One dead and two acting lethargic

[Nellie Rose]

Hey all.
I got a group of silky and satin chicks in early April. All were doing good until this week when I found my blue satin dead in the coop. No warning, just dead one morning. I assumed he overheated.
But now I have 2 more being less active and more lethargic. Both have poop stuck to their butt feathers and just don't seem right. I put corid in the water for coccidiosis, which is what the breeder recommend, and have been administering nutridrench 2 days now.
The other 2 chicks seem fine and are active. Both of the ill ones are white silkies and have some handicaps. Both have one toe on each foot that curls beneath them. They were like this from the breeder, I couldn't leave them behind, I have a soft spot for birds born with feet problems. Idk if that could have something to do with it but I figured it was worth mentioning. Both feet look fine, no sores or lesions.


All birds have integrated with my adult flock seamlessly, no bullying or pecking hardly at all. The only issue is they have yet to learn to go into their coop at night so I have been putting them away each night.

They are eating on layer feed like the adults, but will be switching to an all flock feed soon.
Large 100×10 pen to range in and a 6×10 enclosed secure run.
Fresh water available 24/7.
They are around 3ish months old (they are all different ages)

Both birds are eating but tentatively, and drinking. Mostly just seem run down and after the last one died I am very worried.

Anything you guys recommend doing to help them? I am thinking about locking them in their coop for a few days with easier access to food and water (they have their own separate coop). I just don't want the flock to forget them and have to go through the stressful integration process again.

 

[azygous]

What is your location? Has the weather suddenly gone from mild to hot?

Have any of the chicks acted dizzy, off balance, even stumbling?

If the weather has gone suddenly hot, it's extremely hard on chickens and you need to treat them all with electrolytes right away or risk having more of them die.

You can make you own by adding two teaspoons of sugar to two cups water with a couple pinches of salt and baking soda.

 

[Nellie Rose]

What is your location? Has the weather suddenly gone from mild to hot?

Have any of the chicks acted dizzy, off balance, even stumbling?

If the weather has gone suddenly hot, it's extremely hard on chickens and you need to treat them all with electrolytes right away or risk having more of them die.

You can make you own by adding two teaspoons of sugar to two cups water with a couple pinches of salt and baking soda.

Yes it has suddenly gotten hot.
They may seen slightly off balance, but they always are because of their deformity so idk if its more so than usual.
I have lots of electrolytes on hand so I will add some to their water first thing in the morning. I have been giving them nutridrench.

 

[gimmie birdies]

Wood chips.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I put corid in the water for coccidiosis, which is what the breeder recommend, and have been administering nutridrench 2 days now.
The other 2 chicks seem fine and are active. Both of the ill ones are white silkies and have some handicaps.

They are eating on layer feed like the adults, but will be switching to an all flock feed soon.

I got a group of silky and satin chicks in early April.

How old are the chicks? 3 months...

Can you please post photos of them and their poop?

They are eating layer feed, for how long?

If you are treating with Corid, then do not give the vitamins in the water, the B1 in Nutri-Drench could negate the effectiveness of the Corid.

At 3 months of age, I would still be feeding a Chick Starter or an All Flock type feed to everyone instead of layer feed, just provide oyster shell free choice. Layer feed is usually a little low in protein for growing chicks and has too much Calcium.


In case you need dosing for Corid.
Liquid Corid dose is 2tsp or Powdered Corid Dose is 1 1/2tsp per gallon of water given for 5-7 days as the only source of drinking water.

 

[Nellie Rose]

How old are the chicks? 3 months...

Can you please post photos of them and their poop?

They are eating layer feed, for how long?

If you are treating with Corid, then do not give the vitamins in the water, the B1 in Nutri-Drench could negate the effectiveness of the Corid.

At 3 months of age, I would still be feeding a Chick Starter or an All Flock type feed to everyone instead of layer feed, just provide oyster shell free choice. Layer feed is usually a little low in protein for growing chicks and has too much Calcium.


In case you need dosing for Corid.
Liquid Corid dose is 2tsp or Powdered Corid Dose is 1 1/2tsp per gallon of water given for 5-7 days as the only source of drinking water.

Roughly 3 months but I'm not sure. I got them from a local breeder and they are all different ages. All are fully feathered and have been for around a month.

I'll try to get some pictures tomorrow.

A very short time, I doubt it's because of the feed, I've also been supplementing with egg whites. The feed store was out of all flock so I just grabbed a bag of layers to hold them over. Next trip is in a few days.

Thank you, I forgot nutridrench inhibits the corid, it's been years since I've used it.

 

[Debbie292d]

Silkies especially should be on chick starter/grower crumbles until about 5 months old or until they lay.

Nutradrench is good especially for emergencies as it's nearly instant. Poultry Cell is more complete.

Silkies tend to become vitamin deficient easier than other breeds. For the adults, I mix their layer with all-flock and mix in Rooster Booster vitamin granules. For ones your age, I would have them on grower/starter and give them Poultry Cell in their water every few days. I give them Hydro-Hen probiotics/electrolytes about once a week or if any are looking a little on the lethargic side.

 

[Nellie Rose]

Silkies especially should be on chick starter/grower crumbles until about 5 months old or until they lay.

Nutradrench is good especially for emergencies as it's nearly instant. Poultry Cell is more complete.

Silkies tend to become vitamin deficient easier than other breeds. For the adults, I mix their layer with all-flock and mix in Rooster Booster vitamin granules. For ones your age, I would have them on grower/starter and give them Poultry Cell in their water every few days. I give them Hydro-Hen probiotics/electrolytes about once a week or if any are looking a little on the lethargic side.

Ok. They've been on layer feed less than a week. The feed store was out of all flock so I picked up a bag of layers to hold them over. They said they'd be getting a shipment in sometime this week. I usually always feed all flock because of my goose.

I really doubt it is the feed though, by how they've been acting and the poop stuck to them. I doubt theyd become nutritionally deficient after a day. Also the other two are acting completely normal and they are the younger ones.
I have rooster booster so I can add that to some feed.
I'll send someone to check the feed store today for all flock or growers feed. Thinking of it now I should have just gotten a bag of growers instead of layers, but for whatever reason it just hadn't crossed my mind.

 

[Nellie Rose]

Can you please post photos of them and their poop?

Here is a video of them this morning.
they seem fine overall, just less enthusiastic than the others and they have that poop stuck to them. I'm going to bring them inside today and rinse them off a bit. The poop has only been there a day or two.

 

[azygous]

When I first started keeping chickens I was in the same predicament - feed store was out of all-flock feed. It occurred to me to read the ingredients label on the chick crumbles. I was astonished to see that chick starter/grower had practically the exact same ingredients as all-flock. The only difference was the chick crumbles has a teeny bit less protein as all-flock. So I grabbed a bag of the chick crumbles and that's what my flock ate for the next few weeks.

Layer is not a good substitute, though you're correct, no harm will come to the chicks eating it for just a few days. You are probably already aware that chicks shouldn't have the high amounts of calcium in layer over the long term as it can result in kidney issues. Also, layer has much less protein than all-flock and chick starter, and chicks need the higher protein to build tissue and muscle and feathers.