Splayed legs

[Nekatlla]

Hello
I was recently shipped by accident a 52 chick batch of cornish x broilers this was from a local hatchery that I had contacted earlier in July that wasn't going to have availability until September 1st. My question is with this being my second batch of cornish x they seem to have way more issues after 3 weeks than the first batch did. For example they seem to be alot with the splayed legs. I've lost 4 birds so far with 2 being yesterday and 1 today(so far), there are probably 3 more with splayed legs that cant get around well anymore and I expect those to die eventually also. The last batch that came from one of the large hatcheries had a couple die in the first days and a couple when moved to pasture. Not a single case of splayed legs. Is this a breeding problem? Or was I just very lucky with the first batch?

1st batch 59 chicks on arrival on 8/7
1 lost when moved to pasture first night 8/28
2 lost 3 days later 9/1
1 lost to my friends little girl (love him and call him George) 9/14

2nd batch 52 chicks 8/31
lost 1 9/11 not walking well
lost 1 9/17 didn't look well not moving around
lost 2 9/18 not moving well/ not sure on the other it was the only one so far to die during the day.
lost 1 9/19 wasn't moving well night before.

They are supposed to move to pasture tomorrow but i may keep them in the brooder a bit longer. Let them get a bit stronger. To me it seems the second batch is a bit weaker, could be the hatchery breeding, we had gotten our first batch of freedom rangers/ red rangers from them and half the birds took 18 weeks to get to 4 lb carcass. I'm thinking they just aren't at the level of the name brand hatcheries.

Any thoughts would be appreciated, also has anybody else seen this from local hatcheries? Also can anyone see anything I could be doing that can cause the chicks to get splayed legs? I've used the same bedding for both batches and can't see any reason for it.

Thanks

 

[rjohns39]

Hello
I was recently shipped by accident a 52 chick batch of cornish x broilers this was from a local hatchery that I had contacted earlier in July that wasn't going to have availability until September 1st. My question is with this being my second batch of cornish x they seem to have way more issues after 3 weeks than the first batch did. For example they seem to be alot with the splayed legs. I've lost 4 birds so far with 2 being yesterday and 1 today(so far), there are probably 3 more with splayed legs that cant get around well anymore and I expect those to die eventually also. The last batch that came from one of the large hatcheries had a couple die in the first days and a couple when moved to pasture. Not a single case of splayed legs. Is this a breeding problem? Or was I just very lucky with the first batch?

1st batch 59 chicks on arrival on 8/7
1 lost when moved to pasture first night 8/28
2 lost 3 days later 9/1
1 lost to my friends little girl (love him and call him George) 9/14

2nd batch 52 chicks 8/31
lost 1 9/11 not walking well
lost 1 9/17 didn't look well not moving around
lost 2 9/18 not moving well/ not sure on the other it was the only one so far to die during the day.
lost 1 9/19 wasn't moving well night before.

They are supposed to move to pasture tomorrow but i may keep them in the brooder a bit longer. Let them get a bit stronger. To me it seems the second batch is a bit weaker, could be the hatchery breeding, we had gotten our first batch of freedom rangers/ red rangers from them and half the birds took 18 weeks to get to 4 lb carcass. I'm thinking they just aren't at the level of the name brand hatcheries.

Any thoughts would be appreciated, also has anybody else seen this from local hatcheries? Also can anyone see anything I could be doing that can cause the chicks to get splayed legs? I've used the same bedding for both batches and can't see any reason for it.

Thanks

What and how much are you feeding them? Different strains of CX perform differently.

 

[Nekatlla]

What and how much are you feeding them? Different strains of CX perform differently.

3 cups of 21% local broiler mash, same as the last batch. I do see some people feed 17%, the freedom rangers and last batch of CC's did fine.

 

[rjohns39]

3 cups of 21% local broiler mash, same as the last batch. I do see some people feed 17%, the freedom rangers and last batch of CC's did fine.

Is there a way to find out what strain of CX you've got? I would definitely get them on pasture sooner than later. What you're describing sounds a lot like Viral tenosynovitis I think it would probably also be good to lower your protein to give their bones more time to develop. Add a pound or two of cracked corn to a five gallon bucket.

When I grow mine, I stick to the slower growing Ross or Cobb strains and use 18% protein throughout their life. So far, my best results were giving them only what they can eat in 45 minutes, morning and evening. I adjust each week. Mine stay in the brooder, then 35 days (5 weeks) on grass and average between 5 & 6 pound carcass weight. In my case, more feed gave bigger carcass--but higher mortality rate.

 

[Nekatlla]

Is there a way to find out what strain of CX you've got? I would definitely get them on pasture sooner than later. What you're describing sounds a lot like Viral tenosynovitis I think it would probably also be good to lower your protein to give their bones more time to develop. Add a pound or two of cracked corn to a five gallon bucket.

When I grow mine, I stick to the slower growing Ross or Cobb strains and use 18% protein throughout their life. So far, my best results were giving them only what they can eat in 45 minutes, morning and evening. I adjust each week. Mine stay in the brooder, then 35 days (5 weeks) on grass and average between 5 & 6 pound carcass weight. In my case, more feed gave bigger carcass--but higher mortality rate.

Thank you I plan on getting them on pasture tomorrow, will try the lower protein and see what happens thanks for the link I'm gonna read up on that.

 

[Nekatlla]

So I moved them outside changed their feed as suggested and they seemed to be doing better by the end or the day, got them all comfy for the night and went out this morning with high expectations....
When I got to the coop I found seven dead. Not sure what to do so I'll stay with the feed change and hope. Out of the ones left there are maybe 4 I don't expect to be allive tomorrow, and then like six more presenting minor leg/coordination issues.hopefully they get straightened out soon.

 

[rjohns39]

If memory serves, the incubation period is 7-12 days. Having them on pasture and moving them frequently should prevent any new ones from getting sick and some who are sick may recover. A friend went through this issue a couple of months ago--but on a much larger scale. He lost a lot of birds but said that many of the birds he thought he would lose made it to processing. Here's holding out hope for you

 

[Nekatlla]

If memory serves, the incubation period is 7-12 days. Having them on pasture and moving them frequently should prevent any new ones from getting sick and some who are sick may recover. A friend went through this issue a couple of months ago--but on a much larger scale. He lost a lot of birds but said that many of the birds he thought he would lose made it to processing. Here's holding out hope for you

Hope so, the ones that look normal are just like nothing has ever been wrong, running chasing and catching bugs, it does seem like the bad ones make a come back around noon each day and some you wouldn't even know had issues. So here's to hoping.
Thanks for all the helpful info.

 

[Nekatlla]

Thinking coccidiosis now and starting treatment with corid today, continue to lose 1-3 a day and did notice some red in stool. The first batch was vaccinated the mistake batch was not. Wondering if the vaccine actually carried over to infect the new batch.
Hope the treatment works, gonna do all the birds and egg layers too now since when I put the chicks out first 1/2 day it was in the layers area. Although they are showing no symptoms.
Here's to hoping lost more than 1/2 the batch so far.
Feeling kind of bad if that's what it is and I didn't catch it right away. But this is my first issue ever with clicks since I started hatching and raising a year ago.