Loosing baby chicks, 5 so far

[HanLo]

Five day old chicks dying one by one. Seem fine then become lethargic, get a glazed look, wobbly on their legs, refuse to eat/drink, then die. At least one seems to be struggling to breathe with mouth opening and closing. Only one had pasty butt and we have been looking out for it so it doesn’t seem related. Temperature is fine, brooders worked fine for around 50 chicks last year. They’re not all the same breed as each other. My younger brothers are on the verge of having a melt down because they’re trying to help but nothing seems to help once they get sick. We’ve lost 5 so far with a sixth looking sick as well. Any good ideas?

 

[azygous]

Has your water supply changed in any way since last brood? If it's well water, the quality can change according to heavy rainfall or drought. It's often the most likely cause of death in new chicks.

The second most likely cause is contaminated feed. Look at the mill date. If it's very old, that could be the cause.

Less likely are air quality issues, toxic fumes from unvented gas appliances or proximity to welding gases. Also, it's been found in the past that young children may be sneaking baby chicks inappropriate foods that they can't digest.

 

[HanLo]

Has your water supply changed in any way since last brood? If it's well water, the quality can change according to heavy rainfall or drought. It's often the most likely cause of death in new chicks.

The second most likely cause is contaminated feed. Look at the mill date. If it's very old, that could be the cause.

Less likely are air quality issues, toxic fumes from unvented gas appliances or proximity to welding gases. Also, it's been found in the past that young children may be sneaking baby chicks inappropriate foods that they can't digest.

They’re in a new rural town so the water may be different. Switched them now to the berkey water filter parents use. We bought new chick feed and new probiotics and new bedding and new electrolytes and swapped out the container they were staying in. The first chick starter was bought Monday night at D&B and it wasn’t very old. They were fed the chick starter that was sent with them as well which it said to give them within 6 hours. Brothers are young teens so I think they know better. They say they haven’t fed them anything inappropriate. Oldest is ignoring them now so he doesn’t have to get attached.

 

[Nigel27]

Coccidiosis? I used a mixture of cinnamon, garlic and oregano oil in their water when mine started dropping and the deaths stopped

 

[azygous]

Unless chicks have been incubated by a broody on infested soil, new chicks rarely are infected by coccidia. This is especially true since it requires five or six days from exposure for symptoms to show.

If you'd been digging in the garden with bare hands, didn't wash them, had coccidia on them, and then handled your new chicks, it would still take five or six days for them to develop symptoms. Even then, your chicks would somehow need to consume something contaminated with coccidia to get them into their intestines.

 

[ettess]

The same thing has been happening to us. The chicks arrived on Tuesday, 5 out of the 11 we got are already dead in the same way (fine, then lethargic, refusing to eat/drink, then death while struggling to breathe, also no pasty butts). The first one was probably stress from shipping because it looked sick as soon as we opened the box, but yesterday, our most active and energetic (and honestly my favorite) chick died. She was running around all day, then she seemed kinda droopy around 8 pm but otherwise fine, and within the hour she was dead.

We also have well water, we changed the water source last night so hopefully that will work. We bought different food too last night just in case. Sorry for your losses and I hope things improve.

 

[HanLo]

The same thing has been happening to us. The chicks arrived on Tuesday, 5 out of the 11 we got are already dead in the same way (fine, then lethargic, refusing to eat/drink, then death while struggling to breathe, also no pasty butts). The first one was probably stress from shipping because it looked sick as soon as we opened the box, but yesterday, our most active and energetic (and honestly my favorite) chick died. She was running around all day, then she seemed kinda droopy around 8 pm but otherwise fine, and within the hour she was dead.

We also have well water, we changed the water source last night so hopefully that will work. We bought different food too last night just in case. Sorry for your losses and I hope things improve.

Where did yours ship from? Ours were from Ohio.

 

[ettess]

Where did yours ship from? Ours were from Ohio.

We got the rare assortment from Mt Healthy. So yes, Ohio. Did you order from them too? If so, not a great look for them.
When we called to report the 2 chicks that died shortly after arrival, they told us to check the temperature. We've been using a heat plate and not a lamp so besides adjusting the height, that wasn't really helpful. I'm hoping it's not a hatchery issue, but...

 

[HanLo]

 

[HanLo]

We got the rare assortment from Mt Healthy. So yes, Ohio. Did you order from them too? If so, not a great look for them.
When we called to report the 2 chicks that died shortly after arrival, they told us to check the temperature. We've been using a heat plate and not a lamp so besides adjusting the height, that wasn't really helpful. I'm hoping it's not a hatchery issue, but...

Nope. Ours are from Meyer. (Didn’t want to put them on blast for something which could be unrelated to the hatchery). Beyond suggesting adjusting the warming plate and watching out for drafts they don’t seem to have many good ideas.