Serama chicks die

[seramaMomma]

My Serama chicks die at about a week or two old as their wing feathers are coming in. I feed a high protien food which I grind small and is medicated. They get pasty butt also, but no blood in stools so I don't think it is coccidia. I wash them off daily or twice a day if needed being careful not to injure them in handling. It seems to usually be the very smaller ones. What advice can I get from everyone? I know Seramas are harder to raise, but these little guys are VERY hard!

 

[paddock36]

Is it possible that they are becoming chilled when you are washing them off. You might try some extra antibiotics in their water since this is a continual problem.

 

[bantyshanty]

I'm not a Serama expert, but, in general, more information is needed to determine why this is happening. You said "they die".
Does that mean they've died more than one time? Are you incubating and hatching, getting them as peeps, or using a broody hen?

What is their behavior in the few days before they die?

Do they get listless? Huddle together? Sleep a lot more? Lose their appetites? How many have died?

More info needed. Thanks.

 

[seramaMomma]

The chicks do not grow. Stop eating and are listless. They do huddle after they get to the "sick" stage. When they first hatch from my inc., they eat and drink, then seem to go down hill. I do grind their food so it IS small enough for them to swallow. One right now I am trying to save.....is at the "sick" stage and it will drink from the tip of my finger, but not from a water'r nor will it pick up food any longer from the bowl or floor of the cage. It just is not interested. I keep a heat source on one end and they can move away if they want. They do not huddle under the light until they get to the point of being "sick", so it doesn't seem they are cold. I need to invest in a thermometer to see what the temp. is , but I just haven't gotten one yet. I would think they would huddle if they were cold tho and I'm not seeing that. I am not sure what else to tell. I have lost about 20% of what I hatch. I will say they are usually the very tiny ones. Come on guys with your ideas. I need help here. I just hate loosing these babies. I know Seramas are harder to raise and maybe I am expecting too much. Maybe 20% loss is normal?

 

[ChickadeeMom]

i have problems with sermas 2...i dont know what 2 do, i just assumed i was not ment to have the cute little things.

 

[KatyTheChickenLady]

I don't know about seremas, but here are my thoughts as far as chicks in general go.
Pasty butt usually means it's too warm. Huddling usually means too cold. If they all came out of our incubator and they are all dying at the same time you could possible have a fungus or viral thing in your incubator (the perfect place for it to grow). My last thought and probably the source of all what feed are you self grinding?

 

[seramaMomma]

UP DATE........I don't think it is the feed as some(80%) live on and grow just fine. I loose the other 20% and I feel that is too much. I have learned in the past couple of days that I may have had it too cold.
I also gave one chick that I thought was at deaths door and could hardly hold it's head up...not eating or drinking anymore....two forced doses of benebac. The next day it was eating and drinking. I had also raised the wattage on the light bulb. Today it is doing just great. Running around eating, drinking, and acts like it should.
I must say all the ones I have lost are the very tiny ones. My Seramas are very small. I made the mistake upon getting my first stock last fall of picking a trio of tiny ones. I have since added some class B so hopefully this will help me in the future.
I have also gotten some eggs from a couple of different sources so it will give me some genetic diversity to go on from here. I can't say 100% sure that the first batch that is the ones I have lost from the trio aren't closely related. Maybe too close? Just my thoughts on this. I just don't know for sure.
I am at a point now with several pens that with this hatching of different eggs I can separate my trio with new mates that I know are unrelated next summer and see if this has anything to do with what has happened.

I do highly recommend this benebac as it added the "good" bacteria back into the tiny digestive system and that little bird has made a miraculous recovery. I bought it at a pet shop in the caged bird department.
It also sort of ruled out an incubator problem, of which I am so grateful..........Thanks for all the support.......