Needing Help!!! My baby pullets are dying. :(

[Danielle03]

We are breeding Buff Orp. and we are losing A LOT of them!! We don't know why. They have endless water & feed, and either are in a tote in the house or in the barn. The last patch hatched at the end of last month, and they are different ages. We have lost a handful in the last few days. I just find them dead. I don't see and signs of issuse until it's to late. We have never had this problems before when hatching eggs.

Please help us if you can!!

 

[seminolewind]

Is your heatlamp too hot or too cold? I would also grind the size of the crumbles down or make a wet mash from them and see if they eat it.

 

[Danielle03]

It is happening in 2 different brooders so I don't think its the heat lamp temp. I never thought of grinding the food down smaller than crumbles. Maybe they could be choking? They are all from the same parents and I have never used them for breeding before. I wonder if it could be a genetic thing or disease? We have hatced about 25 of them and we have lost about 10 of them over a few week period. Thanks for the advise! Any other ideas?

 

[Mehjr10]

Any sounds of respiratory issues, crackling when breathing, coughing. etc. Are you feeding Medicated feed?

 

[quailman97]

Are you using wood shavings???

 

[Danielle03]

We are using medicated feed and wood shavings.

 

[seminolewind]

If you're sure about the heat lamp, I would probably Toss the Feed and the Shavings and get new because you can rule out contamination that way.
I lost a chick and almost lost about 12 more in different hatches because the crumbles were too big. I kept wondering why so much food was found outside the feeder, and , ground it down and they were vultures. I'd seen these symptoms around 5-7 days. With the new feed, see if they'll eat a wet mash.

If this is in 2 different brooders, it's got to be something that each group has been exposed to. I hope you have your heat lamp set up so that they have room to get away from it.

I would also treat them for coccidiosis which can kill a chick quick.

Beyond this I don't know. Maybe get a necropsy with one, send it to a state run animal disease laboratory.

 

[Danielle03]

Seminolewind
Thank you for all the help and great advice! We are going to switch the feed and change the shaving. Thanks!!

 

[quailman97]

Your welcome