Sick birds this spring.

[dlhunicorn]

There are other diseases and conditions that the same symptoms must be isolated from which is why definitive diagnosis is somewhat complicated...there is a thread in Raising chicks and on page seven and eight are some articles and links posted which give those other conditions/diseases that it could also be.

 

[PennySue]

Do we know how many labs are testing? It would be interesting to see how many are running tests.
My vet overnighted 2 sample chicks I dropped off alive tuesday to UWM.

 

[chickenzoo]

I ordered about 36 chicks from MM ad recieved them on march/11. All were fine until yesterday when I found one ( Black Giant) laying one it's side, weak and raspy when I listened to it's lungs. It got very weak, and seemed to go down hill. I gave it a breathing treatment ( husband has bad lungs), some predisone, liqiud vitamins and some scrambled eggs. It survived the night, but now most of my chicks are sneezing and some have watery,squinty eyes. Is this possibly the same stuff?
Houdans
Giants
Frizzles
Buff Bramas
Crevacour

Now chicks from another Hatchery I kept in another room Polish, Sultans, Japs- sneezing
And I lost my Bourban red turkey -To heavy breathing,squating,watery eyes- very quickly
DEEEEEEEEEP Breath

 

[amaliayosa]

chickenzoo~ Looks like we got our chicks the same day. This sounds different from what other people seem to be experiencing though.Others have been seeing stumbling, weak chicks that act drunk, shake their heads and unable to move.
I have been watching mine closely, being a bit paranoid after reading all these posts. So far they are still doing fine, but I am keeping my fingers crossed,they are 2 weeks old today.
I have
2 RIR
5 buff orps
3 Barred rocks
2 Americaunas
2 Aracaunas
2 SL wyandottes
4New Hampshire Reds


I lost three within the first 48 hours, one was DOA the rest have been fine since. I started giving them Avia charge 2000 in their water yesterday to keep their immune systems going strong.
I will be keeping everyone posted. Those of us who received chicks the second week of March should know very soon if our chicks have been affected or not.

 

[chickenranchwife]

I've lost like 10 with them laying on their side, just was thinking it was a bully in the bunch. They act like they have broken legs and are off balance.
Should I add some medication to the water?

 

[dlhunicorn]

there is no one "cure=all" med that you can add to the water... and you have not given enough info to even guess... do you lose them one by one? what is the time span between the losses... what breed ...what did you feed them...were they vaccinated? Did you give electrolytes when they first arrived and what was their condition and what early symptoms were shown? etc.etc.etc.

 

[chickenranchwife]

Quote:
I loose them two by two or three, and within a few days there are a few more sick ones. I feed them chick starter. No they were not vaccinated. It's sad. I think I will cancel the rest of my order.

 

[seminolewind]

Those of you who are losing chicks-I'm very sorry. And the ones who are getting necropsies, we should all thankyou for doing all that; that which the hatcheries should be doing.
Maybe us backyard chickeners don't order the thousands of chickens that big business does, and therefore makes us unimportant.
I would like to be an important customer, at least be shown some respect.

 

[KathyAnn]

I received 39 chicks from MMH on the l0th of march.

araucana
golden wyandottes
partridge rocks
light brahmas
silver laced wyandottes
speckled sussex
black astralorp
columbian wyandotte

One was dead on arrival, 4 others died later on, I thought nothing of this, one drowned in the water , others got smashed by other chicks. I gave them grogel plus and sugar water the day the arrived at the house.

All seemed well with them,

Since then, I've received 30 new babies bought elsewhere. their all in the same building but seperated. I've done a couple of stupid things, so Iguess i'm going to loose all of them, I put the new babies, on bedding that the MMH chicks came off of, and I also put a couple of sick MMH chicks in with the new babies, Ididn't think they had a virus though they were just trampled on so I stuck them over in with the new babies. Little did I know.

The symptoms of the two sick are , they are squatty, rolling over on their sides and just not moving, till I touch them then they move. I've quarantined the two sick ones, but their no longer eating, so I don't expect them to make it, one has been sick for several days, the other just started today, My son and I went out and changed all the bedding tonight, and saw that there were a couple others that when the other chicks scurry away from us, they were left ontheir sides.

I have written MMH in hopes for a refund on my chicks, I fear for the lives of the 30 new ones that I have put into harms way now, I hadn't a clue that I was doing them harm, Maybe they'll be ok, 20 were bought locally, (cockoo marans, and welsummers) but the person who I bought them from got them through Ideal. the other l2 I bought from an individual, (rhode island reds) . Their all only 3 days old,

I'msick over this, and my DH said we'll just start over, Don't know how he can say such a thing.

There's nothing I can do now right ? but quarantine the sick, and hop e for the best with the others from MMH? What's this stuff that I hear folks say that I need to clean my brooding area with to get it decontaminated? where should I try to get it at. and How long should I wait before putting chicks in this area again? If I don't disinfect, will the area be ok in 4 to 6 weeks? to put other birds back in?

My son cleaned out their bedding and put it on the ground out side the room their in, I have l4 grown chickens that free range. Is this pile of bedding going to put them into harms way? WE can burn this pile tomorrow, right where it sits , and I can keep the grown birds locked up for as long as need be if I need to.

Wouldn't it be wonderful if MMH would help recoop some of our losses on other chicks. I spent $120.00 on the other 30 and $115.00 at MMH.

Kathy

 

[kstaven]

Hi Kathy

No one could ever know or predict this was going to happen. I have been down a similar road in the past and know it isn't easy. But you do the best you can until you know exactly what the problem is and then pick up the pieces.

Bleach and water, virkon, and a host of other products will work for cleaning. Just be careful with the fumes from bleach and make sure everything is well rinsed. Most vets or animal supply places carry virkon.

As an absolute end to any potential of cross contamination I would burn the bedding.

I learned the "hard way" years ago to quarantine everything. Even birds or chicks from a breeder that you know well and trust.

From what a few people are getting back in comments from vets, AE is a potential for some who got chicks around the same time. But there are still other potentials that can cause similar symptom pictures. So unless you have an absolute diagnosis it is best to be safe and keep your adults away from the chicks. Feed and water the adults first everyday and be sure to wash up, change cloths and be sure foot wear is clean before going out to other birds.