mcmurry sick chicks please post here

[MissPrissy]

I have recieved many chicks over the years from MM and have NEVER had one arrive sick or with a mortal fatality.

Please remember that part of the responsibility of having chicks is not can you order them when you want but when is the best time of the year to order them.

New chicks MUST be kept warm or they get sick. This is a known fact and not disputable.

We all must accept our part of the blame when we order chicks too early in the year and know they will be exposed to cold tempertures during shipment.

It is also good animal husbandry to know that many chicks simply die early in the first week of life for no apparant reason. It is not due to disease, vaccinations or exposure. They simply die. No reason other than natural death. Of those chicks that survive not all of those will live to reach one year of age. High mortality rates are a fact of raising chicks.

I am sorry so many of you have lost chicks but I do not think you can routinely continue to place the blame on the hatchery.

 

[spiritualmystic]

I did not order this year, because I had too many losses last year. What I lost was;

Black Crevecours (mostly)
Buff Orphingtons

I now hatch my own leghorns and leghorn x barred rock. Anything else I order off ebay, or on this board, or eggbid.

 

[KsTornado11]

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Good points. However,it seems the concern here is that so many chicks ordered from the hatchery are displaying these symptoms & dying several weeks after arriving. Hoping to get some answers from avian vets & ect. ASAP! Good luck all!

 

[BYC Moderator]

Perhaps it would be a good idea to contact Murray McMurray and respectfully express concern and ask them to come here and possibly help others to find out what is going on and add their insight.
It seems to me that they are great in their customer service and when treated in a respectful manner are more than willing to help out.

 

[PennySue]

Thank's for the tip about not freezing. Now I'm getting really confussed 'cause the Ag. Vet told me to freeze them. It's not going to be a problem, it looks like another one will be gone by morning. I am going to call the UW vet office in the morning and call the my pet vet who specializes in birds and see if they can help.
I have an other chick showing the signs today that I was doing great.
Yes it does take 3 weeks to incubate but what if the vacine batch was bad?
My Ideal chicks are still looking real good. The only thing I have noticed is the Ameraucanas from Ideal are huge compaired to the ones from MM (that are still okay) and the Wyandottes (which I understand don't grow as fast anyway).
This order of chicks from MM was a replacement for the order I received the week before in which all chicks were DOA. I assumed it was due to the weather conditions. I wasn't the only one that day because there was a second silent box from MM waiting for someone else.

 

[carousel]

BTW
I do think my chicks are doing better since I started the vitamins. And now I have ALL my chicks on vitamins not just the one in the hospital brooder.
The one that didn't want to walk on friday and was balancing herself with her wings is now walking today, not normal yet but better. I'm thinking now it has been stress, maybe breed realted (as a few of our chicks are doing this but are of the same breed)? they also happen to be 2 of my bigger chicks? they seem stiff legged in walking and still end to rock back on their hocks a bit and are not "playing" like the rest of my chicks but they are getting around the brooder much better (2 are in a hospital brooder on paper towels).
They are still eating and drinking on their own.
CS

 

[amaliayosa]

what kind of vitamns are you giving them carousel?

 

[PennySue]

I've been feeding this to my chicks, I don't know if it's been helping, but ones that came down sick a week ago are now up and walking.
Your feed you are feeding them and I add the following: some Parsley, Echinacea extract( 4-6 drops), raw sugar and crushed green tea leaves. I add enough hot water to make it a soupy mash which is easy for them to eat. The parsley and green tea leaves can't hurt them and they seem to be more interested in food with green things in it. Every other feeding I add a few drops of Jack Daniel's ( no mor then a drop or two per 4 chicks), it offers the same affects as propelyne glycol. They really like to eat this mixture and I'm refilling the dishes twice a day. I also drop some dry feed on the floor. I have 4 feeding dishes for the 21 chicks that are sick along with 2 waters (the mason jar type).
Even if this mixrure isn't helping at least I feel like I'm doing something.
To reduce dust, I clean them once a day, in the morning. They are on newspaper and I go in and cover up any messes with bits of ripped up newspaper through out the day to try and keep them clean.
All my chicks received vitamines and electrolytes via the water.

 

[carousel]

for the ones that that were the most quiet I used the infant vitamins people were talking about in the dropper, they are in the other room <G>
But I have put I put them back on Quick Chick that I got with them when they came from McMurray.
they are all drinking and eating so we will do this for a few days and see if it helps.
It is what I had! so what I'm using.
My friend who has some of the chicks is started hers last night, now we shall see if they perk up.
I like the idea much better of putting te vits in a water intead of having to use the dropper. Since it is just more stress being caught.
CS

 

[holsonbake]

WE have had 3 favorolles die and 2 buff rocks got sick. The rest of the birds are fine. They started out laying down, then were wobbly and wouldn't get up and were just plain listless. Have you found out any more about what it could be?
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