Why are my chicks dieing???

[BLaBauve]

I got the mulch from a tree company - they told me that it's all oak. My hens have been on it for over a month and seem ok. It's just the chicks that get sick. When the chicks were first hatched I gave a few away to a friend and he reports his chicks are doing fine.

 

[ranchhand]

I'm not much help then.

I asked about the mulch because chicks are much more susceptible to the aromatics of cedar then grown birds.
I sure hope you can work it out, best of luck.

 

[BLaBauve]

Could they maybe have some sort of virus? Maybe one of my hens is a carrier? Is it even worth it to take them out at this point?

 

[BLaBauve]

I came home today and 1 of the chicks had died. I took 2 of them and put them in a brooder. I left what seemed to be the healthiest chick with the mom in the run. I'm hoping some of them will survive this mystery illness.

 

[columbiacritter]

Quote:
If there is any black walnut in there just walking on old chips can kill a chick.

 

[BLaBauve]

Is there any way to tell if it's black walnut? Will my adult hens be OK on it?

 

[rancher hicks]

Quote:
It very well could be the wood chips. I advise changing them out for pine shavings. Also medicated feed won't hurt your broody hen and since she isn't laying it won't matter about her eggs. Once she is don't brooding she won't just start laying again and she will be brooding for a few weeks. You can take her off the medicated feed when you notice she isn't brooding anymore. She'll seem less concerned about the chicks.

If your friends chicks are fine then it's something where you are. Sometimes chicks can be tricky.

Hope things work out

Rancher

 

[BLaBauve]

Well it's not really an easy job to get the wood chips out now - we have an entire dump truck load in the run. My hens have been fine on it for weeks - maybe I'll just use it for the hens - and not let any chicks on it.

 

[bufforphfan]

What do you mean by "a tree company"? Are they a certified tree nursery or just a company that trims trees and pulverizes the limbs, etc? If it is the latter, I would suspect your mulch or bedding contains something that is toxic to young chick's respiratory sytems. "Pine" shavings are recommended for chick bedding. Saw dust "is not" recommended. Washed Sand also makes a good bedding in your chicken run, especially if it is exposed. You might try converting a small section of your run to sand, observe it for a period of time and see which type of bedding that you ( and the chicks) like best.

 

[BLaBauve]

It is a tree company that chips trees after removal. I've always used pine shavings in my brooder - but these chicks are from a broody hen. I used to have an all sand run but that got too expensive to keep, so I now use wood chips. Plus the hens love to scratch around in the woodchips. I thought as long as I didn't use cedar wood chips i'd be ok.