Sick Baby Chicks...

[lisae76]

I have a mixed bag of chicks all different breeds...picked up from a local chicken lady. Bought 10 and 6 have died. Look fine one moment then I check again and 1 has died. The living are 3 weeks old now. The 4 living are sneezing and twiching, what should I do? They are on medicated chick feed, with fresh water, and litter. I just dont understand, what should I do? Are my other chickens going to get sick or my kids for touching them? Please help ASAP!!!!

 

[Hangin Wit My Peeps]

Your kids should be fine...what type of litter are they on. Are you feeding them anything else other then chick starter? Anything else you can share? They are under a heat lamp?

 

[LilbitChicken]

HOW SAD.

We have chicks and have not had anything like that happen.

I hope the few survive!
Have you tried sugar water? or pedialyte? (sp

)
Um....plain yogurt? or the mashed boiled egg?
Just thinking..... of all the things we have tried.

 

[silkie love]

Maybe they a heat lamp. And check back where you got them from they might have been sick or weak when you got them.

 

[threehorses]

What sort of litter do you have them on? If it's cedar, take them off of it. Pine shavings are ok as are aspen. Paper shredded tends to be icky sometimes (and gets in their waterer, wicking water out.)

What exactly is their food medicated with? Amprolium, hopefully?

Their brooder lamp: do they crowd under it, stay away from it, sometimes get close to being right under it but don't heap on one another? Spread out?

Are they at all near your adults? Or do you have adults? Have your kids been handling the adults and then the babies?

Your other chickens could get it - just boost their immunity right now - vitamins/electrolytes in the water might help. I prefer using wheat germ oil (1 capful very thoroughly mixed into four cups of crumbles) because it's an oil for (read as "absorbable") of A/D/E, good vitamins for respiratory, calcium use, and over all health respectively.

You can use the same for babies - one dropper full per cup of food. Or what would be like one capsule full on a bit of food, mixed with a 1/2 teaspoon of plain yogurt, a tiny bit of water (after adding the oil), and your baby crumbles. I would only use that once a week max with the oil, every other day with the yogurt. If they're sneezing, their immune system is down (probably due to a virus they're fighting from exposure to your other chickens' immunities). That means they'll need the probiotics (live bacteria to replace the bacteria in their gut) to help them not get a secondary infection from the sinus drainage draining into their digestive tract through their mouth sinues.

Please let us know about the questions above - please don't skip one as they were all chosen purposefully to help us help your babies.

By the way, speaking of yet more questions, what exactly are their droppings like? And their weight? Please be very descriptive since we can't show up at your barn. /wink

We'll do our best to try to help you.

Incidentally, sneezing without puffy eyes or other symptoms is often the birds fighting something viral (although mildew in their environment can certainly play a part as do other things). I'm reluctant, for good reason, to treat with antibiotics especially babies whose digestive tracts and immune systems are just setting up shop. This is a tough call. Let's hear more, but I don't know that i'd at all recommend antibiotics until we hear more.

 

[lisae76]

Yes they have a heat lamp and the temp is perfect. I have raised healthy chicks before! I just don't understand. Are my other chicks going to get sick? I have a brooder box/chick house that is separated, 1 with the younger/sick chicks that stay inside and the other side with 1-1/2 month old chicks that go out and in as they please and are all doing great!!! What should I do?

 

[lisae76]

They are in pine shavings, Medicated chick starter from the local co-op (which all of my other baby chicks have been feed and have been fine)...

 

[lisae76]

I havent seen an issue with the temperature at all, they go all over in their area, dont seem to huddle together at all. I do have 1 year old laying hens with roosters, and my kids are with them too, and they seem to be fine, knock on wood, they are in their own coop 40 feet away from these chicks. We feed the laying hens then the chicks, it is our morning ritual, but my kids cant reach the baby chicks so there is no touching involved...

 

[silkie love]

Sorry to hear about your baby chicks. Try some duramycin 10 in their water .Thats what I use for the the first 2 weeks then I give them unmedicated water after that.Ive had good luck so far.

 

[threehorses]

Ok that's good that they walk about. Very nice. Same with the feed, if it's amprolium. The pine is also good. Is it dusty?

I'm really highly suspecting that they're just fighting something that probably a little bird carried over from one place to the other.

The problem is if you medicate, there's no real way to tell for what to medicate honestly. You could try terramycin, but if you do be sure to buy some probiotics (ask the feedstore person for probiotics for horses) rather than using yogurt. You can't use yogurt with terramycin, any ---mycin, or any ---cycline product. You could consider Sulmet in case it's pasteurella.

The twitching - that's what gets me.

By the way, your kids won't get sick from this.

Have you talked to the lady from whom you bought the chicks? Are they vaccinated for anything, or have you bought from her before? Obviously you're quite experienced so it's not like a beginner not doing things right...