Meat chicks dying?

[SIMZ]

Hi everyone,

We just received a batch of 62 broilers 2 days ago. One was DOA and we've since lost 5 more. I'll notice one that is very sleep and lethargic and then it's dead. Two were found on their back. Two were found on their sides and almost flattened (which is strange because they aren't dead for very long when I find them). Overall, the chicks are incredibly active and running all over the brooder box. It seems to be a very sudden thing.

Any ideas?

I was putting Duvet electrolytes/vitamins in their water and feeding them 20% Dumor starter. This morning I switched the water and put about a tablespoon of Bragg's vinegar in the gallon waterer instead.

 

[SIMZ]

Update:

I finally called the hatchery to see if they had any advice. She told me that lots of people were calling with the same problem. There was a night during shipping that the temp got down to 36 and the chicks got chilled. They gave me a credit for the ones that have died. She also suggested to keep them very warm and feed them scrambled eggs or yogurt for the protein.

 

[chicken pickin]

I wish you luck with your remaining birds.

 

[RuChicken]

Good luck with the rest of them. I am looking to get some meat birds soon, Where did you get yours?

 

[SIMZ]

Thanks! They're all running around playing tag with the scrambled eggs and are gobbling them up. We also put some plywood and things over the top of the brooder to try to keep more heat in it. So far we've lost 7. Only time will tell.....

These came from Meyer hatchery in Ohio. They're always very, very nice to deal with. This is the first time we've ordered meat chicks from them, so I don't know much about how they grow. We usually get ours from Central Hatchery and are always very happy with them. As a matter of fact we have 65 outside doing great at 5 weeks from Central.