SO MANY CHICKS DYING!!

[alligatorr]

We just got a bunch of new chicks (1 week old) a few days ago and today, at least 11 of them are dead in the brooder. What could be happening?

We have an older chick (3-4 weeks old) from a different flock that we placed with the younger ones just yesterday. Could it have brought something to the younger chicks?? If it did, does an infection/disease act this fast?

 

[chickenenthusiasts5698]

Possibly coccidia? Do you have anymore details you can share?

 

[BelovedBirds]

We just got a bunch of new chicks (1 week old) a few days ago and today, at least 11 of them are dead in the brooder. What could be happening?

We have an older chick (3-4 weeks old) from a different flock that we placed with the younger ones just yesterday. Could it have brought something to the younger chicks?? If it did, does an infection/disease act this fast?

I'm sorry this is happening. Let's narrow down the cause.

Are their nostrils and eyes clear?
How do poops look, foamy, watery, bloody, what colour?
Are they lethargic, chirping, active?
What bedding are they on, wood shavings?
What heat source do they have- brooder plate, heat lamp, what is the temp and can they escape the heat to a cool side of the brooder?
Were they shipped to you, or bought at a feedstore?
Where is the brooder located, is it inside, near a kitchen?
What feed are they on? Do they have 24/7 access to food and water?
Are you giving them any treats, and if so, what, and do they have access to chick grit?

 

[alligatorr]

Possibly coccidia? Do you have anymore details you can share?

I haven't observed any other issues with them. The ones about to die just breathe heavily but I haven't seen any diarrhea or blood in the brooder.

The older chick did have watery poop yesterday but it had just traveled for about 1-2 hours so I assumed it was stress. Even if the older one had coccidiosis though, it would've taken a few days to incubate in the younger ones right?

 

[BelovedBirds]

I haven't observed any other issues with them. The ones about to die just breathe heavily but I haven't seen any diarrhea or blood in the brooder.

The older chick did have watery poop yesterday but it had just traveled for about 1-2 hours so I assumed it was stress. Even if the older one had coccidiosis though, it would've taken a few days to incubate in the younger ones right?

What is the temp in the brooder? Can they escape the heat? What bedding are they on?

 

[alligatorr]

I'm sorry this is happening. Let's narrow down the cause.

Are their nostrils and eyes clear?
How do poops look, foamy, watery, bloody, what colour?
Are they lethargic, chirping, active?
What bedding are they on, wood shavings?
What heat source do they have- brooder plate, heat lamp, what is the temp and can they escape the heat to a cool side of the brooder?
Were they shipped to you, or bought at a feedstore?
Where is the brooder located, is it inside, near a kitchen?
What feed are they on? Do they have 24/7 access to food and water?
Are you giving them any treats, and if so, what, and do they have access to chick grit?

Wasn't able to check the nostrils and eyes of the ones that died but the ones currently breathing hard have clear ones. They don't seem to have paralyzed legs, necks, or wings either but I can't really tell since they're lying down most of the time.

The poops are fairly solid and a light brown color (similar to the mash they eat). Haven't spotted any blood.

The ones that are about to die are lethargic. Breathing heavily and lying down. The rest are still pretty active, running around and chirping.

They don't have any bedding. There's just a layer of thin paper on the floor of the brooder.

I don't know about the temp since I'm not the one who set up their brooder and I'm not the one raising them. Their heat sources are two light bulbs (the brooder is around 9ft x 3ft x 3ft) one side has a screen and there's a fan in front of it. I live in a tropical country so the hottest is gets here is probably around 32°C The brooder does have a sheet over the screen that's let down at night and lifted up during the day. Today the sheet was lifted up at 11am. That's when I noticed that so many had died. I removed them from the brooder and by 4pm, there were more dead chicks.

I believe the person who hatched them personally delivered them to us.

The brooder is outside not near any kitchen. It's under a roofed area.

They eat mash feed and they do have 24/7 access to food and water. I think the caretaker dissolved powdered supplements into the water.

No, they don't get any treats. Just the feed, water, and vitamins. After all the deaths, they started giving a blue avian vaccine to the rest.

 

[BelovedBirds]

Wasn't able to check the nostrils and eyes of the ones that died but the ones currently breathing hard have clear ones. They don't seem to have paralyzed legs, necks, or wings either but I can't really tell since they're lying down most of the time.

The poops are fairly solid and a light brown color (similar to the mash they eat). Haven't spotted any blood.

The ones that are about to die are lethargic. Breathing heavily and lying down. The rest are still pretty active, running around and chirping.

They don't have any bedding. There's just a layer of thin paper on the floor of the brooder.

I don't know about the temp since I'm not the one who set up their brooder and I'm not the one raising them. Their heat sources are two light bulbs (the brooder is around 9ft x 3ft x 3ft) one side has a screen and there's a fan in front of it. I live in a tropical country so the hottest is gets here is probably around 32°C The brooder does have a sheet over the screen that's let down at night and lifted up during the day. Today the sheet was lifted up at 11am. That's when I noticed that so many had died. I removed them from the brooder and by 4pm, there were more dead chicks.

I believe the person who hatched them personally delivered them to us.

The brooder is outside not near any kitchen. It's under a roofed area.

They eat mash feed and they do have 24/7 access to food and water. I think the caretaker dissolved powdered supplements into the water.

No, they don't get any treats. Just the feed, water, and vitamins. After all the deaths, they started giving a blue avian vaccine to the rest.

I'm just wondering if this could be respiratory or temperature related
- 32 C is quite warm, with the heat lamps assuming the light bulbs mentioned are heat lamps) on as well, I'm wondering what the temp is in that brooder- I would find out what the temperature is in there asap and ensure the chicks are able to move away from the heat. If they have no discharge or anything abnormal around their eyes and nares then I wouldn't have thought this was respirstory, but I'm no expert.

What is this blue avian vaccine you mention? Is this something put in their feed or water?

 

[alligatorr]

I'm just wondering if this could be respiratory or temperature related
- 32 C is quite warm, with the heat lamps assuming the light bulbs mentioned are heat lamps) on as well, I'm wondering what the temp is in that brooder- I would find out what the temperature is in there asap and ensure the chicks are able to move away from the heat. If they have no discharge or anything abnormal around their eyes and nares then I wouldn't have thought this was respirstory, but I'm no expert.

What is this blue avian vaccine you mention? Is this something put in their feed or water?

My first thought was also that it could be temp related but we had a previous flock that used the same bulbs (I think just normal LED bulbs) and they were fine. It also has been raining so the temperatures have been pretty cool. I'll try to see though if we have something to measure the temperature.

No idea. It had no scientific name nor a list of what the vaccine is for. It just said "avian vaccine" which I thought was pretty shady. The brand is HIPRA which seems to be a legit pharmaceutical company so idk. I am worried that they aspirated though since the vax was given orally but some of the chicks' nostrils were blue. They were still active though.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Please post photos of your brooder setup, the chicks and their poop.
How many chicks do you have in the brooder?

We just got a bunch of new chicks (1 week old) a few days ago and today, at least 11 of them are dead in the brooder. What could be happening?

We have an older chick (3-4 weeks old) from a different flock that we placed with the younger ones just yesterday. Could it have brought something to the younger chicks?? If it did, does an infection/disease act this fast?

Their heat sources are two light bulbs (the brooder is around 9ft x 3ft x 3ft) one side has a screen and there's a fan in front of it. I live in a tropical country so the hottest is gets here is probably around 32°C The brooder does have a sheet over the screen that's let down at night and lifted up during the day. Today the sheet was lifted up at 11am. That's when I noticed that so many had died. I removed them from the brooder and by 4pm, there were more dead chicks.

 

[alligatorr]

Please post photos of your brooder setup, the chicks and their poop.
How many chicks do you have in the brooder?

Here are photos of the brooder and the poop. I wasn't able to count how many there were but initially, there were 200 and then a lot of them started dying.


There are also 7 silkies in the same brooder but separated by a wooden wall. I was told they were vaccinated while these ones weren't. Could the silkies have brought a disease?

I found one chick awhile ago with a limp leg. It can move its thigh but not below that. I thought maybe it was a broken leg and unrelated to the death of the other chicks but then remembered that one of the symptoms of Marek's is paralysis of the legs. Didn't see symptoms in the other chicks the past few days though.