She is on yahoo group silkies. I replied and told her how my babies died last spring from mites. Here is her post.
> Week old chicks that seem to be healthy are getting listless one day and dieing the next. I have given them Tetracycline Hydrochloride Soluble Powder, 1 Tablespoon per gal of water. Please advise.
Can you help this lady with sick chicks?
LFJesus! I tried several times to contact this person but was never successful, there just wasn't enough info here to offer any help. I myself went through something similiar to this about six months ago. I ordered forty-two birds and the appeared very spry and healthy and at about two weeks old the started dropping like flies. I lost two and three every day. They would stand and shake, and just drop dead. I lost thirtysix out of forty two. I still have no idea what the problem was. I called the hatchery (Murray McMurray) and they replaced all of them and I had no problem at all with the second batch. Sometimes these things are such a mystery. There were no symptoms, they would just start shaking and withing hours they would be dead??? Beats me, but I always feel very sorry for the loss and frustration. Hay
Thanks Haystack,
Some of the other people asked her for more information. She did describe the pasty bottom problem and said she just didn't take care of it when she should have. That's not good.
Out of my 8 eggs that were supposed to hatch on the 2nd, here it is the 4th, and only one egg has hatched. He's a real cutie though. If that's the only one that hatches, it is an expensive CHICK! Oh well, I guess we live and learn. As far as I know I did everything I was supposed to.
He's a real healthy little guy. The hen is still faithfully setting the other eggs. I was going to post a video of the new chick, but google video is no longer allowing uploads. It would have been nice if they had sent me an email instead of letting me search their site for thirty minutes looking for "upload." They recommended using youtube or another site that starts with the letter P. I am not familiar with it.
So here is a chicken question. What medicines should I have on hand while hatching chicks?
I always make sure I put apple cider vinegar in their water, but I do that for the adults as well. Then I add three table spoons of sugar to a gallon of water to boost their energy level. Thats about all I ever do, maybe others will use a booster they buy. Not sure about that. Did you buy those eggs that your hatching? I always open the unhatched eggs to see if they were fertile. Not everyone likes to do that, but it's the only way you can be sure. If they were not fertile I let the seller know they were not fertile and expect them to ship replacements. Thats just what I do. Have a nice Sunday. Hay
So if they were not fertile they will look like a regular raw egg, even after 4 weeks? I probably won't open them for a week, just to make sure they have every opportunity to hatch.
If they are fertile what will they look like, a partially formed chick, or rotten?
I sent the lady an email and she says:
Sometimes they can get shaken up in the mail. Did you candle for aircells before you set them. If the aircells are loose from shipment they will not hatch.
I never candled an egg, so the answer will be no.