Sterilization after sick chicks

[Ash123]

I have a brooder that I have used to raise up chicks for a long time. Recently, I hatched out some chicks who later became sick and died. The sickness was obviously contagious since they all got it. My question is how do I sterilize the brooder (it's a shipping crate) so that I can be completely sure the germs are gone. I'm buying new chicks next month and don't want a repeat of this traumatic event. I have never lost chicks before and so having a 100% hatch rate only to have a 100% death rate was a bit hard. Thanks in advance!

 

[Eggcessive]

At what age did your chicks die? Were they shipped or did you hatch them? Chicks can die of shipping stress, E.coli infection from birth, and the most common infection coccidiosis which usually happens between 3 and 6 weeks, although they can still get it up until they are fully immune by 11-20 weeks. Ten percent bleach water and Oxine can disinfect for most things, and ammonia can be good for coccidiosis, but coccidiosis is hard to completely get rid of. So I would recommend treating the new chicks with a preventative dosage of amprollium or Corid for 5 days every 3 weeks until they are 11 weeks old.

 

[Ash123]

Good information! Thank you!!! They were born December 26th and the first chick died a week later. The last chick died yesterday. I had 6 total. This last chick that died lasted about 3 weeks longer than the rest. I hatched them out from my own personal chickens.