Update on sick chicks: what else can I do ?

[Farmgirl283420]

Yeah I’ve lost 4 today … 1 yesterday and 1 Monday night . Whatever is wrong with them now is taking them out faster than I can think.

That sounds really hard hope you can figure out what’s wrong with them!

 

[BrahmasMama02]

That sounds really hard hope you can figure out what’s wrong with them!

 

[SandyRiverChick]

I feel like you need a real expert..... @NatJ ....... Keep providing as info. as you can, appreciate it!

 

[BrahmasMama02]

Updated brooder photo

 

[NatJ]

I feel like you need a real expert..... @NatJ ....... Keep providing as info. as you can, appreciate it!

I'm not really a good expert on solving problems like this, but at the moment I can't think of who is.

You already covered the most obvious points.

A specific detail I would change:

We also started a preventative corid dosage in their water. I know corid is uncommon in their age group but something is wrong with these chicks.

I would use the full treatment dose of corid, whatever is the highest level mentioned on the bottle. If coccidiosis is what they have, they need something stronger than the "preventative" dose. And if they do not have coccidiosis, the higher corid dose should not do any harm.

Regarding heat, my views are a little different than what many other people say.

NO the brooder is not too hot. It’s 83-84 in hottest spot and and 60 in back corner. My house is 66 degrees/ they are inside.

I switched to lamp after they started getting ill. Their brooder plate was cutting off and on and they seemed really freaked out by it .

I’ll make sure the bulb doesn’t have teflon that looks awful . I’ll go ahead and move the light away slightly.

Personally, I would put the heat lamp lower, so it is closer to the chicks, but with the heat lamp still at one end like you have it. This would make one area warmer-- maybe 95 degrees Fahrenheit. But this also makes the warm area smaller, because of the way the heat & light travel from the bulb. So the warm area would be warmer but smaller, leaving the rest of the box to be a bigger cool area.

Too much heat can make chicks ill or even kill them.
But not enough heat can also make them ill or kill them, and sometimes chicks need more warmth when they are ill.

Making a small area warmer, while leaving a bigger cool area, gives the chicks more options to adjust their own temperature. Healthy chicks are good at moving to a comfortable spot, and even chicks that are sick will usually move to a comfortable temperature if one is available (unless they are too sick to move at all.)

The stories of chicks that have health problems from high temperatures are almost always with chicks that have nowhere cool to go. I have never seen harm from chicks having access to a higher temperature IF they had free access to a cool area as well. (A broody hen has a body temperature over 100 degrees F, and she does not lower her body temperature when the chicks reach certain ages. They just spend less time snuggled underneath her.)

 

[BrahmasMama02]

I'm not really a good expert on solving problems like this, but at the moment I can't think of who is.

You already covered the most obvious points.

A specific detail I would change:

I would use the full treatment dose of corid, whatever is the highest level mentioned on the bottle. If coccidiosis is what they have, they need something stronger than the "preventative" dose. And if they do not have coccidiosis, the higher corid dose should not do any harm.

Regarding heat, my views are a little different than what many other people say.




Personally, I would put the heat lamp lower, so it is closer to the chicks, but with the heat lamp still at one end like you have it. This would make one area warmer-- maybe 95 degrees Fahrenheit. But this also makes the warm area smaller, because of the way the heat & light travel from the bulb. So the warm area would be warmer but smaller, leaving the rest of the box to be a bigger cool area.

Too much heat can make chicks ill or even kill them.
But not enough heat can also make them ill or kill them, and sometimes chicks need more warmth when they are ill.

Making a small area warmer, while leaving a bigger cool area, gives the chicks more options to adjust their own temperature. Healthy chicks are good at moving to a comfortable spot, and even chicks that are sick will usually move to a comfortable temperature if one is available (unless they are too sick to move at all.)

The stories of chicks that have health problems from high temperatures are almost always with chicks that have nowhere cool to go. I have never seen harm from chicks having access to a higher temperature IF they had free access to a cool area as well. (A broody hen has a body temperature over 100 degrees F, and she does not lower her body temperature when the chicks reach certain ages. They just spend less time snuggled underneath her.

Went ahead and corrected a few things as I was reading. I redid their water with the extra corid solution. I lowered the lamp but angled it differently so that one corner was the extra warm spot. The other side of the brooder is the cooler side (at least 25 degrees cooler at the far end). While I was in there I discovered that one of the chicks from earlier is not doing too hot. Still refusing syringe ;(. While they are on Corid what solutions are acceptable to give the weaker chicks to perk them up? I have current access to HydroHen 3 in 1 and will have access to probiotic packets and Nutridrench tonight.

 

[SandyRiverChick]

Went ahead and corrected a few things as I was reading. I redid their water with the extra corid solution. I lowered the lamp but angled it differently so that one corner was the extra warm spot. The other side of the brooder is the cooler side (at least 25 degrees cooler at the far end). While I was in there I discovered that one of the chicks from earlier is not doing too hot. Still refusing syringe ;(. While they are on Corid what solutions are acceptable to give the weaker chicks to perk them up? I have current access to HydroHen 3 in 1 and will have access to probiotic packets and Nutridrench tonight.

Very good question about the Corid! I forgot to mention that you do not want to give them anything with thiamin (vitamin B1) in it. So I would stop the other supplements in favor of full dose Corid. And if you discover bloody poo, puffed up chicks, symptoms that make you confident you're dealing with Cocci, do a forum search for Corid drench. You use a syringe and give each chick a big dose of corid. I'll see if I can find it, saved my 5 from a few years ago.

 

[SandyRiverChick]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/corid-oral-drench-instructions.1211991/

 

[SandyRiverChick]

I'm not really a good expert on solving problems like this, but at the moment I can't think of who is.

Oh I beg to differ, you're a great educator, certainly are more experienced than little ole me! Was it Coach123 that's good at this stuff? I got amazing information via Coach123 when I had some little's with Coccidiosis....

 

[SandyRiverChick]

Oh I beg to differ, you're a great educator, certainly are more experienced than little ole me! Was it Coach123 that's good at this stuff? I got amazing information via Coach123 when I had some little's with Coccidiosis....

I mean Coach723 https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...suspect-coccidiosis-5-week-old-chick.1515375/