Meat chicks Dying

[BigRedRoo]

Thanks for the link but Ive red 7 or 8 pages from that post area and am still no farther ahead. Ive been reaserching for months but still at a loss. Why is it soo many people talk about grass ranging them yet the hatcheri says not such a good idea. Im thinking inferiour breeding and I was also told by a local to expect 10%-20% loss but I dont think that should be acceptable. Most of what I read about them dying later on has to do with over feeding.

 

[Wol1]

So, some questions... How old are they? Are they inside with a steady temperature or in an out-building? If in an out-building, the air temperature will rise and fall. You would need to raise the lights during the day and lower them at night.

Are all of the chicks eating and drinking? Some smaller or timid ones may not push their way through to the food. Any pasty bottoms? Diarrhea?

Meat birds are prone to ascites, "water belly", because their bodies grow faster than their hearts can handle. It usually doesn't appear until about 3 weeks, though. If you do a post-mortem on the chicks, there would be a lot of water in their abdomens. If it's in the first week, it may be too much sodium in the feed or water. A link: http://www.millerhatcheries.com/inf...nfo/Ascites (waterbelly)_in_Meat_Chickens.htm

 

[BigRedRoo]

Thanks so much for that,
They are in an out building and Im measuring the temp five times a day and raise and lower the lights. I think Ive got that part down pat now and can keep the temp around 88-93 degree. I havnt lost one in 48 hours and they are 7 days old. The small ones that died I think were fighting to hard for food water and heat. My fault and a hard leasson learned. The last one that died looked pritty healthy, very large and plump just like the rest, all I can think was just growing faster then the heart could take. Ive started to restric feed for a couple hours a day ( let the trofts run empty) to try to prevent this and put down enugh troft that every bird can eat at the same time.
I want to take the paper towels away becuase changing them is getting really expensive but Im worried thier going to eat the shavings and die that way. Any thoughts on that?

 

[Wol1]

From what I've read on this website and books, once the chicks know where food is and are able to get to it (sounds like you already have this down) they won't pay much attention to the shavings. They will pick them up out of curiosity or to see if it's something good to eat, but generally don't eat more than one or two tiny pieces before they're satisfied that it's not food. That said, several people posted that they have had a chick that gorges itself on shavings, getting an impacted crop. Someone has suggested using the larger shavings. Some stores have "fine" or "medium", for example. The larger pieces would be more difficult for the little ones to eat. They will probably be really curious at first, so you may want to introduce it a little at a time when you have the time to watch. Put shavings under the paper towels for a day, then remove the towels and watch them for a little while. If you see one or two that are doing a bit more than "testing", you can put those chicks in a brooder with paper towels. That way you wouldn't have to use so much paper toweling. (That must get really messy with that many chicks!)

My most recent babies were on fine pine shavings for two days before I put them in a brooder with a foster mother on straw. They picked at the pine shavings, but there were no problems. They also did very well on the straw, which surprised me, but saved me a lot of money. They experimented with eating the straw, but the pieces were too big to eat and there were so many other interesting things to do, like follow mama around trying to grab whatever she's eating, jumping on mama's back, making sure brother or sister isn't getting something better to eat.

I'm trying to think of things to keep them busy so they will be less inclined to notice the new flooring... a small 1x1 piece of wood might give them something to practice hopping on and off of or, like my Mary Lou (Retton), walking back and forth along it. Another post on the forums suggests an empty circular oatmeal box with the bottom removed to make a tunnel. Something we did with our babies the first year (while watching!) was to drop a q-tip in the brooder and watch the flag football game. Small sticks would work without worrying about them ingesting the cotton. When they got a few weeks old, we gave them coarse sand as grit and then sprinkled millet in their enclosure. They loved scratching and searching. Dust bath! That's one advantage loose bedding gives over paper towels. They will instinctively start to dust bathe, even in wood chips. We never found a way to give them a dust bathing spot in a brooder. They always knocked it over.