Lost 4 Baby Chicks in 4 days :-(

[tseverson]

Help! We are new to raising chickens and we have lost 4 baby chicks in less than a week! I don’t know what happened to the first two as it was overnight but the third chick was breathing with her mouth open and shaking her head every few minutes. Poor thing died in my hand. She had only been at our house for 24 hours.

And now we just lost another chick last night. She was a replacement for the third chick and we just got her on Tuesday so less than 48 hours at our house. She was exhibiting the same symptoms as chick #3 yesterday - breathing with mouth open and shaking her head. I had a bad feeling went I went to bed and unfortunately found her dead this morning.

The chicks are about 3 weeks old. The others seem fine (we have 6 more) but I’m so worried that we will keep losing them.

we have them in a kiddie pool in our garage with pine shavings and plenty of food and water. We have a heat lamp and lots of room for them to move. We have tried Corvid at the advice of the woman who sold them to us as well as electrolytes. I’m all out of ideas. I have read about gapeworm but can a chick get it in less than 24 hours?
Any advice or help would be greatly appreciated!!

 

[ChickenCanoe]

The medication is Corid. It is amprolium that starves the coccidia protozoa of thiamine. It doesn't hurt to dose with Corid as a stopgap measure if they are in fact dying from coccidiosis.
It is unlikely it is gapeworm. What is the temperature in the kiddie pool - warm end/cool end?
What state are you in?
What is the feed? Protein and calcium percentages?
Are all the chicks from the same source and same age? How long have they been at your place?

 

[tseverson]

Yes you are right - Corid. Sorry about that - was typing on my phone.

I don't have a thermometer in the pool but we live in Maryland and it's been fairly warm here during the day (85-90 most days) and at night it gets down to around 75 degrees.

We have a Brinsea EcoGlow Brooder at one end and at night all the chicks huddle together under it. During the day they move around the pool and sometimes head back to the Brooder.

We are using medicated feed - MannaPro. Protein is 18% and Calcium 1.25%.

They are all from the same source and yes the same age (as far as we have been told). They have been at our house 6 days as of today.

Thank you!

 

[ChickenCanoe]

OK. (those dang phones and their auto correct)
The feed is good, temperatures good. I would probably cease the use of the heat lamp. If the brooder is big enough and the right height, that's all the heat they should need.
Are any of the chicks lethargic and ruffled up? It may not be coccidiosis.
It is best to not use Corid if feeding medicated feed since the medication in that is also amprolium. I have seen feeding instructions on feed bags that says not to overdose by using amprolium in addition to what is in the feed.

Should you lose another bird, you can get right to the bottom of the problem and know how to proceed by sending it to one of your state poultry labs for necropsy and diagnostics.

Frederick Animal Health Laboratory
1840 Rosemont Ave Frederick
Maryland 21702-8218
Phone: 301-600-1548

Maryland Department of Agriculture & Salisbury Animal Health Laboratory
27722 Nanticoke Road
Salisbury, Maryland 21801-1608
Phone: 410-543-6610

 

[LadiesAndJane]

Sounds to me that your chicks may have already been sick when you got them. Feed, heat, everything you are doing sounds right. You might consider getting your chicks from another source. Good luck.

 

[tseverson]

Thanks! I'm really trying hard to make sure it isn't on my end! Just sad to see them so sick and then pass. Definitely going to get them from another source if we get any more!