Mysterious Chick Deaths : (

Well, over the last several days I have lost three chicks. They are sleepy, weak, low appetite, head, wings, and tail droop. They also seem to spit up water and are possibly boney (hard to really tell). The other thing is that their croup seems like it's full of water and their poo is watery also. I'm at a loss because none of the larger hens seems affected and not all of the chicks are acting like this. Yesterday I started putting electrolytes into their water. Half of my chicks just stand around droopy and sick while the others are busy pecking and scratching. I did lose my Marans hen earlier this week, but I do not think it was related. She was fine one day and the next I found her dead in her nesting box? Anyways, I'm a little stressed right now as I only order one of each so it's like "AHH" if one goes, not to mention the time and money invested. I was hoping to not need to order more chicks in the spring (except for the guineas) but alas, now it looks like I'll be ordering not only a Marans, but many other chicks. Of course, I won't be able to resist buying others if I'm replacing : 0. Anyway, I wish I knew what was wrong. It kind of sounded like Trichotomyo something or another. I can't quite recall what it was called but it comes from wild birds which doesn't make sense because they don't really leave the nest house that much, not to mention the older girls and guys are fine? Blah : (

sorry to hear. how old r the chicks and what kind of bedding and feed r u useing? what is the temp like there and r they under lights? what hatchery did they come from? when they die r they inside or outside the house, where r u finding them?

the hen sounds like she was eggbound and died in nest waiting to lay an egg, i've had that happen same thing not long ago. i lost 2 that way and 1 to a prolapse vent.
silkie

The chicks are 9-10 weeks old, on 16% like the rest who've had no problems, they died inside the house. I use straw and pine shavings for the bedding. No lights, the temps have been in the 80's during the day and 70's at night. They came from Ideal. They were fine their first two weeks outside. It was really hot a couple of weeks ago, but not now. That's when the first chick died. I found one chick in a corner, and the other two in a nesting box where they all huddle when sleeping or hiding from bigger birds.

ok i don't see anything wrong with any of that, unless straw may have mold in it. sometimes we get it in moldy cuz it gets wet at the feedstore, that can cause respitory and death. it sounds like they r dieing wile hideing possibly. mabe they r too little to be mixed in with older birds and the older ones r pushing them out or squishing them. my other thought is weak stock. i got 25 peeps from them last year and up to 8 or 10mths old lost all but 1 of them for one reason or another. i had 5 or 6 i think it was DOA to start and lost the replacements also. the rest were not hardy like she is and where weak when shipped in. so that's a possibility also. check the hay for a mold smell, see if there is gray powdery spots in it. if it's not that then watch how the others r acting with them just incase. the poo and crop don't sound right make sure they have grit available and try worming them also could be that too.

patchouli [SC forgive me for skipping over your posts at first], you are referring to ILT Infectious Something Trachial? but it really sound slike gapeworms. find your state lab through you local extension office [ag] and for 7 bucks you can have them do a fecal float...

What do you suggest I worm them with? I have grit available and Tf it was definately tricho or trichto something. It's like they are overly filled with fluids in their crops? It's just strange. They are definately not feeling good and it doesn't take much to make them puke up the water in their crops. They eat, but not alot and not with vigor.

hmmm, i will see, somewhere a DGer in S Texas had gapeworms, and there is some medicine for that. i don't know which anitbiotic to use for ILF. some states gas chickens for that, but sinc eyou aren't registered, you could start out with gividng them LOTS of garlic.... supposed to be good for all kinds of chicken problems, including worms.

the eggs are in the poo. anyway you can move them to a new pen, new bedding? clean the feeders and waterers firstscrub with white vinegar, then follow with hydorgen peroxided. bleach fumes would be VERY bad for them at this time...

i will get back with you ASAP with something, K?

from the other thread:

Nah, don't think it's gapeworms. She said it cases them to pant because they can hardly breathe. Mine are breathing fine---no panting. It's like a crop thing or something. Thanks for helping by the way : )

This message was edited Aug 15, 2008 4:57 PM

so, they are breathing k, why were you thinking the ILT???

anything happen lately to weakent heir immune system?

They ran out of water a couple of times during the hot weeks, but that was two weeks ago! Otherwise I'm clueless on this one, it really has me stumped. At the risk of sounding stupid, what's ILT? Is that the Tricho or Trichto thing?

Infectious Trachial soemthing or other. i put a call in to someone who knows, Beverly... don't think she has made it in the house yet...

if you let their water get adn stay warm, it can grow bacteria. one more reason cleaning their waterers and feeding them garlic and other good immune syustem things make help them get over it...

I have minced garlic. Is that cool or should I go for cloves?

minced! perfect. after you clean the waterers, put the garlic IN it. if you have apple cider vinegar, the kind with the "mother", use that as well. a few tablespoons per gallong of water, along with a tbsp of minced gaarlic...

no way it's ILT been there done that one, u'd definately see signs and symtoms of it. first sign would be bubbles in the eyes and sneezeing, coughing, stretching neck to breathe, cagging and spitting up flem and plaques in the mouth.

i don't know anything about gapeworm. what breed r the one that died and the chicks?

check this site out see if u find anything close to it and if so which ones. i have to run to town will check when i get home. if u can't find it there i'll do more searching when i get home.
silkie

http://members.tripod.com/poultryworld/dis_dir.htm

for wormer i use wazine it's a consintraded wide spectum wormer and safe to use on chicks.

thanks SC, my goodness that is a LONG list...

You're right tf. silkiechick is holding out on us--another wonderful site.

i'll be studying that one for a month!

lol, i'm not holding out on u all i'm a state liceanced poultry tech for the PA dept of Ag it is my job to know these things. i just haven't been around alot to read and post is all, since been really busy lately.
u r all very welcome,
silkie

Wow! That kind of info -you're reaally holding out...(tease)

Well, lost my favorite blue silkie chick this morning. Looks like the spangled hamburg is on her way out also. The red shouldered yokahama is still hanging in there but barely. The hamburg's crop is very hard. It's like their crop's are not doing their jobs? They just get weaker and weaker.

i am sooo sorry... they have grit? give them extra?

perhaps electrolytes will give them the boost they need. you can try pedialyte, or make your own, two recipes here:

http://www.moonlightmileherbs.com/electrolytes.html

Chicken coccidiosis- Runny butt. We had this in the spring-lost one saved one. Add 1 tsp vinegar per gallon of water for all the chickens. Sprinkle Epsom salts over their food, sparingly, like salting food. It worked for us. We don't know if it was from wild birds or the super wet spring.

Patch didnt yall get alot of rain not to far back?

good point, they could have caught cold. so adding dry bedding would be good too.

how are they?

No it's not that, symptoms are not right. Besides, these are the ones I received after all the rain. I lost my spangled and a red silkie. My last red silkie was missing and I just found her in the pool, blah! I'm also about ready to cull an old roo if he doesn't quit trying to breed with the baby chicks. You know, it's been one of those days. The kind when you start to think "maybe I should just get rid of the flock and not do chickens". I know I'll feel better after they either get better or pass, but until then "ugh"! Just really stressed, and getting ready for another semester of school starting Monday. It's a bummer 'cause these guys imprinted on me, they thought I was momma. : ( If I didn't have sooo much reading to do before class I'd get liquored up. Yeah, I know. I just hate feeling helpless. I can't stand it. My chickens have never been unhealthy until these chicks. Maybe I mismanaged them somehow in the beginning. They were in cramped conditions for a little over a week before I finally took them out. Maybe that was it? I feel like it's my fault somehow, and I wish I could fix it. These guys were super tame too which makes it all the harder. Spring sure is a long ways away.

I lost a beautiful hen yesterday, no sign what caused it. Have been wondering though if the DRY weather we are having is causing them to maybe inhale dust? Take it in in way that they are just glopping up inside and strangling? Am I crazy?

Nother crazy thought. The goat vet told me to give them Pepto when things weren't flowing right...How do you lubricate a chicken cuz it sounds like that's what they need.

I don't think a hard crop could be due to anything you did or didn't do when they were younger. It sounds much more like a current or recent environmental stress to me.

I know, but I just can't put my finger on it. It's like a lot of them have FTT (failure to thrive) also. The birds seem a little smaller than they should be. Guess I'll feel better with time. My red shouldered yokohama finally passed also. It just needs to end one way or the other, only then will things sort themselves out.

what all symptoms r u seeing?

So sorry, Patch. S'pose the best you can do for them is learn for next time. Keep pluggin' is what Ma always says...:-/

warm up some unsulphured molasses and pour in their feed?

i really feel for you patchouli ;-(

keep your head up patch

Thanks for your kind words guys : ) Well, right now I'm waiting for one of the buff chicks to pass, she's barely breathing. The rest that are left are sick, but not like the others were. They might pull through, but I'm not getting my hopes up just yet. Silkie Chick, the symptoms were; small, tired, barely eating, weak, head and tail droop, mushy or hard crops, spitting up fluids. They went through a hot spell a couple of weeks ago and ran out of water several times (thanks to the ducks). They were also in cramped quarters for about a week and a half before I put them outside. The thing is, they were fine once outside for the first week or better. They did appear a little small to me, but then my other birds are much larger. My flock is used to newbies as I get them all the time, and I do put my foot down if I see more than just the usual pecking order going on. It might have been a combination of things.

dont worry patch hopefully the other will pull through