What am I doing wrong?-Polish Chicks

[T-R-O-U-B-L-E]

Aside from all being roos, the bantam Cochins did great! I think our main issue was shipping temps. Our end of May box of D’Uccle and Brahma all survived and were never even slightly weak. Next year we’ll be able to hatch our own or know better than to get them earlier (even from the feed store)

They do have a tendency to be all roos. If I have an odd number I can count on having more roos then hens.

 

[DesireeB]

You didn't answer the questions on age when you got them and how old they are now. Died two to three days after getting sick? What were all of the symptoms? Choose all that apply:
lethargic,
failure to grow,
diarrhea,
lack of appetite,
trouble standing,
trouble balancing and walking,
swelling around the eyes,
sneezing,
congestion/noisy breathing,
beak gaping.

azygous, thank you again for your reply. I appreciate your time and expertise. To answer your follow up questions- I think the chick was no more than a few days old-to a week old when i purchased from a very reputable breeder. They both appeared to be thriving (eating, drinking walking well for about three or four days after i brought them home. Then they both appeared to become more and more lethargic. Sleeping with head laying down, trouble balancing and then shaky walking until eventually they just collapsed dead. Neither appeared to have any of the other symptoms you listed. I am sure the other chicks did not cause any damage. They all huddled together at times and ate and drank together. I did notice none of the chicks stayed under the heat lamp. I assumed they were just quite warm enough due to the warm weather we have had. Temps did not go below 70 at night and were between 80-94 in the daytime. I kept the box out of the direct sun inside the coop with the doors to the coop open for air flow. The breeder replaced the first chick with a second slightly larger female polish chick. i assumed the first polish chick was just a week chick until the same thing happened to the second one. Could it have been the heat? I never thought to take it inside the house. It is my first time with chicks quite so young. I am having great success with chicks from TSC I did lose one more chick from the breeder. It was the smallest one after the polish chicks.Seemed to be thriving and found it dead in the morning.It showed zero signs anything was wrong.It was growing and thriving.

 

[gimmie birdies]

If you talk to hatcheries they are not fans of big plastic tubs, I am not a fan of wood shavings, although you didn't mention using that. I do know from raising tons of chicks, they thrive the first few days after hatch because of the yolk they have absorbed. If they have not started eating, day 5 is the day a failure to thrive chick would die. I am sorry for your loss.

 

[DesireeB]

We’ve had terrible trouble this year with Polish, they can be so fragile! Once we raised them in a Polish only brooder, it went much better (til they all ended up roos ). After a few weeks, they could switch back to the main brooder with standard size chicks even. D’Uccle were just as fragile and we did best with separate brooders the first few weeks as well

I had never heard of the D'Uccle breed prior to your response. I googled them and loved how they are described as super friendly "hopping up in your lap." Of course, I think they are beautiful and desperately want one now. chicken math again! Please tell me of your experience with these chickens. I would love to see pics of yours. Thank you again for your reply!!!

 

[DesireeB]

If you talk to hatcheries they are not fans of big plastic tubs, I am not a fan of wood shavings, although you didn't mention using that. I do know from raising tons of chicks, they thrive the first few days after hatch because of the yolk they have absorbed. If they have not started eating, day 5 is the day a failure to thrive chick would die. I am sorry for your loss.

Hi and thank you. Why no plastic tubs? They are too small to go in a cage as they can fit through. What should I use? All the chicks were eating constantly and drinking prior to dying.

 

[DesireeB]

X2 on the Nutri Drench. It has saved 2 baby chickies lives for me. The first had Neuro problems and walked really funny. The second would flip on her back and not be able to get back up.

Hi and thank you. I am not familiar with nutridrench. What is it and where do i get some? I did mix up some sugar water and gave it to the first polish chick with a dropper.it seemed to help temporarily. I was not sure how to get the chick to open its mouth or how many drops to give at a a time?

 

[DesireeB]

I, too, have had a tough go of it with my Polish.

Did you get them shipped? I've heard from a lot of folks that Polish don't do well shipped. Of course, I heard that after I received mine. Sure enough, the Polish was very weak from shipping stress, even though I received them in a little over 24 hours. I had to nurse the Polish pretty much 24/7 for about 2 weeks - syringe feedings and water every 30 minutes, isolated with a heating pad, Nutridrench. I even took her to work with me and kept her on my lap. She also got an eye injury and a beak injury somehow. Not an easy start, to say the least. She's doing very well now even though she's partially blind and will be a special needs chicken for the rest of her little life.

I don't think you are doing anything wrong, but you might try separating the Polish. If you see it start to go downhill, get her warmed up and hydrated. And I swear by Nutridrench. I've seen it perk up babies with 1 drop.

Thank you for your reply. I did not have them shipped. I learned a lot from your reply. Would you please elaborate on the care you provide for weak or sick chicks including specific details please. Thank you so much.

 

[T-R-O-U-B-L-E]

Hi and thank you. I am not familiar with nutridrench. What is it and where do i get some? I did mix up some sugar water and gave it to the first polish chick with a dropper.it seemed to help temporarily. I was not sure how to get the chick to open its mouth or how many drops to give at a a time?

I get mine at TSC. I just give them a few drops at a time.

 

[azygous]

Yes, this is a mystery. Getting the chicks from a private breeder eliminates the cause of death as being shipping stress, assuming you picked them up without the breeder needing to ship them to you.

Failure to thrive is a very common cause of death, but going by the odds, it doesn't usually happen to that many chicks. That it did, it may mean the Polish breeding line from this breeder is flawed and producing weak chicks.

I really wish more people understood the reason for providing heat to baby chicks and how it needs to be adjusted downward as ambient temperatures increase. When the room or coop temp is above 80F, even new chicks may not require any additional heat as they will not lose much body heat when the days are that warm. At night when the chicks aren't consuming calories, they will need supplemental heat as the warmth from the day wanes and calorie consumption isn't generating body heat.

By heating chicks in a plastic brooding tote when the ambient temp is already high, the chicks cannot shed the excess heat building up in their bodies, and they die of heat exhaustion. The first sign of this heat stress is open beak panting, but you say this wasn't one of the symptoms, but you may have missed this early warning sign. But the other symptoms you identified are definitely signs of heat stress.

For starters, plastic totes make very poor brooders as they do not allow excess heat to dissipate. A heat lamp for brooding over a plastic tote is very, very difficult to regulate the right amount of heat chicks need.

A heat plate or heating pad system does provide a better and safer heat source because the chicks are able to self select when and how much heat they need, by moving under it and then out of it as they lose body heat or reach a proper body temperature. You might look into replacing the heat lamp when you brood your next baby chicks. Switching now may not work since the chicks have gotten used to the heat lamp and might not use the direct contact heat source.

Also, next time think about a brooder pen in your coop instead of a plastic tote. Many of us brood this way and the chicks have so much more space to grow and move about. Confining brooders have an effect on chick development that many new chicken people are not aware of. Read through my article on brooding in your run to understand how space can give chicks a much more complete opportunity to fully develop. https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...and-start-raising-your-chicks-outdoors.71995/

 

[DesireeB]

I get mine at TSC. I just give them a few drops at a time.

Every hour/every 30 minutes? How do you get them to open their mouths?