lost 14 of 15 peachicks...can anyone help?

[campdirector]

Hey guys,

Okay, so this summer I was excited to have my 3-2 year Indian Blue hens lay for the first time. I got 18 eggs total, 15 which hatched. Everything was going fine for the first 3 weeks. They were housed in a large rubbermaid tub with a heat lamp and straw as bedding. I was feeding them medicated chick started crumble. They seemed to be growing and doing very well. About 3 weeks into it I started losing one chick a day for 10 days. I changed the bedding, water, and even switched to non-medicated starter. After I lost the 10th chick the die off stopped. The remaining 5 chicks were doing great up until 2 weeks ago. They were 3 1/2 months old and had been in an outside pen for about 3 weeks. 2 weeks ago I started losing chicks again. This time it was every other day. I am now down to my last chick. During that time I also lost 2 guinea chicks that were housed with the peas. It is to late for this year obviously but I want to make sure I don't have the same year next year. I love my peas and the disappointment from my first year hatching has left me slightly discouraged. So if anyone has any suggestions, ideas, or tips it would be greatly appreciated.

thanks all!

scott

 

[casportpony]

Sorry for your losses. If you lose another you should have a necropsy done:
https://www.addl.purdue.edu/

What I worry about most with peachicks is blackhead and coccidiosis. Blackhead is treated with metronidazole (Flagyl, Fish-Zole, Meditrich) and fenbendazole (Safeguard or Panacur, liquid or paste) and coccidiosis is treated with amprolium (Corid or Amprol).

Metronidazole dose - No less than 30mg/kg once a day for five days.
Fenbendazole dose per my avian vet - 50mg/kg one and repeat in ten days.
Amprolium 20% powder - 1.5 teaspoons (4.5 grams) per 1 US Gallon for 5 days.
Amprolium 9.6% liquid - 2 teaspoons (10 ml) per 1 US Gallon for 5 days.

-Kathy

 

[AugeredIn]

I would tend to doubt that this is anything other than MG.

Was the brooder housed outside or in a controlled environment? Were there any other symptoms other than death?

Assuming your bag of food was not contaminated or the water was not contaminated, If it was housed in a more controlled environment and everything was clean, it would seem only the hay could be a carrier of non-vertically transmitted disease. Not a likely carrier. I would rule out blackhead pretty much altogether under those conditions. Coccidiosis would also be unlikely but can be transmitted through the air. In this situation the other possibilities range from really ugly, pullorum, to hugely annoying, MG (mycoplasma gallisepticum).

If it is pullorum, and I would suspect that is unlikely, you pretty much have no control long term.

If it is MG, you can treat by use of antibiotics. I would highly suspect MG. It has proven to be transmittable through the egg vertically and we all know that our peafowl flocks are HIGHLY susceptible to MG or other M infections. There is rarely a time when a sinus infection thread is not on the first page here. I would suspect that your adults have MG and their systems have adapted and they show no symptoms. Either one of the girls is highly infected or got stressed and increased the infection load. She passed it to one or more egg and that chick gave it to the rest. M infections are HIGHLY transmittable in any environment. You can have the blood tested for MG to confirm the problem.

As far as next year, I would clean up the enclosures in late winter and make sure that I provided a stress free breeding environment. Make sure you are feeding and watering well. If it were me, I would probably treat my flock with antibiotics just prior to breeding beginning. I would have the blood tests done and consult with a vet if you have one that will take the time to help you.

 

[zazouse]

I never dealt with such a thing so I can't help
sorry for all the losses.

 

[3BirdGirlz]

What antibiotic would you use to treat MG? I like to have stuff handy in my vet box if a problem arises.
So sorry campdirector! Don't give up!

 

[AugeredIn]

Tylan or Baytril both work just fine.

 

[Chicken Keith]

What do you all think of Tylox, as an antibiotic?

http://poultry-consultant.blogspot.com/2012/02/mycoplasma-gallisepticum.html

 

[AugeredIn]

Never used it. Can't find much about it. I think I would stick to readily available and proven Tylan.

 

[casportpony]

What do you all think of Tylox, as an antibiotic?

http://poultry-consultant.blogspot.com/2012/02/mycoplasma-gallisepticum.html

The only thing I could find on Tylox is that it's a pain killer.

If this bottle below contains Tylosin, then it would be the same as using Tylan powder, you would just need to know the proper dosing info.

This bottle looks like it's made in Egypt - *Never* buy anything that doesn't show the ingredients and the strength of them.
Source:http://forum.opiophile.org/showthread.php?39274-Opioid-Brand-Logos

Tylan Powder:


-Kathy

 

[mbbrinegar]

Sorry for you loss.