Ongoing Hatchling Deaths, Please Help

[Kyzmette]

I received a beautiful pair of Buff Brahma Bantam, but got them out of bad circumstances, and illness was involved when I received them. Theyre both very healthy now, but I've been trying to hatch their chicks, and it's been a nightmare. I have no problems like this with the other eggs I hatch, just the Brahmas.

The chicks make it up to hatch time, then at least half die in the shell. The ones that do hatch are weak, and can't find their feet. Some of them are splay-legged, but even the ones that aren't can't get up into standing position. I usually come home from work to find them on their backs, and they waste away after a couple of days. I got a great tip from somebody in the Okla thread to put them in cups to keep them from flipping over, so now I have one in a cup, she's been in there for almost two days and shows no sign of gaining any strength to her legs. I've been giving them poly-visol at hatch. They never make it to the point of eating on their own. I have noticed bright green runny poops, far greener and runnier than I've seen in my other chicks.

Does this sound like it could be a bacterial infection coming from the hen? I'm getting ready to start treating the pair, just in case. Is there any way to tell what kind of infection, if so? I don't want to give her every antibiotic on the market if it's possible to narrow it down.

Thanks in advance.

 

[foreverlearning]

This is about the only thread that I could find that they figured out a cause for it and healed some birds. Many of the other threads never figured it out:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/625340/no-energy-and-bright-green-poop
Sorry I can't help more!

 

[Eggcessive]

I think it could be the health of the breeders or hatching temperatures/humidity problems during hatch. Certain breeds are more difficult to hatch also. Here are several good sites about incubation problems:
http://msucares.com/poultry/reproductions/trouble
.htmlhttp://urbanext.illinois.edu/eggs/res24-00.html
http://animalscience.ucdavis.edu/avian/pfs33.htm

 

[Michael Apple]

You may also find some helpful information here: https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/step-by-step-guide-to-assisted-hatching

 

[chickengeorgeto]

I received a beautiful pair of Buff Brahma Bantam, but got them out of bad circumstances, and illness was involved when I received them. Theyre both very healthy now, but I've been trying to hatch their chicks, and it's been a nightmare. I have no problems like this with the other eggs I hatch, just the Brahmas.

The chicks make it up to hatch time, then at least half die in the shell. The ones that do hatch are weak, and can't find their feet. Some of them are splay-legged, but even the ones that aren't can't get up into standing position. ....Does this sound like it could be a bacterial infection coming from the hen?....

Chick hatched from egg laid by hens and or fertilized by roosters that are or have been sick or neglected almost always have problems piping or living if they do manage to pip and hatch.

I wish you luck raising strong healthy chicks off your rescued birds but in most instances it will prove next to impossible.

 

[Michael Apple]

Chick hatched from egg laid by hens and or fertilized by roosters that are or have been sick or neglected almost always have problems piping or living if they do manage to pip and hatch.

I wish you luck raising strong healthy chicks off your rescued birds but in most instances it will prove next to impossible.

Very true. Much depends on what disease the breeding pair were suffering from.

 

[Kyzmette]

I'm so glad I didn't give up on my beautiful Brahmas. I put them on a round of tetracycline and I've been supplementing them with extra protein and vitamins, and last night I came home to find this beautiful crew in the bator! They're perfectly round and fluffy and gorgeous, all four of them! That's not to say there wasn't a lot of heartbreak leading up to this moment, with a lot of chickies lost in the shell or just after pip. I had two that survived prior to this hatch, one died after four days and the other had bad spraddleleg that was corrected with braces, but she's still with me and her pic is below, too. With work and love a lot of bad can often be undone.