What the heck happened??

[corvidae]

One of our healthy looking sweet little Blue Andalusian chicks dropped dead this afternoon for no apparent reason. We checked on the chicks (there are 15 total, various breeds), left the room, went back in a short while later, and there she was, dead on the floor of the brooder with the other chicks stepping around her, apparently unfazed by the little dead chick. No previous problem, none of the others looking "off" at all. She just hatched four days ago and has been perky and active the whole time. My boys were very upset and had to have a chick funeral, but I'm just baffled. Now I'm worried about all the others. They are all in an inside brooder, never been outside, none of them pecking at the others or anything. No contact with outside chickens. So sad.

 

[galanie]

I have read the symptoms of lots of diseases and one of the symptoms that makes me laugh is "sudden, unexplainable death."

I certainly don't laugh when one really has this "symptom" though! That is always scary but sometimes, things happen. Just watch the rest of them closely. That's all anyone can do at this point.

 

[BrattishTaz]

I'm sorry you lost your chick. Did you happen to notice any poop around her vent? Pasty butt is common in chicks that age. You could have missed it with 15 chicks running around.

 

[CapricornFarm]

Sorry for your loss . Check your chicks for pasty butt, most likely reason at that age. Vents will have poop caked on which needs to be cleaned off. Good luck with the rest of your flock.

 

[corvidae]

I did check for pasty butt--nothing there. My oldest son obsessively checks all the chicks for it twice daily since he had his favorite giant buff cochin chick die from it some time back. I also checked her crop, thinking maybe she had impacted or something, but it seemed soft and empty. My son did feed the chicks some mealworms before I stopped him (thought they were a little young for it, myself), but that was two days ago. I hope that wasn't what caused it. Can mealworms be diseased? I hope they weren't the problem, since he fed them to bunch of the chicks before I found out and stopped him...

 

[BrattishTaz]

The meal worms could have caused the crop to become impacted if the chick did not have grit. It could have been trampled by another chick. There is no way to know for sure at this point. You should just watch your other chicks for any symptoms of illness.