sick chick and spreading?

[ivan3]

Cook them some scrambled/or chopped up hardboiled eggs in the morning (minced up leftover meat - nothing `cured'). Pick up a bottle of polyvisol infant vitamins (without iron), and give them electrolytes in their water. Could be diet/illness or the former exacerbating the latter.

Electrolyte formula:

7g sodium chloride (NaCl, common salt)
5g sodium bicarbonate (baking soda)
3g potassium chloride (commonly called "Muriate of Potash". Salt substitutes contain mostly potassium chloride)
40g glucose (a common source is corn syrup)
2 litres water

Just feed them something substantial in the morning. Sure hope it is just dietary.

Good luck!

 

[chickenannie]

What kind of chicks are these -- are they meatbirds? If so, that could be the problem. I know you said layers, but I thought we should at least know the breed, since meaties have health issues by 15 weeks.

Also, what are their conditions like? Flooring? Bedding? Space? Water? Heat/cold? for example if they are a tropical chicken and they're in a freezing place, that could be killing them.

 

[sammi]

how cold is it?
what bedding are they on?
are they exposed to draft or damp?
they might need a warming light...even tho they are 15 weeks..they are still vulnerable to cold and draft.

they should be on chick or starter feed..or grower feed until they start to lay, or just before due to lay.
please..no more scratch..

get them chick vitamins or the Poly-vi-sol as Ivan posted...but try and get some chick vitamins..

describe the droppings..color and consistency..
where they are being kept, have other chickens been there?
are they exposed to other chickens?
are they always in a coop..or do they have access to a yard or pen?

the problem is most likely nutritional..
but possible they could have cocci also..(check the droppings)

 

[Newbean]

These birds are Rhode Island Red and a RIR/Golden rocket mutt mix.

how cold is it? Its been pretty nice lately. In the 30's and 40s, down to the 20's at night.


what bedding are they on? Straw in the coop and dirt outside in the run.


are they exposed to draft or damp? Not to damp. I also have a window high in the coop and a low window in the coop for ventilation . But there are many places to get out of the draft. This is a normal coop and I've found them under the nest boxes and one night a bunch were hanging out in one nest box. Some like to sleep on the perches.


they might need a warming light...even tho they are 15 weeks..they are still vulnerable to cold and draft. I've only taken the light out in the past 2 weeks. They seem to be doing just fine. I would check on them at night and no one was sleeping even near it.

they should be on chick or starter feed..or grower feed until they start to lay, or just before due to lay.
please..no more scratch..

done

get them chick vitamins or the Poly-vi-sol as Ivan posted...but try and get some chick vitamins..
I'll get some tomorrow.

describe the droppings..color and consistency.. I haven't noticed anything different in them. I'll look closer tomorrow.


where they are being kept, have other chickens been there? The coop they are in did have chickens in it about 4 months before I put them in it. They have been in it for about a month now. It was cleaned out before I put them in it.


are they exposed to other chickens? All the chickens are in different coops. There are 3 coops. I guess a breeze could blow something from one coop to the other?

are they always in a coop..or do they have access to a yard or pen? The coop has a large yard attached. There seems like more than enough room for all of them.

the problem is most likely nutritional..
but possible they could have cocci also..(check the droppings) Will do tomorrow when its light again.

 

[chickenannie]

Since you said temps are in the 30s and 40s but down to the 20s at night, and that they all huddled in a nestbox at night, they are probably cold. The draft from your 2 ventilation openings, with a temp in the 20s can get REALLY cold, even at their age. I would give them their heat lamp back until it's about 15 degrees warmer. they may not be getting enough nutrition to generate warmth in those conditions. this may not be the 100% problem, but being that cold can't be helping and can stress them. By the way, chickens often won't "act" like anything's wrong, so it might be hard to tell if they're getting too cold at night.

Are you feeding them free-choice? meaning is it available to them at all times?

When it's that cold, I also give my chickens extras -- warm oatmeal or warm corn meal mush in the mornings, or extra cracked corn in the day to give them warm-power at night.

I assume they have enough water? i.e., that it isn't freezing up in the cold, or is being replenished.

Also, if they peck in the dirt run, they should be getting grit, but you could try giving grit in a dish, just to make sure.

Hope these suggestions help...

 

[Newbean]

No more dead chicks today thank goodness.

I've got the electrolytes in and they are eating layer pellets.

I've looked at the poop and it looks normal.

Crossing fingers that this does the trick.

 

[gallo34]

this is some really good advice...what would you say their weights are? how is the uniformity? I would say that if you have them on scratch grains...the weights are low...you dont really feel any muscle, when you pick them up...at 15 weeks...you should be able to feel some good muscle tone...if you need help putting weight on them send me a pm...I will be glad to help

 

[chickensioux]

Excellent! I hope everybody starts to perk up for you. Best of luck and keep us posted.

 

[tdgill]

layer pellets?

 

[Newbean]

Another dead chick today.

Everything looked so good!

Another looks like it will be dead within a few hours.

On the off chance that some may not be able to eat the pellets I'm going to scramble some eggs and see if that helps.

I'm slow I know, but it didn't hit me until I saw that dead bird that maybe some of the birds can't eat the pellets.

Also, the poster who said that they probably didn't have any muscle tone is correct. Some are small and then some are normal size. I just thought that it had to do with the fact that some are mutts and some are not.

If the eggs don't perk them up ( I'll be buying some chick feed or laying crumbles in the am) then I think I'll go for the necropsy

I've lost so many birds that I just feel sick.