Sick chicks right out of the egg, help!

[Timbers Happy Hens]

I'd continue with the chick boost or whatever chick vitamins you have that contain E, B1 (Thiamine) and B2(Riboflavin).

Hopefully they will come around.

Just had to ask about the setup to make sure nothing had "changed". While it's not really common, a few people have accidentally used a heating bulb with Teflon coating which can cause symptoms of toxicity, gasping and death (don't use heated Teflon near birds). These are just questions asked to "rule out" things that can be addressed/fixed quickly.

Of course I completely understand. I use a bulb i got from tractor supply specifically marketed for brooder’s. It is a red bulb as I have found it does limit bullying and pecking.
Currently giving the flock leaders recover plus. Included a photo of the nutritional analysis. It’s what I had on hand to give birds a boost.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Any chance you have something giving off fumes? We learned the hard way (over a decade ago) that just because we couldn't smell gas fumes didn't mean the chicks would be fine

 

[Timbers Happy Hens]

Any chance you have something giving off fumes? We learned the hard way (over a decade ago) that just because we couldn't smell gas fumes didn't mean the chicks would be fine

I don’t think so, the second chick was having issues before I even took it out of the incubator. Thinking that the yolk itself was deficient In something in both eggs so is affecting them similarly. They were laid by the same hen only a day apart. This chick has survived a full 24 hours longer than the one that passed. But I didn’t give the first one any vitamins as I had assumed it just wasn’t ready to come out of the brooder. This one is receiving as much as I can and appears to be improving slowly.

 

[Timbers Happy Hens]

Update: the chick seems to be doing really well with the vitamins, only caught it on its back twice this morning and has been great thro the rest of the day. I Will continue with the vitamins for a few more days and if it does well tomorrow( no falling on it’s back) I will return it to the brooder and supervise for a few hours. Will update if it survives! Thank you for all your guys help. Looking like a vitamin deficiency so I will be giving the hens some vitamin boosters!!

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Of course I completely understand. I use a bulb i got from tractor supply specifically marketed for brooder’s. It is a red bulb as I have found it does limit bullying and pecking.
Currently giving the flock leaders recover plus. Included a photo of the nutritional analysis. It’s what I had on hand to give birds a boost.

I see you've updated! I was typing while you were posting.

Glad the chick is hanging in there!

Looks good.

Is the chick still improving?

If both chicks from the same hen are having problems and none of the others are, then yes, it's possible deficiency may be what's wrong. Parent stock nutrition can affect development, growth, hatchability, etc.

If you decide to hatch from the same hen again, then I'd introduce extra protein in her diet along with vitamins for at least a week before I gathered her eggs for incubation. If you still run into problems, then she may have something going on where she's not absorbing nutrients very well or genetics come into play. BUT, there's always other things that can go wrong too, but those 2 things stick out - nutrition and genetic.

 

[Timbers Happy Hens]

I see you've updated! I was typing while you were posting.

Glad the chick is hanging in there!

Looks good.

Is the chick still improving?

If both chicks from the same hen are having problems and none of the others are, then yes, it's possible deficiency may be what's wrong. Parent stock nutrition can affect development, growth, hatchability, etc.

If you decide to hatch from the same hen again, then I'd introduce extra protein in her diet along with vitamins for at least a week before I gathered her eggs for incubation. If you still run into problems, then she may have something going on where she's not absorbing nutrients very well or genetics come into play. BUT, there's always other things that can go wrong too, but those 2 things stick out - nutrition and genetic.

I’m 90% sure it’s nutritional at this point. The definitely came from the same hen, they were identical chicks. I’ve hatched from her before and haven’t had this issue but she was free ranging then. She’s been moved into a more confined pen since we recently had a hawk move into the area and there’s a foot of snow outside. So I will be adding something like poultry cell to her water regularly. She receives a 16% layer crumble as her primary diet but she might just need a boost.
I had thought there was like a 20% chance the chick would make it as of yesterday. It’s doing drastically better today I’m feeling maybe 30% better about it lol. Only caught it on its back twice today instead of 13 times yesterday. So fingers crossed, it is a beautiful red calico Cochin chick. I really appreciate your reply’s and thank you for the advice!! This forum has been a life saver