partridge chicks deaths

[dimitrischri]

1. Hello. how are you doing?
   i would like to ask a question about my partridge chicks deaths.
   i have hatched some partridge (philby and chukar) and im feeding 30% protain feed that i mixed myself adding soy to premixed commertial (21% protain) chick feed. i also feed live bigattini fly maggot for extra protain.
   i contain my chicks in a temperature controlled enviroment arount 35 celcius but they also can go in a less heated space if they want to. i do not add any vitamins to my feed or water.
   Now the problem is that i am getting deaths in my chicks and i dont know what is causing them. maybe the protain percentage is high?
   by the way chicks start dying around day 4 and after. now its day 12 and another one is going to die.
   they first start shaking and then they die.
   Also last year i was feeding my patridge chicks regular chick feed (21% protain)
   and live mealworms (if i did not feed mealworms none would survive eather.) and i was adding multivitamin in their waterer but i was also getting a lot of deaths. (2 out of 8 chicks survived)
   do you know what is causing it?
   i am also uploading a zipped video of a chick shaking.
   thanks

 

[Brahmachicken240]

A good commercial feed has all the important nutrients they need, you shouldn’t have to add any more.

 

[Trux]

That looks like it is a neurological issue. I have no experience with partridge what so ever and do not know their needs as far as nutrition. It would seem to me something is lacking in it's diet. Have all these chicks been from the same parents?

 

[dimitrischri]

thanks for the reply.
a commercial game bird feed would be ideal. but we dont have that here in Cyprus thats why i mix my own feed.

 

[Trux]

So are all the chicks from the same parents?

 

[dimitrischri]

they are from 2 different pairs but they all do those spasms.

by the way that was 3 days ago.
the last two days i stoped feeding 30% protein and changed it to a 25% protein feed. i also stoped feeing bigattini fly maggots and i started adding multyvitamin and vitam E & selinium in their water.
the shaky chick in the video died but others survided they now shake less.
could this shakiness caused by the high protein feed? or lack of vitamins? or is it an infection or maybe a paraside?
by the way on they internet i can find tha chukars need 28%-30% protein feed for their first 6 weeks.

 

[dimitrischri]

i found a video on youtube of a chick having the same spasms as mine do.

 

[Trux]

Well, my gut tells me the maggots might have been the problem. Young birds need time to develop before eating such things. I might be totally wrong with that answer but it is what stood out to me when I read your reply. You may now want to up the protein to at least 28% suggested, just leave out the maggots for the time being. The vitamins in the water may have been what brought them out of their shakiness also.
The reason I asked if they were from the same parents was I was thinking that they maybe passing on a disease to the chicks that their weak and undeveloped immune systems were not able to handle right away. If you have a vet around you that you could show that short video to you might get a more definitive answer.

 

[Sea Wolf]

Possibly not enough calcium or an imbalance of Ca and Phosphorous. This will cause tremors like this in reptiles as well as mammals. Why not purchase bags of the proper feed and have it shipped to you? The loss of so many birds certainly seems to make it affordable if it prevents this.

 

[dimitrischri]

having lots of birds means ordering lots of bags. i live in Cyprus which is an island. buying bags of feed and get them shipped here is very expensive.