Need Advice please!!

[cochinbantam-lover]

Hi, I need some help I think! I feel like something could be wrong with my chicks, well 3 month olds and a little younger too. I want to know "what would you do if you were me"

a short time ago I noticed one of my little Cochin Bantams just didn't look herself, I seem to be able to pick up on anything out of the norm, anyway, her tail is sometimes hanging down, and she sits sometimes closing her eyes. The weather has been ok, not overly warm, but a little cool at night, it was 45-50 overnight. I havn't noticed anything in the droppings but maybe brown colored. she was pecking at food so I think she must be eating, didn't see her drink tho.
Now it looks to me as if others are doing this same thing. Please please tell me what I can do, they were vacc for mareks & cocci, and the younger ones just for mareks. I never gave the chicks vac for M and C anything but non-med feed, the others did have it tho till I brought them out to the coop. At the present time they have not been out of the coop but my DH promised to work on thier run today and try to get it done. They have prob been in the coop for about a month now the 3 mo. olds and the others shortly thereafter.
It is well ventilated with screened windows on 3 sides. The sun does shine in nice, I also have been bringing them shovels of grass and soil to peck thru, I have never seen anything crawling on them, they are nice and clean, the frizzles look a little rough tho.
I think I have everything covered, I hope so!. I also gave them some yogurt, just one time.
Thankyou for reading and for any advice you can give me

 

[Pathfinders]

Have you inspected their vents closely for mites? Mites can drain a bird's vitality, and in the case of some bantams if left too long, can actually kill them.

What sort of bedding are you using? Ideally, you should be using pine shavings/chips. Straw is not suitable to use as bedding in a coop, as it can harbor mold and fungi. Are they getting lots of clean (non-moldy) food? What kind? You should be feeding a good commercial food appropriate to their age, just corn or scratch is not good for birds.

Tell us a bit more about your setup and we'll see if we can pinpoint the problem. Hope they get better!

 

[Camelot Farms]

Hmmm. Thats a tough one. Doesnt sounds like Cocci or you would notice bloody droppings by now. What about some vitamins for them....poly visol infant drops without iron.

I wouldnt worry about them not having been outside in a run yet or about the cool nights as they should be feathered out pretty well.

Hopefully someone else will chime in here too...

 

[cochinbantam-lover]

Thankyou, well I have pine bedding with hay on top of that! Their heinies are clean and fluffy but will check closely for anything that crawls, what would these pests look like? I am feeding them Nutrena starter grower, non med. And yes their food is fresh and fresh is added every day. Their 3 gal waterer gets changed every day too.

 

[Pathfinders]

If you Google "poultry mites" you'll find lots of links with images, here's one I found:

http://www.backyardpoultrymag.com/issues/2/2-5/Laura_E_John-2.jpg

They really are teeny tiny. Sometimes it will look like the birds have poopy butts, but not always.

And I'll second Camelot's suggestion for vitamins.

Is the Nutrena a all-vegetable protein food, or does it have animal protein in it? I am a huge fan of animal protein for chickens. In a pinch you can always hard boil some eggs, chop them up, and feed them back to the birds, or even cook some ground beef, they love that! Not too much, say a tablespoon per bird. Perhaps they need some extra protein.

Have you filled out the form at the top of this section about sick birds? That will help too.

 

[cochinbantam-lover]

Yes it said animal protein as one of the ingredients, I fried up some hamburger, drained the grease off, it's cooling now! Thanks guys! I sure hope that it's nothing, can I put them back on the 20 % starter?

 

[Pathfinders]

I would go ahead and put them on the 20% starter...

 

[cochinbantam-lover]

Yep that's exactly what I'm gonna do, ordered two bags and I'm going to pick them up in a bit! I did check them and i really don't see any kind of mite or lice on the one that I checked, I will however check a couple more but I'm on my way out now to pick up that starter!

Thanks you guys!