Sebright chicks dying

[Little Fuzzy]

I appreciate all the help. I haven't had another death this past week using the suggestions you all gave. However I also have some silks and Japanese bantams about a week younger. I keep trying to introduce the 2 groups but they just attack one another. Any advice?

Keep them separate. They are already having so many problems you don't want to add more. When you want to put them into the coop/run wire them off from each other until they are used to seeing each other, and after a couple weeks they should integrate slowly. I put my 4 week old chicks into the broody cage in my coop so the hens could get used to them. I only had one chicken act mean after I started integrating them. I did it slow, let the bigs out to free range and the littles locked in the run. The littles go in cage at night. At six weeks they were all free ranging together and there was only trouble at the roosting bar. Now everyone is roosting fine.

 

[PirateGirl]

If you have a respiratory infection in your flock not all chicks may show the same symptoms, if any. Look for signs of infection, water or discharge or crust of any kind around nostrils and eyes, coughing/sneezing/wheezing, sometimes you can hold a chick up to your ear and tell if it's breathing is labored, breathing with their mouths open is not normal for healthy chicks. If the chicks get stressed, which is possible, new environment, noise, light, too hot, too cold, etc. they are more susceptible to illness, just like people, when we are stressed our bodies get run down and we catch whatever is going around. So they might not be able to fight of the types of things that they normally could. I recently had this with my 8 week olds I lost one, I had one that was wheezing and could barely breathe, and I had another I feared was next with just a trace of discharge around one nostril, but if you pay attention you can catch and treat respiratory infection successfully. Mine are all (except the one) happy chirping eating pooping scratching pullets now and recovered and outdoors and active. I wish you all the best with your chicks and I hope the rest stay healthy and happy.

 

[PeCoop]

Well I have not had a chick die with distilled water. My daughter used it for her fish and they do well with it. Good luck

 

[Little Fuzzy]

But with using distilled water the chicks won't be getting minerals either, can't you just boil the water to get rid of the chlorine?

 

[lazy gardener]

Three weeks is too young without heat if it is 68 degrees. They might be able to adjust if you were slowing decreasing the temps down. They should go from 95 the first week, down 5 degrees to 80 degrees at 4 weeks old.

While this 5* / week policy is the most commonly quoted one, many of us have found that it is simply not necessary to provide all of that heat, and not in the chick's best interests. Many of us are brooding our chicks outside, using a heating pad brooder, and the chicks are thriving, and weaning themselves off heat without human intervention, often completely weaned from heat to outdoor temps down to 40's and lower by 4 - 5 weeks old.

Well I have not had a chick die with distilled water. My daughter used it for her fish and they do well with it. Good luck

There is a big difference between distilled and filtered water. While fish may live in distilled water, and chickens may survive drinking distilled water, it is not the best choice b/c it is completely void of minerals.

I quote the following paragraph from this article: https://nippyfish.net/2011/08/16/a-warning-about-distilled-water-and-betta-fish/ Unlike tap water or spring water, distilled water has gone through a process that strips it almost completely of all minerals. Like RO water (reverse osmosis), it is essentially pure and no longer contains any of the trace elements that would be found naturally in water. Fish kept in distilled water over a period of time may show signs of lethargy or color loss. Most aquarists choose to use tap water because it is very inexpensive and if treated with a good aquarium conditioner is safer and healthier for your fish than distilled.

 

[PeCoop]

Chicks get vitamins and minerals in their food.