Meat Chicks Arrived Yesterday :(

[cluckcluck42]

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I always check my feed and give it a sniff before feeding, I've known people who have had problems so I always check it out but thank you for the suggestion.

 

[Neilette]

Did you thoroughly wash the feeders/waterers out with soap? A previous poster mentioned the toxins that get coated on. If you haven't already, I would take some soap to those feeders/waterers.

 

[Brunty_Farms]

I can tell you at just a few days old.... it's not heart attacks. Do you have some more pics of your set up.... might be able to see if anything may be causing it.

However I still believe that the arrived late at the feed store and maybe they were a little late giving them feed / water and by the time they got to you, they were just way to dehydrated.

 

[jaku]

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Yes, I was raising on wire- I'm moving away from it though, but they do get pretty good exposure to feces, because a lot of it would sit on the wire with them until I cleaned it off with a broom. Then, they moved to grass. The losses have definitely slowed down from on the wire, but I'm still getting them. I also have several birds with what appears to be leg problems, which I've never really seen in any of my birds. They are surviving, and quite willing to eat, but can hardly walk. This is the weirdest batch of birds I've gotten. My turkeys are doing GREAT, however!

 

[jaku]

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Approximately when did you get your birds this year? I don't think it's Townline's FAULT, in that I doubt they got any diseases that were spreading through the hatchery, I'm just wondering if it was a bad or weak batch of birds that were delivered to them. I understand where they're coming from- they can't replace everyone's birds, especially when morons get broilers and don't properly care for them, then they die. My issue was the fact that it literally would have cost them about $10 to make me happy, and I probably would have ordered quite a few MORE than the discounted ones they would have sold me at the same time.

 

[cluckcluck42]

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Here is a pic we took the day we got them, since then we have added a 1 gallon waterer and lowered the light on the right side. They are in the chicken coop, my flock is healthy, and we cleaned the brooder out really well before putting them in there. I thought maybe it is cocci or mareks but I can't find anything online that talks about chicks dying so young of those diseases. It does sound like Mareks from what I read here http://www.wrongdiagnosis.com/m/mareks_disease/symptoms.htm - loss of ability to stand, limb and neck paralysis. Could Mareks happen this quick to day olds? Everything I read says it shows up after 3 weeks of age.

And yes, we did soap out the feeder and waterer after I read the suggestion on here. Thank you, I should have done that from the get go. Why do they put sprays or contaminants on or in feeders and waterers that are being used for animals??

There have been no losses so far today.

 

[Chicken411]

I'm not sure if this has been discussed or not, but are you using shavings and not sawdust? If the shavings are too small, like sawdust, they may be eating them. Not sure if this is an issue or not. Electrolytes in the water are important too, but I think that has already been discussed several times.

I got some pedialyte for the first few days and then I bought a bag of electrolytes w/vitamins and minerals in it for $3 at the feed store that I am still using. It only takes a small amount, so it will probably last the 8 weeks. Hope you have no more losses. Probably just weak chicks and has nothing to do with anything you have done.

 

[petrelline]

Whatever this is, it isn't Mareks -- that disease doesn't show up for months. The weakness and paralysis is because there are tumors growing in the bird. It's a long, lingering death, not a sudden thing like you've been describing.

I don't have nearly the experience of most of the other people here on this board but I'm inclined to agree that this was probably a problem with weak chicks and bad treatment by the feedstore and not something that you did wrong. But I really hope that the worst is over for you now and that the others will be OK.

 

[scubaforlife]

My guess is pullet chicks.

Get yourself some beef livers and chop them up really small. They probably have a deficiency for riboflavin (B12?).

 

[uhuh555]

What ever is causing this isn't a disease they picked up at your location (if it is a disease) due to the required incubation period for most poultry diseases. There are diseases that begin in the egg as they are developing and cause death shortly after hatching. This is a slim at best event happing with commercial hatchery chicks. I prescribe to the common theme of this post that it is due to dehydration and the effects of nutrients/electrolytes being washed out of their systems due to sudden and excessive water consumption.

We use pelleted saw dust because it is very absorbent and when stirred daily will last 2.5 to 3 weeks before needing changed. Being 6-7% moisture it doesn't have molds in it like wood shavings can (because of the 50 to 65% moisture content). As these pellets absorb moisture they begin to crumble (around day 5-6). By this time the chicks are very aware of where their food is and don't eat it. The pellets are quite large making them impossible to eat by even a 10 day old let along a new hatch.

I do wish you the best in this and am sorry this has been your experience.