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.
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.
