Our favorite chick died and I dont know why!!

[kesslerallen]

So me and my wife got two buff orpingtons this last Sunday. Two days later we got a bared rock. Now it is two days later and my wife and I got home to a sad sight of a dead barred rock.

We aren't real sure how old the buffs are. (They are just starting to get tail feathers today). But the barred was younger. Did they kill her?

I examined her and nothing was wrong with her other than she had green poop dried to her behind.

These are our first chicks and her dying really makes me feel like it is my fault. I just really wanted to know what you guys think happened. Will it affect our other chicks?

 

[kesslerallen]

Please help!

 

[Folly's place]

Welcome, and so sorry for your loss. There are so many variables here, it's impossible to say. If your setup was suitable for them, then it wasn't about you. Were they from the same source? Eating and drinking fine? More information would be helpful, and talking to the seller might help too. Mary

 

[Blooie]

The green poop dried on her behind is a giveaway. Pasty butt is something that happens to chicks for various reasons, and if it's not cleaned off they are unable to eliminate. This is something that is fatal. I would sure check the other chicks' bums and make sure they are clean.

 

[TheRambler]

Sounds like pasty butt. It can and will kill chicks. Its caused by many things, stress is the big one. Their vents must be kept clean or they wont be able to poop and will die.

Check young chicks at least twice a day for this. Diet, shipping stress, too hot, too cold are some of the big factors.

Other than cleaning it off very gently with warm water you can add 1 tbsp of organic apple cider vinegar with mother per gallon of water. The acv supposedly helps prevent pasty butt, and so far it works for me, or at least doesn't hurt.

 

[nordicacres]

I'm so sorry . My DH's favorite chick (a Cochin) died about four days after arriving. No symptoms.

 

[kesslerallen]

Welcome, and so sorry for your loss.  There are so many variables here, it's impossible to say.  If your setup was suitable for them, then it wasn't about you.  Were they from the same source?  Eating and drinking fine?  More information would be helpful, and talking to the seller might help too.  Mary

They all seemed/seem to be eating and drinking just fine. We did not get them from the same place just the same farm supply chain. She seemed to sleep all the time yesterday and its like she didn't care if we picked her up at all almost like she was to tired to care. The other to chirp and run away when you try to pick them up. I just put it off as deference in breed.

Here's a picture of our brooder.

 

[kesslerallen]

I had looked them over before I went to work this morning. I end up having to work overtime and didn't get home until 7 tonight. She had already past by then. Maybe I missed the pasty butt or me and my wife were just gone for way to long either way it was my fault

 

[Folly's place]

It was not your fault!!! She was ill, and probably not going to live no matter what you did by that point. Diarrhea can be a cause or a terminal event, so I hope your other chicks are all rught. Go back to the farmstore and see how the other chicks look, and talk to them about possible replacements. Make sure that your brooder isn't too hot for them, as t's pretty small. Mary