Thanks again for all the ideas! Now, a new glitch... and a big glitch.
The two chicks we lost (out of 5) had different causes. The first was dying of peritonitis due to a yolk sac that was in her reproductive tract. She was 16 weeks.
The second one died 4 weeks later, at 17 weeks, of Marek's. We just got the results from the necropsy yesterday.
UGH!
She, and all my birds, have been vaccinated for Marek's so she apparently slipped through the vaccination cracks somehow. But it's in my flock now (maybe it always has been and no one has been affected?), and it's something we'll have to keep in mind whenever we get new chicks. And we're obviously keeping a eye on the other 3 chicks pretty closely. They're 21 and 22 weeks old this week.
The vet is recommending that any new chicks be completely quarantined (garage) for 2-3 weeks before we introduce them to the run/coop, protected (obviously) from the big girls. Again, I have until May to do some more research on Marek's in the flock, but I think I'm going to play it safe and keep them away for the 2-3 weeks to start.
The two chicks we lost (out of 5) had different causes. The first was dying of peritonitis due to a yolk sac that was in her reproductive tract. She was 16 weeks.
The second one died 4 weeks later, at 17 weeks, of Marek's. We just got the results from the necropsy yesterday.
UGH!
She, and all my birds, have been vaccinated for Marek's so she apparently slipped through the vaccination cracks somehow. But it's in my flock now (maybe it always has been and no one has been affected?), and it's something we'll have to keep in mind whenever we get new chicks. And we're obviously keeping a eye on the other 3 chicks pretty closely. They're 21 and 22 weeks old this week.
The vet is recommending that any new chicks be completely quarantined (garage) for 2-3 weeks before we introduce them to the run/coop, protected (obviously) from the big girls. Again, I have until May to do some more research on Marek's in the flock, but I think I'm going to play it safe and keep them away for the 2-3 weeks to start.