Shipped chicks dying!**Update**

[mommissan]

Her symptoms were gaping motions with the mouth, lethargic, and a weird air sac in the crop.

Hey, she has a weird air sac in the crop too! I just massaged it a little, made a bubble noise and she gaped a little more. What is that?

 

[chickie5415]

I did the same thing, you can either use a little syringe with a needle (not my preference) or massage and guide the bubbles up to the mouth where you should here the air come out. The little chick died fast after the air sac so I didn't do much research but mine was in bad shape. I think there are more forums on BYC where you can learn more about it. It was very sad. Some chicks just don't make it through.

 

[LukensFarms]

Is their brooder drafty? Do you have a thermometer in there? Is the heat consistent or fluctuating? They need a consistent environment.

 

[mommissan]

Nope. Their brooder is in our living room now (to my husband's horror). The brooder is an Ecoglow 20. I raised it up to the middle height so they aren't as close to the hot surface. That seemed to help. They can come and go as they please. I think we're done with dead chicks. The rest look and feel big and healthy. We are 10 hours without a death or lethargy. Let's see how the rest of today goes.

 

[chickenfreak101]

So sorry!

 

[fairfarren]

I have yogurt, and fresh egg yolks. Their poops look normal, except for a little pasty butt, but nothing terrible. They all look perfectly healthy, then they just die. The ones that died appeared healthy until I pick up their limp bodies and they are very thin. How many did you order? What symptoms did yours have?

This is most likely of no help, but I just lost two of my four from a mypetchicken order the same way. They arrived fine, took to eating/drinking just fine, brooder is "perfect", poos and everything were normal with the exception of LOTS of sleeping, then Thursday they were extremely lethargic and they passed last night. They were both easter eggers if that makes any difference. (My cochin and marans both seem to be doing fine - though I am now paranoid about these two every time they "nap").

Sorry for your loss.

 

[trsturself]

I had a very similar experience. We have lost over 50% of our 30 chicks from Meyer (3 different shipments). Some were obvious right away that they wouldn't make it but most were surprises. They were running around eating/drinking fine, poops looked fine, and then dead a matter of hours later. We tried vitamins, electrolytes, ACV, yogurt, egg yolk, and even Corid. Nothing has made a difference.
The brooder is 90 in one corner and 78 in the other so they can regulate their heat. The window in that room is cracked to allow fresh air but there is not a draft since their sides are covered with an open top. They don't act cold or hot. They are on pine shavings that get changed often and are not allowed to get damp.

We got a batch on wed last week and one was weak and had wry-neck. We brought her back from not being about to sit to being able to stand and eat on her own by giving her egg yolk, wet food, and Vitamin E. Then as soon as we think she is going to make it she loses interest in food and won't eat anything. I did notice her crop seemed to have air in it and seemed kind of transparent. She died a little later.

 

[CochinBrahmaLover]

Happened to us. Probably 15 chicks died, we added electrolytes to the water, 3 more died, we took the electrolytes away, no more died. No idea, just a bunch of them died for no reason. Healthy, active, good poops, dead the next few hours. Anyone ever able to find a cause behind this?

 

[witchawomn]

We lost two in transit from my Pet Chicken. Received in 22 hours...perfect packaging, but I think it was because the heat pack was too small for ten chicks. Both were Wyandottes. A third Wyandotte was doing fine, then died quickly for no apparent reason at day five. Took a driving trip to Chickens Galore (yes, that's the name) and picked up three more, including a day old Red Blue Laced, and all are thriving! I think I will buy locally from now on. That trip is just too tough on them and it's devastating to experience the loss.

 

[mommissan]

Wow, so this isn't uncommon. Meyer is shipping free replacements. I hope they do okay. I can't explain the wry neck; it was in just my cochins. There must be a lot of trauma in transit. I don't know if I could mail order chicks again. Just breaks my heart to see them die. My total loss was 6 out of 15. 40%.... not too good.