can easily transfer them to a clean, warm one (at least once a day) while I sanitize the dirty one, so I don't think they're getting chilled.
I'm just at the end of my rope - I can't do this anymore. At this rate, they'll all be dead at the end of the day. I've got 18 chickens ready to hatch any time now and if I don't get this figured out, they're probably at risk too. While searching these boards, I've found a couple of other threads where people have had seemingly the exact same thing happen, but there were no resolutions posted so I'm not real hopeful for an answer but I thought it was worth a try to ask again. I don't know what to do.
This happened on my last hatch (link here) and I thought I had it figured out with low temps and have been vigilant this time. The brooder is a steady 100 degrees, no drafts at all. I bought new game starter (that I crush real fine), so I don't think it's mold or fungus. They're on plain white paper towels for bedding, water is changed 4-5 times a day, I've sterilized everything before the hatch and again since I've lost these 2. I've got 2 brooders so I can easily transfer them to a clean, warm one (at least once a day) while I sanitize the dirty one, so I don't think they're getting chilled.
I'm just at the end of my rope - I can't do this anymore. At this rate, they'll all be dead at the end of the day. I've got 18 chickens ready to hatch any time now and if I don't get this figured out, they're probably at risk too. While searching these boards, I've found a couple of other threads where people have had seemingly the exact same thing happen, but there were no resolutions posted so I'm not real hopeful for an answer but I thought it was worth a try to ask again. I don't know what to do.
