I got my first batch of babies from my feed store. 6 bantams from the assorted bantam bin. One of the silkies died within 2 days with no pasty butt. It was just lethargic and overall droopy. None of the other chicks had any symptoms of being sick. When they were about 3 weeks old I switched them from pine shavings to compressed pellets. At about 4 weeks my black silkie started sneezing. It has no moisture coming out of its nose but kind of sounds raspy. They were in my heated tack room but they are fully featherd now so I put them outside. Right before I put them out a couple of the other chicks started sneezing too. My tack room is not well ventilated. I try and keep the doors open in the day so the air can move. I just switched my 2 week olds over to the compressed pellets. I have noticed some of them have started to sneeze a little. They were all in the same area together but not in the same brooder. I noticed that there is a fine dust over all my tack.
My question is from experience do you guys think they are just dusty or do I have a sickness problem? This is my first batch of chickens and I have noticed that some of their poop is kind of dark and runny while others are more firm. What exactly is "normal" chick poop and are their various degrees of normal. They are all on medicated starter and I have some antibiotics that the feed store gave me. Should I give them it? I don't really want to give antibiotics unless I have a problem. What do you guys think?
My question is from experience do you guys think they are just dusty or do I have a sickness problem? This is my first batch of chickens and I have noticed that some of their poop is kind of dark and runny while others are more firm. What exactly is "normal" chick poop and are their various degrees of normal. They are all on medicated starter and I have some antibiotics that the feed store gave me. Should I give them it? I don't really want to give antibiotics unless I have a problem. What do you guys think?
