Random Chicks Dying

[carguy78943]

Hello and thank you for all the help in advance! I've been using this message board to try and diagnose my issue for about a week and half with no success.

We first hatched 23 chicks from eggs bought thru Ebay from GreenFire Farms and they all hatched except for one that didn't grow past the first week of incubation. All 23 of those chicks are all still alive and doing well.
I had 18 chicks from GFF sent to me in the mail and they all arrived 3/17 and were doing well. They were eating and drinking and all seemed well until we lost our first chick on 3/20. All the symptoms seem the same, the chicks get lethargic and tend to sway side to side, lose their appetite and thirst and usually die the next day and we find them under the Brinsea brooder. We quarantine all the chicks that start to seem off and have ended up losing 4 from this group from 3/20-3/25. The remaining chicks all seem fine at this point.

We had another 16 hatch on 3/26 and now have lost 3 from this group. Same story, they seem fine eating/drinking and randomly they get lethargic, appear to stop eating/drinking and we find them dead under the brooder.
Brooders temps are showing 92 degrees
We thought coccidiosis, Manganese deficiency, too hot, too cold. We changed our vitamins to save a chick to ensure manganese, we added corid to the water for coccidiosis, added a heated fan to increase the room temp.

Any additional thoughts our suggestions would be appreciated.

 

[rosemarythyme]

You might be overheating them. 92F is the temperature throughout brooder, or is that just the plate? What is the ambient air temperature? Chicks need both a warm and a cool (like 10F lower or more) area as they cannot regulate their body heat very well on their own.

If suspecting coccidiosis, I would not supplement extra vitamins during treatment period, as Corid works by starving the parasite of thiamine so you don't want to add more into the system.

 

[carguy78943]

You might be overheating them. 92F is the temperature throughout brooder, or is that just the plate? What is the ambient air temperature? Chicks need both a warm and a cool (like 10F lower or more) area as they cannot regulate their body heat very well on their own.

If suspecting coccidiosis, I would not supplement extra vitamins during treatment period, as Corid works by starving the parasite of thiamine so you don't want to add more into the
92 appears to be when there is a chick laying on the Govee, right now with out a chick the govee is reading 86, this is under the brooder plate. The temp of the rest of their area is 67. Good call out on the extra vitamins and the corid, Only 1 of the chicks that passed was having issues with their feeces being extra loose. We looked at treatment for the whole group as good measure based off symptoms one of the earlier ones had. I can stop putting the sav a chick in the water and see what happens from there.

 

[Kiki]

Overheating is likely.
Can you post clear pictures of your setup?

 

[carguy78943]

92 appears to be when there is a chick laying on the Govee, right now without a chick the govee is reading 86, this is under the brooder plate. The temp of the rest of their area is 67. Good call out on the extra vitamins and the corid, Only 1 of the chicks that passed was having issues with their feeces being extra loose. We looked at treatment for the whole group as good measure based off symptoms one of the earlier ones had. I can stop putting the sav a chick in the water and see what happens from there.

 

[carguy78943]

Overheating is likely.
Can you post clear pictures of your setup?

The first picture is the smallest area for the ones that just hatched and the second photo is of the 2-week-olds.

 

[Mellowmalt]

It could be that the mail order chicks brought in something but hopefully not. What surprises me is that lot 1 had no issues and the next lot and the ones after did which would generally rule out temps but I can see on your picture the temps in your brooder are 67F and I presume 86-92 under the heat plate. I know it's hard to raise overall temps but I'd try to raise the outside temp, it is generally recommended outside the plate area should be 80F in the first couple of weeks.

 

[carguy78943]

Thank you for the feedback, I bumped the Dyson hot fan up and got the room to 70. I'll see if I can get it to 80.

 

[carguy78943]

We stopped the vitamins for a week while we treated the first two groups with corid and haven’t seen any losses. Added roster boater when we stopped corid.
In smallest we had another chick pass on Thursday. No signs or symptoms just found it under the heat plate in the morning.
I just noticed 2 chicks about 2 weeks old acting lethargic and standing or walking around with their wings extended. I I move them from under the heat plate to the food or water they do eat and drink before running back under the brooder. I’ll move them to another spot by themselves but based off my recent experiences they’ll be dead in the morning
Do you think I should start another covid treatment?
I hate that I keep losing my younger ones so quickly and randomly.

 

[rosemarythyme]

How long total did you treat with Corid for? What dosage did you use?

https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...ol-ampromed-the-correct-amprolium-dose.73341/