mcmurry sick chicks please post here

[bluebellsilkiecritters]

Mrs. AK-Bird-Brain :

I asked a very knowledgeable friend of mine to read through and see what her input was... can someone please post the symptoms succinctly here?

Here's the list of things she asked:

When did the first symptom started, straight away .. or a couple of days after arriving?
What the droppings were like?
What they fed the chicks on arrival ?
Did they put any multi vitamin into the drinking water?
Did they put sugar into the water?
Did they put electrolytes into the water?
Was the brooder heated and ready for them when the chicks arrived or did they turn it on and the chicks had to wait for it to warm?

How crowded was the brooder?
What did they use for a base in the brooder?

Do they have chick crumble for them ?

What symptoms did they notice?

Many chicks die from a number reasons... cold is on the list.. very high on the list..

Had these people had chicks before? or were they new to chicks?

How high are the feeders?
How high are the waterers?

How hot was the brooder?

Where did they have the food and water placed in the brooder .. under the heat source or away from it ?

Where is the heat source places in the brooder?

What are they using for heat?

Can any drafts get into the brooder.. ?

How many times did they lift the lid to check on the chicks?
Do they have kids that liked to look at the chicks?

What breeds were affected?

There are SO many factors that can play into this...
I'm just trying to help get to the bottom of this. It breaks my heart that so many chicks are dying.

A lot of these questions have been asked and are never answered ?? A group diagnosis seems to have taken over
and no logic applied that morality on day olds is 50 % which is why hatcheries tell you order double what you want
and then 50% of that makes it to breeding age..​

 

[JJSmith]

Hello From Canada, I was in on the Canadian McMurray order with Chickee's mom, I have lost 12 so far. 4 Speckled sussex (1 died in shipment, 1 with drunk symptoms died within 8 hrs and the last 2 died on the second night), 4 BLRW (looked ok when I got them home but died the first night), and 4 Salmon Faverolles (were very weak when I got them home, 3 died right away, 1 died 24 hr later). I also have about 12 in the sick bay that are turning around and most are looking good. The remaining are doing well. I got about 70 chicks total.
I also brought some chicks back for a friend and she has lost all 5 of her BLRW, and 1 Brahma.
My brooder is in my house with heat lamps, draft free, electrolytes in the water and chick starter crumbles.

 

[farm_mom]

Quote:
A lot of these questions have been asked and are never answered ?? A group diagnosis seems to have taken over
and no logic applied that morality on day olds is 50 % which is why hatcheries tell you order double what you want
and then 50% of that makes it to breeding age..

It's hard to say when the symptoms started. 3 were dead on arrival...suffocated or sick? I received them on Sunday, by Monday night my first two were dead. Sunday afternoon they all seemed fine, eating and drinking and running around as normal.

droppings were normal. Some started getting pasty bums by day 2.

I fed a starter/grower feed upon arrival, and I put quik chik in their water.

brooder was ready for arrival. Chopped straw bedding and two heat lamps to ensure warm enough temps. (brodder in basement.) Temps 94-103. Brooder not crowded, plenty of room.

Noticed two started acting sluggish and immobile. Wouldn't drink or eat w/o assistance....just wanted to sleep all the time. Wouldn't respond to noises or movement the way the other chicks would. All others seemed normal. By the time these two died, two more were showing same sighs. And it looked as though they were holding their little, newly forming wing feathers away from their bodies. Near the end they're legs are stiff and they are usually on their sides. They don't respond to anthing and don't seem to have any control. Have lost 10 total so far, 1/3 of my flock.

I have been raising chicks for 5 years and my family had various poultry and fowl while I was growing up. I've never experienced this type of illness or loss no matter how cold the temps have been.

I used the normal, small red chick feeder and waterer and they were around the perimeter of the heat source, not directly under it. The chicks were all eating and drinking normally in the beginning.

No drafts, and the lid is a chicken wire lid (homemade brooder) that doesn't have to "come off" in order to see the chicks. We do have children but they weren't allowed to handle the chicks.

As far as a 50% mortality rate being the norm, that is something I've never experienced or ever heard of anyone else experiencing. Losing 1/3 of my chicks is more than what I have ever lost. I received a call from the hatchery yesterday and my ducklings that were supposed to arrive this week as well won't be coming because of a "bad batch." Clearly this hatchery is experiencing some difficulty.

 

[AK-Bird-brain]

Mrs. AK-Bird-Brain here (I keep forgetting this computer is logged in as hubby!)

I don't know for sure what it is... I'm still relatively new to all of this, but I'm learning from some of the best. I sent some of the symptom descriptions to my favorite "guru", and these are the two that came up...
Paratyphoid
in embryos at time of hatch; numerous dead in shell, pipped or unpipped -

in chicks - up to 5 weeks old; death at time of hatch or depression , weakness, poor growth, drooping wings, decreased appetite, increased thirst, chirping or peeping sounds, huddling around heat with feathers ruffled, eyes closed, head down, wings drooping sometimes swollen joints , swelling or blidness of one or both eyes, watery diarrhea with pasting, dehydration -

in adult carriers - no symptoms or reduced egg production, purplish head, comb and wattles (septicemic form)


Pullorum

in chicks up to 4 weeks old - sudden death or loss of appetite, sleepiness, weakness, huddling near heat, swollen hock joints, white (or greenish-brown) pasty diarrhea, sometimes gasping, shrill peeping or chirping while trying to expel droppings, uneven growth among survivors
is a bacteria


It's possible that only a post-mortem will really tell, or testing. But it does appear that one or more of their suppiers is having issues - be sure to be really specific when you report losses. MMH needs to know what's going on. It doesn't help the lost ones, but maybe can save others. Hugs to you all who have lost chicks.

 

[farm_mom]

I can relate to some of the symptoms of the Paratyphoid. "weakness, poor growth, drooping wings, decreased appetite, peeping sounds, huddled around heat with feathers fluffed, head down, eyes closed, wings drooping" no diarrhea or chirping while trying to expel and I didn't notice any joint swelling or gasping.

 

[Stormhorse23]

Mine dont die though. they just get to the point of being vegetables. they would live on forever if i let them...

 

[crazychickens]

If you have sick chicks from MM you need to look up,

Avian Encephalomyelitis

This virus causes chicks to lose control of legs, set in haunches and fall to the side, have tremors of the head and neck, they are trampled by other chicks.

Death is caused inability to feed and drink because of paralysis.

It is transmitted both through the egg and by contact.

Hens with AE, give it to chick inside the egg, then the egg hatches and gives it to the chicks around it.


Please look AE and see what you think.

 

[Chickee's Mom]

The one little GLW is acting like Paratyphoid right now. Anything I can do, did any of you find anything that helps them????

 

[Stormhorse23]

Chickee's Mom :

The one little GLW is acting like Paratyphoid right now. Anything I can do, did any of you find anything that helps them????

mine are slowly gaining control of their legs. their heads shake constantly but they are getting better. it isn't contagious from my experience...​

 

[CritterHill]

Has anyone taken these sick chicks to a vet or had a post mortem done on them?