Silkie chicks dying off 1 by 1 ......5 dead now!!!! **Update**

[Half-a-dozen]

Quote:
No straight bleach! Fumes from the bleach could be doing it! I'd rinse everything really thoroughly with water....

Also no cedar. Is there any mold or mildew around ...under anything?

I wasn't talking about bleach for the chicks that were dying...I was answering a post from someone else about what I clean the BIG coop with (she was inquirering).... The ones dying off have never been in or near that coop.

Anyhow...No, No mold, No cedar and no mildew, They are in the garage... (the garage, its clean in there (new and kept clean).

 

[McGoo]

whew... sorry... didn't read carefully enough ... and as we all know, bird are so susceptable to fumes.

Sorry I don't have any more ideas.

All the best with them...

 

[PurpleChicken]

No more ideas here either. Please keep us posted on this.

 

[Katy]

Are you sure they're getting enough to eat? I usually grind the starter crumbles for the first week or so with silkies...or other bantys when I used to have them. Sometimes the crumbles seem a little large for them.

 

[chickenzoo]

I'm having problems with my silkie chicks too,and these are my own birds that i let the hens hatch! I never had a problem before. They seem fine for a few days or more, than they just die, showing no signs of illness. I do have a few with pasty butt that I have to clean, but other than that - nothing. They seem to get lighter, even though I've been feeding them Exact formula on top of their Southern States chick starter ,which is very small crumbles. I've switched feed a few times, containers, they are on newspapper with a heat lamp, but the storage bin is long so they have room to get away from it. I give clean water every day,tried Terrimycin etc....but still they die. My seramas are fine and my peachicks.

 

[peruvian_princess]

Sounds like it is heat related and they are dehydrating quickly. It doenst take much for a chick to get dehydrated in the first place and wiht this record heat I would imagine it has a lot to do with it.

 

[dlhunicorn]

do you see them panting? Have you tried replacing the current bag of feed you are using?
Check with where you bought them from and see if they were vaccinated for anything..

 

[Half-a-dozen]

Quote:
Hi-
No panting, no s&s of illness. they are eating and its chick starter and it is grains crushed almost like a powder. Fed from different bags, other chicks in brooder are eating from the same food and doing fine. Plenty of water etc... dip their beaks in it to make them drink extra, I see them eating and drinking etc...
They do seem just small, weak and someone else said something about them getting lighter.... same here. They just don't seem to be growing/ gaining weight.

I didn't shut off the heat (its a 75 watt bulb) Only cause I thought they needed to be at 95 or so degrees the first week. Some seem to still want the light too!

Should I just turn it off and let them fend for themselves? There are 14 chciks in their now and two are Cochins who are doing fantastic...growing, feathering out, spunky etc....

Going to work, I will check back later here. Hopefully when I come back there wont be anymore dead!!!

Thanks everyone!!!!

 

[farmgirlie1031]

I bought 5 chicks from the feed store earlier this spring. They seemed fine and then one morning I woke up and found 4 dead in one day. The 5th survived. I went back to the feed store a week later and there were dead ones in the pen. I think that it might be a problem with feed stores this year. I know 3 stores in this area were having a lot of sick/dead chicks. Or maybe it's a hatchery problem? I'm not sure. I didn't buy anymore feed store chicks (got the rest from swap meets and hatching out my own eggs) and I haven't had any more problems.

 

[Half-a-dozen]

Well so far no additional chicks died. The ones that appeared weak picked up a little last night. I wiped down the whole cage, changed the bedding **AGAIN**, cleaned everything again....

so well see... hopefully that is it!

P.S. It's fun posting while at work....

usually way to busy to do this...