I KNOW WHATS WRONG WITH OUR CHICKS!!!!!

[terryc]

Quote:
Without a medical evaluation of the chicks that died I think it would be in poor taste to blame a hatchery for something that may not even be their fault. I know I keep reading on here about folks in the colder states ordering birds for delivery in Feb. and I think that it is NOT a good time of year for these folks to be having birds shipped to them. There is no way to be sure that they haven't sat on a loading dock at a postal facility in sub zero weather somewhere along the way.

No one has asked about what feed they are feeding, so I will. What feed are you using and what brand? Are you feeding "chick starter" or an adult feed? Layer crumbles meant for adult birds contain to much calcium for a chick and will cause liver damage and death as well.

How about heat. What temp are the birds being kept at and how did you measure the temp? How big is the area where you are keeping them in? Do they have room to get away from the heat if needed?

Not to sound cruel, so please don't everyone bash me, but chicks are livestock and at times you will get losses from your livestock. Unfortunately is a part of raising livestock. It happens. I'm sorry, but it does.

I do hope this problem goes away and everyone gets healthy birds on the next order and we can get back to talking about raising our chicks.

Terry

 

[greysandy]

This thread was certainly an interesting read since I am getting 25 (or so) chicks from MMH on March 3rd and it will be my first time ever raising chicks. I'm not going to try and cancel it, since I talked to a few people in CA that had ordered chicks from them a few weeks ago and they are mostly doing fine (after losing 2 or 3 the first days). I will just see what happens.

Also, since it was 85 degrees here today and should be in the high 70's for the next week, I'm fairly optimistic about the shipping at least on this end of things. My post office has been good about helping me get the chicks as soon as possible from my discussions with them today, but the gal was worried it would be "too hot" for the chicks on Sunday, oh the irony...

I learned from reading www.greytalk.com, a greyhound forum that mainly the problems are posted especially in the healthcare sections. When newbies would join and think about adopting, reading those pages would scare them into thinking that greyhounds are an unhealthy breed, which is generally not true. I'm also sure that not 100% of people that order from MMH are involved in this forum. I never go onto greytalk anymore since I am too busy on the board of directors of a local rescue group.

I'll post pictures and health updates once I get my little fuzzies.

 

[ruth]

I just posted this reply in another thread by same author on same topic so I thought it might be of two cents worth here:

My newest babies were only one week old when the weather here finally hit 70 and sunny the other day. Out they went into their little baby pen in the sun. They had so much fun running and jumping and flying all over that pen. They never appeared cold or even took a nap. That night they slept like dead things - flat out on brooder floor with head/neck stretched straight out - face down. They were so tired from their day of playing.

Point is - we too would get sick and die if you took a bunch of us and packed us in a crowded box (plane/train) and shipped us for 2-3 days across country and varying temps and then placed us in a hot box under a hot light with little or no fresh air and sunshine and fed us commercially packaged food. YET that's what happens to most chicks and we wonder why they get sick and die and have so many illnesses and sudden death.

Put them out in sunshine and fresh air - feed them fresh foods (I feed my babies scrambled egg twice a day). Add some Poly-ViSol (liquid baby vitamins) to their water. Sunshine and fresh air, even in winter, is better than being cooped up in hot box. I know most of you don't agree with that but take a look at all of the threads/posts from people whose chicks are suddenly dying.

 

[crooked stripe]

After being exposed to this site I was always led to expect some dead chicks upon shipment. My luck has never been good with things. To me it is like buying a lottery ticket when ordering in the winter. I think terryc hit the nail on the head.
I often read that so many folks here are having great successes with their shipment we all forget the fact that nature is not a precise science. Just on a short count of dead chicks it doesn't come close to the 100,000 shipped by each hatchery every week everywhere in the US. This site is a great random poll what happens around the country. I just don't see a reason to panic. John

 

[tiki244]

Edited because obviously I didnt know what I was talking about and I was too severe !

 

[turnerstar31]

I think you are pointing a finger without really looking at everything. First off maybe try switching some things. Raising chicks is not easy. There are many things that they need and yes they are babies and can be fragile but are stronger than what we give them credit for. I have ordered from Mcmurray before and was always happy. Never had any problems and I am looking into ordering from them this spring. There are going to be deaths when raising any type of animals and I am truly sorry for your loss. I have dealt with it every year. My advice is just try some different things. Maybe move them to a different location or try a different feed.

 

[jmromani]

Quote:
We had some gasping birds at about 1 week of age...all died. We are now dealing with lethargig, stumbling chicks at 2 weeks of age. Would this disease present those symptoms?

 

[kstaven]

It could ... along with 20 other things I can think of off the top of my head. Only way to be certain is through testing.

 

[jmromani]

testing as in necropsy?

 

[kstaven]

Not necessarily. Blood or fecal may show the problem dependent on cause.