Yesterday our 4 day old Ameracuana died.
She went from being fine, to dead in like 2 hours. In retrospect there are some things that happened that day that may have contributed. Please help me figure out what happened so I can make sure my other chicks are not affected by this illness (or my errors).
10:00---Yesterday morning noticed she was pasted up a bit, cleaned her up, all is well (I have been checking them all twice a day and cleaning bums as needed). Took them outside for the first time, they ate a bit of sand on the back porch and loved walking in the grass. Some of them (not sure if it was her or not) found a tiny worm which they finished off. (I made sure they all ate a bit of sand for grit for the worm!)
1:30 --Went to take them to the Kindergarten for show and tell. They were all fine afterwards, the kids held them under CLOSE supervision, and did not notice any problems.
3:00 --In the afternoon she was pasted up a bit again, cleaned her up, and put her back in the brooder. She was sleeping under the light while all the other babies ran around like crazy chicks.
4:00 ---Still under light, a bit lethargic. I give her pedialyte by syringe, and try to give some yogurt. Put her on heating pad. Call hubby to tell him to stop by and get some organic ACV on the way home.
4:30---- She is SUPER floppy, head is back, cannot hold it up. Still syringe feeding her pedialyte. Saying prayers. Scouring BYC for past postings on sick chickens. She looks like this (sorry for the bad photo-- syringe in hand)
4:45--- Seizures, dies. Foam pours out of mouth.
Spend the next hour comforting hysterical children.
Bury her in the backyard.
I am sick. What went wrong? Is this the typical "well, you always lose a few chicks" thing (which, by the way, I have always thought is crap---if you take care of animals, they do well--- but this experience has thrown me for a loop for sure!)
They are bantams, unvaccinated (cannot vaccinate due to size), but are on medicated feed. All other chicks look just great.
Any thoughts would be very much appreciated.
10:00---Yesterday morning noticed she was pasted up a bit, cleaned her up, all is well (I have been checking them all twice a day and cleaning bums as needed). Took them outside for the first time, they ate a bit of sand on the back porch and loved walking in the grass. Some of them (not sure if it was her or not) found a tiny worm which they finished off. (I made sure they all ate a bit of sand for grit for the worm!)
1:30 --Went to take them to the Kindergarten for show and tell. They were all fine afterwards, the kids held them under CLOSE supervision, and did not notice any problems.
3:00 --In the afternoon she was pasted up a bit again, cleaned her up, and put her back in the brooder. She was sleeping under the light while all the other babies ran around like crazy chicks.
4:00 ---Still under light, a bit lethargic. I give her pedialyte by syringe, and try to give some yogurt. Put her on heating pad. Call hubby to tell him to stop by and get some organic ACV on the way home.
4:30---- She is SUPER floppy, head is back, cannot hold it up. Still syringe feeding her pedialyte. Saying prayers. Scouring BYC for past postings on sick chickens. She looks like this (sorry for the bad photo-- syringe in hand)
4:45--- Seizures, dies. Foam pours out of mouth.
Spend the next hour comforting hysterical children.
Bury her in the backyard.
I am sick. What went wrong? Is this the typical "well, you always lose a few chicks" thing (which, by the way, I have always thought is crap---if you take care of animals, they do well--- but this experience has thrown me for a loop for sure!)
They are bantams, unvaccinated (cannot vaccinate due to size), but are on medicated feed. All other chicks look just great.
Any thoughts would be very much appreciated.
