My chicks are all dying!!!!

[memiller123]

First of all, you guys are the absolute best. Two days ago, my 22 chicks, several different breeds, were in perfect health (so I thought). They were energetic and eating well. Yesterday, one speckled sussex pullet was found dead. Today, we found more dead (including our gorgeous blue Amerecauna). All but 8 of them were lethargic, not eating, sleeping, and we found bloody stools. I panicked.

I researched on here and very quickly found out that they probably have cocci. I'm waiting for my husband and we're going to rush out and get some meds, hopefully we can find amprol/corid. As it stands, I will probably loose some more, but thanks to you folks, I know what to do. So please, say a prayer for my poor chicks. They look so pitiful. I'll update on their progress.

 

[sadies chicks]

Good LUCK!!!

I am glad you were able to find some help so the remaining babies may have a chance

keep us posted!!

 

[memiller123]

Thanks, sadies chicks. I bought the medicince and put it in their water. The 8 not-so-sick chicks are drinking, but my poor 12 sick sick chicks were not even moving, so I was afraid they would not drink. So I made up a dosage in a syringe with a pointed, needle-like tip and force fed some to each of them. That should give them a good starting dose, but I don't have much hope for all of them to make it. Once again, thanks to everyone who posts advice. You are greatly appreciated. I'll let you know tomorrow how it's going.

 

[KlaHaYa Gardens]

How old are your chicks?

What is the temperature on the floor of their brooder?

Are they on a wire rack?

What does their poop look like?

Are you feeding them vitamins? If so, what kind, and if you mix it in their water, what is the ratio you used?

Pictures of the poop, brooder, chicks dead and alive can't hurt.

 

[memiller123]

They are 8 weeks old.

We kept them under a heat lamp when we first got them. We just recently moved them to the outside coop, as they have all their feathers and we have been having mild weather. But I took the sick ones yesterday and put them in our brooder in our basement with fresh shavings/food/water and placed a heat lamp on them to keep them from having to use any energy staying warm.

They are not on a wire rack. We cleaned the brooder at least once daily and added fresh shavings. When moved to the coop, however, we had broilers out there that pooped tons, spilled water frequently, and then we had a tornado and huge storms, so we had a hard time keeping the coop as dry and clean as we normally do for about a week. That week, apparently, was all it took. But the broilers are gone and the coop is being scrubbed from top to bottom, we have a roost for them and an outside run. So it won't be hard now to keep the coop in top condition.

We have always fed them vitamins-poult pak in their water. 1/4 tsp to a gallon.

Their poop was bloody. I saw a picture posted on here of a chick sick with cocci and of its poop and that was my chicks and their poop exactly.

We have now lost a total of 5 chicks (one of which died in my hand last night), and 2 or 3 more may not make it BUT the rest are looking better already. I force fed water w/vitamins and their med twice last night. This morning the 3 sickest still need encouragement to drink (I dip their beak in the water and they start to drink) and the others are drinking well, moving about more, have their eyes open more, have less of a glazed look, are chirping some, are showing interest in their surroundings, their poop is loose but a normal color, AND are starting to eat. So overall, I think most of my remaining chicks will be ok.

Thanks for your input. I have 15 hens in my coop. Do you think I should add a low dose of the medicine to their water for a few days as a preventative? I read that adults don't get it, but some folks have said on here that they do know of cases. Their is a barrier between my adults and my chicks, but they are in the same coop. They free range all day and none of them have shown any signs of being ill.

 

[ChickenPox]

I am so sorry to hear this, I went through the same thing several weeks ago.......lost 10 before I finally figured out that it was cocci and treated as there was no blood in poop until after I started treatment. The remainder of mine are doing well.......I used Sulmet as the treatment. Good luck, I know how it feels to lose some of your babies!

 

[fshinggrl]

Sorry to hear this. I've lost 3.

 

[memiller123]

We've lost a total of 7 chicks. The rest look fine. Other good news: my sister-in-law has hatched 10 of their own eggs. The roo is an Australorp and the hens are BO's and GLW's.

 

[KlaHaYa Gardens]

Sounds like coccidiosis. You can confirm by taking a stool sample to the vet. The vet or the farm store is likely to have medications to treat it. I would get started immediately.

Meanwhile . . . DOUBLE check your vitamin dosage and make certain you haven't gone overboard.

AND

You may want to put sugar or cornsyrup or molasses (best choice) in the water if your chicks are extremely lethargic.



Good luck and let us know what you find out.

 

[memiller123]

Thanks for the advice. We lost a total of 7 and the rest are fine now. I did double check my vitamin dosage and it's fine. The meds worked well. Poop is not bloody and is formed. They are running around and eating and drinking well. One of the more aggressive ones (possibly a roo) tried to peck me which I was so glad to see. They are doing so well that I'm going to put them back in the coop today.