Why are my chicks dying??

[dskullz]

I have my bantam chicks inside. I have bigger breed chicks that are outside during the day, they come in and sleep in the brooder under their own separate heating pad but then they go back outside in the morning. So they have been exposed to the each other but they aren't really eating or drinking out of the same receptacles.

I have had 3 chicks 2 from the bantams and 1 from the biggers die since Thursday. They seem totally fine. Then suddenly won't eat or drink and just want to sleep and then they die within 5 hours maybe despite my best efforts at keeping them hydrated.

I've got the mama brooder heaters that they sleep under at night. I usually use a heat lamp for the first week just during the day so that is still up. Temp is 90 under the heat lap 75-80 at other places in the brooder. They are on medicated chick feed. I've got electrolytes and vitamins in the water. Poop looks normal to me, there is no blood. The last one that died the poop was a little wet and orange but I don't know I've seen poop like that before and they didn't die. She was making kind of a clicking sound when she breathed. I don't know about the first one that I lost and then 2nd one was definitely not doing that but did seem to be struggling to breath (but she was struggling to do anything really).

All three chicks came from different places (1st a reject from a breeder and she was tiny compared to the other I got her same age so I thought failure to thrive when she died, 2nd one I hatched, this last one came from the feed store) so possibly could all be unrelated but seems unlikely that it isn't- I've not lost so many chicks before! Does this sound like something I just need to keep immunity up as best I can or does is seem like coccidiosis and I should stop the medicated chick feed and vitamins and start on corrid?

Thank you for any help or insight!

 

[Ridgerunner]

I don't know how old those were when they died, that could be a big clue. It is possible, that could be Coccidiosis so I'd start them all on Corid immediately. It might or might not help but it won't hurt them. There are several different strains of the bug that causes Coccidiosis, most do not cause blood in the poop.

If you are in the United States I suggest you call your county extension office and see what it takes to get a dead bird checked, a necropsy. Cost, how to store it, where to take it. In some states that is free, some charge a fee. An expert cuts the bird apart to try to determine the cause of death. If another one dies you may want to take it in and try to find out what is actually going on.

It is possible it is some type of disease other than Coccidiosis. It's possible it is some type of poisoning. It seems it is unlikely it is poisoning since they are separated like that but is your feed moldy. What else are they eating in common? In one case a few years back kids were giving the chicks a contaminated treat. It does not sound like a vapor related poisoning but you are looking at them, I'm not. I'll throw it out there so you can dismiss it.

It is possible it is just coincidence but three is a lot. I wish you luck, these things can be hard to resolve.

 

[HuffleClaw]

So sorry!

 

[Chick-N-Fun]

Bear hugs to you! I'm so sorry about your sweet chicks!

 

[dskullz]

Thanks. Do you know if I use the same dosage of corrid for chicks as I would the chickens?
I think the feed is okay but maybe I will go buy a new back just in case.

First one I don't know. I would guess it was over a week I had her for a few days before the others hatched. 2nd was 3 days and the 3rd one was a week.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I'd do the Corid anyway with the recommended dosage but unless you have older chickens pooping in that ground and it is really wet that is too young for Coccidiosis. Considering the Cocciciosis bug's life cycle there has not been enough time for it to build up to dangerous levels.

 

[rebrascora]

I would scrap the heat lamp if they have a MHP. The ambient temp of the majority of the brooder should be lower than 90. I know people worry about chicks chilling but a broody hen never worries about it and chicks can even survive being out in freezing temps with a broody hen. Your MHP represents a broody hen, so the additional lamp may be overheating the brooder or heating the water and causing bacteria or protozoa to thrive in it or possibly causing fungal spores if the water is getting spilled much which would cause respiratory issues like the clicking you heard and rapid death. Also mixing chicks from various sources is a huge bio hazard, even if they are not eating and drinking from the same dishes.

I would start Corid. The chicks will only drink a proportional amount of the medicated water compared to what an adult hen would drink so don't worry about them overdosing and in fact if you have obviously sick chicks that have gone off their food, direct dosing them with a couple of drops of the concentrated Corid solution (if you have the liquid.... or making an equivalent solution by dissolving 1.5 teaspns of Corid powder in 2 teaspns of water) into their beak, twice a day until they start picking up, would be a wise move.

Good luck with the remaining chicks.

 

[dskullz]

I don't think it's the heat lamp that is the problem but I would take them off it in a couple days under normal circumstances anyway. Temp right under the light reads at 90 and the water and food are on the opposite side of the brooder and the thermometer there reads at 73. The water is up on bricks so there is minimal spillage. Without it on they huddle under the mhb and don't come out at all- it's a pretty cold room they are in there's no heater or anything, if there were I would probably not do the lamp at all. And I would think that the chicks outside wouldn't have gotten sick if that was the case too. They don't drink from that water and they don't have a heat lamp.

I think you are right that mixing chicks was the problem. I'm thinking it came from the breeder reject chicks. I observed them all a couple of days before the others hatched and before we got the feed store chicks and they seemed fine but obviously were not and there was one in each brooder since they were such different sizes. But it seemed silly to pass up free ayem cemanis! And then I figured I would grab some new egg layers from the feed store and I wouldn't have to brood any in the spring. Obviously not my brightest of ideas . Hard learned lesson. I started the corrid this morning we'll see how it goes. Thank you for your help!