2 day old chicks with Respiratory Infections??

[brwaldrop]

1) What type of bird , age and weight (does the chicken seem or feel lighter or thinner than the others.)

This is a mixed flock. 1 Houdan is actively dying (Just edited to add the Houdan has died) The sick ones are: 1 Amerecauna, 1 blue cochin, 1 Buff Orpington, 1 Red sex-link. All arrived Thursday Morning. All were healthy, happy. I dipped their beaks in electrolyte water. They have Unmedicated feed. Each one has a bubbly/ crackle sound when breathing. The Houdan had it when I first pulled it out of the box but I didnt realize it was a problem. It was running around with the other chicks and seemed healthy.

There are 5 other chickens. 1 buff orpington, 2 red sex links, 2 Americaunas. No cackling heard when listening to them.

2) What is the behavior, exactly.

They have a popping/ crackling sound as they breath. Lethargy. No desire to eat or drink for the buff. Its only staying under the hotplate. The Cochin, Americauna, and Sex Link are still energetic, eating and drinking.

3) How long has the bird been exhibiting symptoms?

The houdan it's been since yesterday evening. The buff just started this morning. The Americana, cochin and red sex link are active but have raspy/crackly sounds when they breath.

4) Are other birds exhibiting the same symptoms?

Yes


5) Is there any bleeding, injury, broken bones or other sign of trauma.

No


6) What happened, if anything that you know of, that may have caused the situation.

No idea.

7) What has the bird been eating and drinking, if at all.

Save-a-chick water, regular chick feed. For the houdan I gave molasses water, egg yolk, mushy chick feed. Nothing has helped.

8) How does the poop look? Normal? Bloody? Runny? etc

Diarrhea and normal.


9) What has been the treatment you have administered so far?

Save-a-chick water, regular chick feed. For the houdan I gave molasses water, egg yolk, mushy chick feed.

10 ) What is your intent as far as treatment? For example, do you want to treat completely yourself, or do you need help in stabilizing the bird til you can get to a vet?

There is no vet near me that sees chickens. I'd like to treat this but idk if I can. I'd like to save my chicks.

11) If you have a picture of the wound or condition, please post it. It may help.

No wounds or photos.

12) Describe the housing/bedding in use

Large pine shavings in a large plastic tub. I'm using a heat plate (ecoGlow) and not a heat lamp

I've separated the chicks that sound crackly but I have no idea if that's the best thing. My husband is currently holding the Houdan. Its gasping for air, barely breathing, and while we were able to get it to take some fluids it proceeded to vomit the liquid back up and have a bout of diarrhea. The Houdan did sound crackly from the beginning but seemed fine.

Ive tried to record the sound but it's too soft to hear.

 

[KRack]

Could you post a picture of your set up?

Some people deal with brooder pneumonia which can have similar symptoms (so can being over heated and I’m sure other things). I used oregano oil, goldenseal root tea and a nebulizer with food grade peroxide and saline to cure my little one with what I suspected was brooder pneumonia (crackling popping sounds and similar symptoms) and he’s made a complete recovery.

Hopefully others chime in with more experience!

 

[Wyorp Rock]

We'll ask again.
Photos and video are extremely helpful at times, so can you please post a video of what the chicks sound like and how they move?

Upload video to youtube and provide a link.

Also post photos of your brooder and the poop. If you have a red heat lamp, a photo with it on and photos with it off, especially the poop photos, the red can make it difficult to tell colors.

What is the temperature of the brooder on the warm and cold sides?

Watch to see that the chicks are drinking. If they don't like the water with all the additions, then omit them, you want them staying hydrated.
I would not mix ACV with the electrolytes/probiotics - choose one and stick with it for a few days.

 

[Eggcessive]

Are these chicks from a breeder or a hatchery? How is the air circulation in your brooder? It helps to prevent water and feed spills, since that can form mold. Mold is one of several causes of respiratory disease.

 

[brwaldrop]

Are these chicks from a breeder or a hatchery? How is the air circulation in your brooder? It helps to prevent water and feed spills, since that can form mold. Mold is one of several causes of respiratory disease.

Hatchery. Air flow should be good its in a room where the fan runs and there is a radiant heat brooder for them to get under. There was a water spill yesterday right after set up but I immediately changed all the pine shavings. The Houdan came out of the box sick... I realize that now. He had a crackle/wheeze but I didn't recognize it as serious since it was still eating, jumping and doing baby chick things like all the others.

I've quarantined those with symptoms into a different brooder. The ones without symptoms are in a freshly sanitized brooder. I guess there isnt more I can do except hope I dont lose them all.

Sadly one of the buff orpingtons has taken a turn for the worse.

 

[brwaldrop]

The sick buff orpington passed yesterday evening. There are 3 still showing symptoms this morning. The other 5 are still healthy and show no symptoms yet.

My treatment other than quarantine will be as follows:

Sugar-water with save-a-chick electrolytes. (2 tablespoons of sugar per cup of water)

Dipping their beaks in water as often as I can to encourage them to drink.

Providing egg yolk mash (boiled yolk with water added to make it mashed potatoes consistency). They dont seem to care for this so far.

---

For the other 2 that died I did give sugar water but the amount of sugar was far lower (I just added pinch to a tiny medicine cup of water. I dont think this was enough). I also gave them raw egg yolk. It was difficult to get them to take anything. They usually refused the water and yolk but I still dipped their beaks in and offered drops on the sides of their beak.

I'm so heartbroken over this. This is only my 2nd batch of chicks. My first batch was 6 I bought at tractor supply. I lost half of them to coccidossis in 1 evening. I was able to buy Corid and save the other 3 girls. I feel awful. I'm doing everything I know to do but losing so many is hard. Especially when I see and read about others who've never had a loss.

The sick blue cochin and red sex link has so far refused to eat anything. They only seem to drink when I place their beaks in the water. The Americauna is doing well, eating and drinking.

 

[Auntiejessi3]

Have you contacted the hatchery?

 

[Auntiejessi3]

I did. They were absolutely not helpful at all. The woman on the phone was very dismissive and acted like it was no big deal. I made sure to inform her that the chick came to me sick from the post office. She just said its important to keep my birds from other infected birds...

What hatchery was this?

 

[brwaldrop]

Could you post a picture of your set up?

Some people deal with brooder pneumonia which can have similar symptoms (so can being over heated and I’m sure other things). I used oregano oil, goldenseal root tea and a nebulizer with food grade peroxide and saline to cure my little one with what I suspected was brooder pneumonia (crackling popping sounds and similar symptoms) and he’s made a complete recovery.

Hopefully others chime in with more experience!

It's a basic plastic storage "tough box", the 40 gallon one. There is a 20-chick sized brooder plate with a food and water dish. The bedding is large-flake pine shavings from Tractor Supply. Thank you for your recommendations! So far all the baby chicks are living but I plan to purchase some oregano oil and goldenseal root tea when I'm in town tomorrow! Thank you so much for your reply.

 

[brwaldrop]

I just want to document what I've done so far.

1 additional Americana is now showing symptoms. She was in the "healthy" brooder. She's now been moved to the "sick" brooder.

The blue cochin has improved. I still hear the crackling but its less. The baby red sex-link is worse. The first Americana actually sounds fine.

My main treatment strategy so far has been: Keeping fresh food in their dish. I did sprinkle a pinch of granulated sugar on top of their food. My hope is it might entice them to eat. I did see them at the food dish often but chicks usually eat a lot.

Their water has been my main focus. I've added chick electrolytes and probiotics as well as the sugar or corn syrup. I'm not fond of using the sugar water like this but I feel like at least they are getting some calories in. I also added about a 1/2 teaspoon of vinegar to the 5+ cups of sugar water to hopefully prevent bacterial growth overnight. I think the other sick chicks whom passed away died from dehydration/starvation (by refusing to eat) and not the infection its self. I've kept their brooders as dry as I can as well as clean. Both were sanitized with vinegar and dried with towels/ hair dryers.

No chicks seem like they are on the verge of death as I write this on Monday evening. All have been checked throughout the day for pasty butt, no signs so far.

The chicks which seem healthy right now are on plain water.