GrassFarmer
Hatching
- May 5, 2017
- 2
- 1
- 4
Just want to share my story, in case this has happened to anyone else...
I used Meyer hatchery for the first time this year, but this was not my first time ordering chicks. First round I ordered about 100 chickens- Barred Rock, Buff Orpington, and Silver Wyandottes. A few DOA, to be expected, but everything went well overall. My second round of chicks- 140 Buckeyes, Delawares and , a few months later, did not go so well. At first, the order was postponed... we were told they had an underhatch. When we did receive them a few weeks later, we had 3-4 DOA.
Once we moved them from the box to our brooder... they started dropping like flys. We lost at least 10 chicks the first day.. 8 the next.. 5 the next day.. 3 the next day.. and then one more the following day. A grand total of 27-30 chicks, a 21% mortality rate. They would get very lethargic and lay under the heat lamp. They couldn't walk or even keep their heads up, wouldn't eat or drink. We tried everything. At first we left them, hoping they would recover on their own, but they were being trampled to death. So we made a little chick hospital, tried eyedroppers of coconut water, to no avail. I researched every disease. Many chicks also had pasty butt, we spent hours cleaning 50-75 little butts. I sat with the last 4 chicks, and watched each one as their breathing got softer and softer. Finally, they would stretch out and twitch a few times, and then their breathing stopped. It was a very traumatic week.
None the less, I refrigerated our last 4 chicks and contacted NYS Ag & Markets. They sent a Field Vet out to my farm a few days later to do a necropsy. After spending time with the chicks, and dissecting all 4, she determined they had suffered from yolk sac infections. All of them had unabsorbed yolk sacs, and at the time of their death they were about a week old. The yolk sac should be absorbed within the first few days. Thats the whole reason day-old chicks are able to survive without food when shipped. Many strains of bacteria can cause this, but it always starts and spreads in the hatchery. It doesn't spread once the chicks are hatched, unless they have unhealed navels.
Part of me was relieved- it wasn't the brooder, or the food, or the heat lamps. But part of me was disturbed, especially because I got sick with a respiratory illness the night the chicks arrived. My doctor thought it was related. When I contacted Meyer to let them know, they told me they had a 48 hour policy in which they could help me, which I had obviously surpassed. I asked for more information about their facilities, why this might have happened. They mentioned their high standards for sterility said everything comes from one facility in Polk, Ohio. I was sent this link to see more:
The video shows the eggs being moved to hatching baskets on day 18. The trays are stacked on a rolling cart, and moved into an environmentally controlled room. I am assuming theres more than one cart in a room. One cart alone would have thousands of eggs and chicks. You would think the hatchery would have heard about something like this happening before, nothing is perfect right? After all, its a disease specific to hatching eggs in incubators (or extremely dirty nests). When I asked how often this happens, they said never. I was a little shocked, and so I confirmed that since 1985 when they started operating, no one had heard of anything like this. If thats the case, and this is the first time its happened, thats awesome. I really hope this was a one time thing. But I can't help but feel somewhat concerned...
Meyer hatchery has a minimum of 3 birds per order, making them a great resource for backyard chicken owners. However, I wonder, If I had only received 10 chicks... at 20% I would've lost 2 (not including DOAs), would I have been concerned? It might seem normal. Some people might think they did something wrong, I know thats what I thought. I hate to imagine families raising chicks for the first time experiencing what we did, and never knowing what happened...
I am wondering if anything like this has ever happened to anyone else? Especially in the last month or two ordering from Meyer?
I used Meyer hatchery for the first time this year, but this was not my first time ordering chicks. First round I ordered about 100 chickens- Barred Rock, Buff Orpington, and Silver Wyandottes. A few DOA, to be expected, but everything went well overall. My second round of chicks- 140 Buckeyes, Delawares and , a few months later, did not go so well. At first, the order was postponed... we were told they had an underhatch. When we did receive them a few weeks later, we had 3-4 DOA.
Once we moved them from the box to our brooder... they started dropping like flys. We lost at least 10 chicks the first day.. 8 the next.. 5 the next day.. 3 the next day.. and then one more the following day. A grand total of 27-30 chicks, a 21% mortality rate. They would get very lethargic and lay under the heat lamp. They couldn't walk or even keep their heads up, wouldn't eat or drink. We tried everything. At first we left them, hoping they would recover on their own, but they were being trampled to death. So we made a little chick hospital, tried eyedroppers of coconut water, to no avail. I researched every disease. Many chicks also had pasty butt, we spent hours cleaning 50-75 little butts. I sat with the last 4 chicks, and watched each one as their breathing got softer and softer. Finally, they would stretch out and twitch a few times, and then their breathing stopped. It was a very traumatic week.
None the less, I refrigerated our last 4 chicks and contacted NYS Ag & Markets. They sent a Field Vet out to my farm a few days later to do a necropsy. After spending time with the chicks, and dissecting all 4, she determined they had suffered from yolk sac infections. All of them had unabsorbed yolk sacs, and at the time of their death they were about a week old. The yolk sac should be absorbed within the first few days. Thats the whole reason day-old chicks are able to survive without food when shipped. Many strains of bacteria can cause this, but it always starts and spreads in the hatchery. It doesn't spread once the chicks are hatched, unless they have unhealed navels.
Part of me was relieved- it wasn't the brooder, or the food, or the heat lamps. But part of me was disturbed, especially because I got sick with a respiratory illness the night the chicks arrived. My doctor thought it was related. When I contacted Meyer to let them know, they told me they had a 48 hour policy in which they could help me, which I had obviously surpassed. I asked for more information about their facilities, why this might have happened. They mentioned their high standards for sterility said everything comes from one facility in Polk, Ohio. I was sent this link to see more:
The video shows the eggs being moved to hatching baskets on day 18. The trays are stacked on a rolling cart, and moved into an environmentally controlled room. I am assuming theres more than one cart in a room. One cart alone would have thousands of eggs and chicks. You would think the hatchery would have heard about something like this happening before, nothing is perfect right? After all, its a disease specific to hatching eggs in incubators (or extremely dirty nests). When I asked how often this happens, they said never. I was a little shocked, and so I confirmed that since 1985 when they started operating, no one had heard of anything like this. If thats the case, and this is the first time its happened, thats awesome. I really hope this was a one time thing. But I can't help but feel somewhat concerned...
Meyer hatchery has a minimum of 3 birds per order, making them a great resource for backyard chicken owners. However, I wonder, If I had only received 10 chicks... at 20% I would've lost 2 (not including DOAs), would I have been concerned? It might seem normal. Some people might think they did something wrong, I know thats what I thought. I hate to imagine families raising chicks for the first time experiencing what we did, and never knowing what happened...
I am wondering if anything like this has ever happened to anyone else? Especially in the last month or two ordering from Meyer?
