Just got my first chicks home and they're dying, please help!!!

[littleleghorn]

I just got my very first chickens and I'm so excited! But now only a few days after bringing them home, they are on the verge of death!

I have three 5 week female chicks, 1 Leghorn and 2 Australorps. One Australorp has her left eye squished completely closed and is a bit groggy, still eating and drinking - Tuesday. The other Australorp is sneezing and wheezing with a running nose and very listless, lots of loose poop, not eating or drinking - Wednesday. Little leghorn is groggy and eyes sore, still eating and drinking - Wednesday.

I called the breeder who told me to clean out the coop with bleach and hot water, isolate the chicks in a small area and give them a low-grade antibiotic called Sulpher-3. Except... no-one knows what this Sulpher-3 thing is and I cant get it anywhere! After visiting and talking to staff at Better Pets & Gardens / City Farmers and two local vets who told me "I don't do chickens"... I have cleaned the coop with agricultural enzyme cleaner (not bleach), isolated the chicks and given them Aristopet Avicycline in their water and food on advice of the staff at Better Pets & Gardens / City Farmers (which is the only thing I've got to go on). I am keeping them warm with a 150v light in a bed of fresh straw, in the laying box of the coop which is outdoors but they are protected.

Please don't growl at me if that's totally wrong, I'm new and doing my best - I really love my little chickens and want them to get better :-( I tried to do the right thing and by them from a proper breeder instead of a pet shop, but the word I'm hearing at Better Pets & Gardens / City Farmers now is that the woman is actually not that great and since the RSPCA hasn't got to her yet, newbies like me are getting ripped off and little chicks like mine dying needlessly!!

I'm really desperate and cant find anyone to help me, I'm trying everything! Please offer some words of advice if you can.

 

[Celtic Chick]

Google infectious coryza.
Treat with erythromycin, streptomycin or sulphadimethoxine. Since you do not have it, keep giving them what you do have & see if it has any improvement, otherwise you can get one of the others. Something is better than nothing.
I personally would bring them in to keep an eye on them, but that might not be possible. Keep them warm. Make sure they are eating & drinking, at the very least drinking. Dehydration is not good. If they won't drink, get an eyedropper & dribble the water in the corner of their beak, but don't do nuts. You don't want to drown them. If they aren't eating, mix some chick feed with some warm water into a slurry & see if they'll eat it. You can try that in the eyedropper too. Or try giving them some yogurt. Cooked sweet potato &/or broccoli is good for sick chickens too. Lots of vitamin A & E (immune system).
Also, search for a member named Dawg. I think he's from s. Georgia? He is pretty knowledgable. I'm just looking through books & online.
Edit: I sent him a PM with a link to this thread, so you don't have to.
I hope they get better real soon! Don't get discouraged.

 

[justtoni44]

i am so sorry and can only offer words of encouragement.
I have not had this problem.
Be sure the box is not to hot they do not need much heat at 5 weeks...
You are doing great..not your fault.................
Hope someone with mor experience chimes in.
I have read mashed cooked eggs are good ............

 

[DancingHen]

Here is a link that I find helpful in checking symptoms and treatments. http://www.welphatchery.com/poultry_health.asp Maybe it will have some info you can use. Can you give us some more info? The more details you include the better your chances that someone will be able to help. Stuff like what does their poop look like? Is there blood in their poop? What are you feeding them? Anything at all you can add. There is a sticky thread in the emergencies section that outlines what you should include. Just hoping you will get more responses.

My only suggestions would be to keep them on antibiotics. Feed them plain yogurt once in awhile to replace the healthy probiotics in their digestive tracts killed off by antibiotics. Make sure they are drinking. Gently drip water onto their tongues with the end of your finger. Keep them very warm and their environment really clean. Poor little things. I am so sorry that your introduction to chicken keeping has gone so badly.

Don't give up. I soooooo hope these little guys make it. Hopefully all your future chicks will come from better stock and be more fun to raise.

I'll be sending positive thoughts to your little babies. Wish I could help more.

 

[DancingHen]

Just wanted to share one more thing. You said you couldn't find the medications you wanted in your area. Here is a link to a website where you can order some.http://www.cacklehatchery.com/page25.htm

 

[dawg53]

Quote:
Welcome to BYC. Sorry it is on such a sad circumstance. You are dealing with Chronic Respiratory Disease (CRD) in your chicks. There are many types of CRD, nailing down which one is impossible unless bloodwork is sent to off to a state lab or vet school to be examined. In some states it can be done for free or sometimes a veteranarian can send a poop sample to a university to be analyized, there's usually a fee charged by the vet for that service.
If your chicks have a viral CRD, there isnt any cure...antibiotics wont work against viral issues. If it's bacterial, there are several antibiotics that might work, but there are no guarantees. Even if the medications worked, your chicks would always remain carriers. You would always be treating the symptoms but not the disease. In other words, you could never introduce new chicks or chickens to your flock because they would become infected. You cant give away nor sell your chicks nor their eggs after they grow into hens. Some bacterial diseases pass on into the egg as well.
I dont recommend giving antibiotics to 5 week old chicks. The reason is because the chicks are under stress as it is with the CRD. Adding antibiotics into a developing and growing internal organs/system, may do more harm than good, not to mention possible liver damage.
I understand how you care and love your chicks...but I highly recommend that you return the chicks to the breeder. If they refuse to take them...I'm sorry to say this, but you will have no choice but to cull them. If you dont cull them...it will be on going suffering and misery for your chicks and for yourself as well.
I recommend you purchase chicks from a hatchery; such as Meyer, Mypetchicken or Ideal. I wish you the best.

 

[speckledhen]

I understand how you care and love your chicks...but I highly recommend that you return the chicks to the breeder. If they refuse to take them...I'm sorry to say this, but you will have no choice but to cull them. If you dont cull them...it will be on going suffering and misery for your chicks and for yourself as well.
I recommend you purchase chicks from a hatchery; such as Meyer, Mypetchicken or Ideal. I wish you the best.

I'll go a bit further. I'd euthanize the chicks now rather than return them to the breeder. She will probably medicate so they look healthy, then sell them to someone else. I realize asking a new chick owner to put them down is not an easy thing to do, but CRD makes them carriers, not a good way to start with chicks, and antibiotics will not change that fact. The breeder should be ashamed--is this really a breeder or a propagator? Anyone can call themselves a breeder, but true breeders do not keep sick birds, they cull them.​

 

[schellie69]

Quote:
I'll go a bit further. I'd euthanize the chicks now rather than return them to the breeder. She will probably medicate so they look healthy, then sell them to someone else. I realize asking a new chick owner to put them down is not an easy thing to do, but CRD makes them carriers, not a good way to start with chicks, and antibiotics will not change that fact. The breeder should be ashamed--is this really a breeder or a propagator? Anyone can call themselves a breeder, but true breeders do not keep sick birds, they cull them.

Great advice, even if these chicks survive you will have this in your flock forever. You won't be able to bring in any new birds I would euthanize these poor chicks they are suffering and will not have a good life due to any time there is stress molt, heat wave, moving they can get sick again. I am so sorry you had to go through this.

 

[Bengalcats1]

I am by NO way as knowledgeable , not even Close BUT is it possible they don't have this dreaded disease? I only ask because years ago my little bantam, only chicken at the time, went from being seemingly healthy to on her deathbed fast, she stopped eating, had all kinds of discharge from eyes and nose, was so weak she couldn't stand and couldnt even open her eyes....I took her to a vet that dealt with chickens and she said her chances were Very slim but I insisted she treat her and we'd see. We gave her fluids and she gave me antibiotics (cant remember what kind) and I brought her home and did my best, I kept her warm, syringe fed her water and mushy food for days and all the sudden she started to perk up and I still have her today. Ive had quite a few chickens since and she has hatched out babies for me from other chickens. I know maybe she didn't have that particular disease but it was pretty bad and she got over it. Im just wondering if she should give them a chance at least. I have a dog and cat that I was told by vets, including a Cornell vet that they should be euthanized cause they had No chance and they are here and totally Healthy. I Always give them the benefit of the doubt and pray a lot and sometimes it works. My little chihuahua they call her a miracle because they aren't sure how she survived, all you can do is Try

......you can see my little Henny Penny in my pic, she is about 7 yrs old now and sitting with her daughter the frizzle, they hatched out 2 babies that I gave them eggs from another hen cause they don't have a rooster with them

 

[Fred's Hens]

I am so sorry you got sick chicks. At five weeks, they shouldn't require any heat and should be vigorous and bouncing off the walls. This is a very sad deal. Sorry you got the short end of the stick. Sympathies.