Losing a chick a day, feed store stumped

[paredown]

Hello BYC-ers. I am hoping one of you may be able to shed some light on my dying chicks. I have 6-day-old baby chicks (buff orpingtons, black australorps, ameraucanas) and have been losing one a day (all breeds) for the last 5 days. They start to look quite puffy, get lethargic and pale, have yellow foamy poop, experience audible wet breathing and take on a pear shape with their bottoms being swollen like a water balloon. Some succumb quickly, others have taken a few days. The brooder box is set up to the letter. Sick chicks are separated. The chicks are on a medicated name-brand starter feed and initially had hatchery-recommended electrolytes in their water which I stopped today since the hatchery said they could be having a bad reaction. I'm at a loss. I don't want to keep unhealthy birds alive but I certainly don't want to be contributing to the loss of healthy birds. If you have any ideas I am at a loss...as is the feed store...as is the rest of the internet when I try to find answers. Any thoughts or similar experiences/recoveries? Thank you.

 

[Haunted55]

This sound like cocci but the breathing doesn't sound good. Have you tried an antibiotic on them yet? Can you post some pictures of their poop and of them?

 

[Grog]

have they been outside? And which brand of starter? What is its medication?

But I too agree it does have a cocci sound you should dose their water with a cocci med. I cant find mine or I would suggest it sry.

 

[paredown]

The feed is Purina medicated chick starter feed, which treats for cocci.

The feed store now thinks my electrolyte solution was too concentrated...so in essence I slowly poisoned the chicks. This increased strain on their hearts, when paired with the high altitude of Colorado, resulted in a perfect storm that gave them ascites, or "water belly." Apparently this is much more common than I thought. Anyone who experiences water belly with their chicks, this is an interesting general info article:

http://www.thepoultrysite.com/diseaseinfo/6/ascites

Hopefully pure water and a close eye over the next week will save the remaining chicks.

**Warning for anyone using a general electrolyte solution suitable for all livestock - DO NOT follow the dosing instructions on the bag. For chickens, a pinch of granules per one gallon of water is all that's needed.**

 

[Haunted55]

The feed is Purina medicated chick starter feed, which treats for cocci.

The feed store now thinks my electrolyte solution was too concentrated...so in essence I slowly poisoned the chicks. This increased strain on their hearts, when paired with the high altitude of Colorado, resulted in a perfect storm that gave them ascites, or "water belly." Apparently this is much more common than I thought. Anyone who experiences water belly with their chicks, this is an interesting general info article:

http://www.thepoultrysite.com/diseaseinfo/6/ascites

Hopefully pure water and a close eye over the next week will save the remaining chicks.

**Warning for anyone using a general electrolyte solution suitable for all livestock - DO NOT follow the dosing instructions on the bag. For chickens, a pinch of granules per one gallon of water is all that's needed.**

I am so sorry this happened to you! How awful! I will tell you this though, I learned the hard way that you do not give vitamins and such to chicks getting the medicated feed, as it pretty much counter acts the amprolium so they can still be susceptible to the coccidia. Your situation is so much worse! Thank-you for taking the time to educate those of us who didn't know this.

 

[lularat]

I am new to chickens, so haven't experienced cocci. This may be far fetched, but what kind of bedding are you using. Several years ago, I lost 4 pet rats in just a couple of days due to aspen bedding. We're not sure if it was mold or some type of chemicals. We didn't have it tested, but as soon as we thought it may be the bedding(after eliminating everything else) we got rid of the bedding and there were no more deaths. These deaths were sudden and didn't start until we started using that particular bedding. I am sorry for your losses and hope you find out what is making them sick.

 

[TimsHens]

try using apple cider vinegar " with the mother" I also use the purina chick starter medicated no problems yet but I do use apple vinegar with the mother and I use it also with my older chickens I use 1 tbs per gal

 

[EsKezzy]

try using apple cider vinegar " with the mother" I also use the purina chick starter medicated no problems yet but I do use apple vinegar with the mother and I use it also with my older chickens I use 1 tbs per gal

can you explain this further for me? (completely new to all this and reading as much as my brain can handle every day). What is "the mother"?

 

[TimsHens]

​

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Ingredients[/FONT]:
Certified Bragg Organic Raw Apple Cider Vinegar is unfiltered, unheated, unpasteurized and 5% acidity. Contains the amazing Mother of Vinegar which occurs naturally as strand-like enzymes of connected protein molecules
its basically raw vinegar make sure you shake it up and it says " with the mother" on the bottle I use about 1 tbs for 1 gal of water its supposed to keep the chickens acidy enough to kill worms and other parasites
jus a different type of chick water I use it for my older chickens too jus to keep them from getting worms I know its a lot to take in im pretty new myself and my family has dealt with chickens more then me and I had same problem and they told me to use this stuff you should find it at a health food store hope it works it worked for me​

 

[Haunted55]

One caution about using vinegar. Please know what the PH or acid level of your tap water. The ideal level of acidity for your poultry is right around 5.5%. This provides a less than optimum enviroment for cocci and a whole host of other nasties. If your water happens to be close to that acidic level already, you need to know this and use the vinegar sparingly. A pool kit can tell you your level and if you find yours is like mine, you can play with the vinegar and water to see how much you need to add to get it to the 5 - 5.5%. You mess with a chicken's PH too much and you could have problems with eggshells later on and even joint trouble. ACV is an easy and readily available supplement for our birds, but like with anything else, too much of a good thing usually turns out not to be so good. I will also say I have never bothered with the vinegar containing the mother. I'm sure it does have more of the vitamins and minerals still in it, but I can only use the vinegar for medicinal reasons myself and am more interested in it's mucos thinning properties.