New chick problems

[polarbearforge]

Polarbearforage. I was just reading over all the post. You previously mentioned you had your nutrients mixed and ready to go. Not sure what kind you are using but over the years of the different nutrients ive used it was always manufactures recomendation to mix and replace new every 24 hours. It made me wonder if it was pre mixed days before if that has something to do with your problems

I read that, too. I mixed them the morning they were delivered so that I could have the nutrients to them as soon as I put them in, and the grogel I mixed immediately beforehand.

Stupid question: do you work with cedar in your shop? Is your brooder cedar? Are you checking daily for pasty butt?

I think it's a heat issue also. When my chicks came in, they needed 105 directly under the lamp. They never moved out from under the heat lamp except to eat and drink. Took them 3 days to take the chill off of them. Now it's down to 90 under the lamp a week later and they are happy chicks.

Nope, I don't work cedar. I do work with some exotic hardwoods, and thought about that. From the time that I started building the brooder until it went into the front porch, I didn't work with any of them. Nothing in the brooder is cedar either.

Everytime I check on them the first few days, I'm checking for pasty butt. None of the casualties had pasty butt.

If I order again while it's cooler, I'll add more heat. I have some heat pads for started seeds that I could put under the shavings. I thought about this last night, I could put it under part of the brooder heater and extend it into the shavings. There would effectively be three heat zones, ambient, heat pad, and heat pad plus brooder heater.

Jamie

 

[polarbearforge]

I forgot today's update. No more casualties. A couple with mild pasty butt.

Do some breeds get that more often than others? The australorps have not had it once. The easter eggers a few times. The orpingtons more often than the other two combined.

Jamie

 

[aart]

I forgot today's update. No more casualties. A couple with mild pasty butt.

Do some breeds get that more often than others? The australorps have not had it once. The easter eggers a few times. The orpingtons more often than the other two combined.

Jamie

I read recently about some 'flat bottomed girls', they were orps, getting pasty butt.....so maybe.
Birds with different shaped bodies and different feathering (downing?) could make one more susceptible to poop sticking than others.

 

[Slingha]

I forgot today's update.  No more casualties.  A couple with mild pasty butt.  

Do some breeds get that more often than others?  The australorps have not had it once.  The easter eggers a few times.  The orpingtons more often than the other two combined.

Jamie

I've got red sex link barred rock and rir going. The barred rock by far have the most pasty butt issues.

 

[seminolewind]

I had gotten 25 chicks. 2 were DOA. 2 were weak and kept falling over backwards and not able to right themselves. I ended up making a soft chick mash with the vitamin water and taking each out to eat. At first they walked away, so I put my hands partially around them. I did this every few hours. The next day they were perky and normal and hungry. The next day I put them back and they were squeezing thru the crowd to get to the feeder. I had fed them on a surface not holding them. I was prepared to hold them and feed them with a teaspoon. I won't tube feed, too risky.