I will not rule out the fact that my dx may be incorrect, anything is possible, however; after speaking to the vet and reading the stories so many people are posting about their chicks, I don't believe this is an issue of softened water, or excessive electrolytes or any other thing that people are trying to blame this on. I have lost 20 of 50 chicks to a DISEASE, mostly isolated to particular breeds, with the apparent transmission to some chicks of other breeds. Remember, the most important piece of evidence, that these sick chicks are isolated to hatches from one breeder, during a particular two week span. My chicks did not become ill because of any thing I did wrong, it was out of my hands. The old adages "if the shoe fits" and "if it quacks like a duck" seem appropriate. The person who tested their chix positive for AE, and got their chix from MMH, could have contracted the disease somewhere else, sure, but when this many people from this many states have the exact same situation, it doesn't take me long to hear the quacking.