1 week old Chick dropped dead.

[karenls50]

We’ve hatched chicks for years. We hatched 25 chicks over the last month in two hatches. Everything has been fine with the first hatch. We know how to properly care for chicks.
We came home after being away a couple of hours and one of the week old checks was dead in the brooder. She looked like she laid down to fall asleep and just died. One leg was stretched back but there was no trauma. I check her body and she looked totally fine. Just dead. I noticed a teeny bit of loose stool in her butt but no pasty butt. I watch out for that and clean any if I see it. Which is rare.
All the other chicks seem fine and growing rapidly.
Temp is 90 degrees. Plenty of clean chick starter water. Kalmbach chick starter food. I’m not feeding them medicated feed. There’s no blood in stools at all.
Any ideas of what might have killed her? I’m praying no others die. Thanks for any suggestions.

 

[Debbie292d]

So sorry!

All I would assume is that was a FTT (failure to thrive) chick. I too have hatched a lot and never had one just die like that, but did lose a 2-day-old chick a while ago. That was definitely a FTT though. When it's only 1 out of hundreds, that's pretty much what it has to be and we will never know why or what went wrong and when. Probably goes back to the day the egg was laid.

If you'd start seeing coccidiosis symptoms from any of the others, I'd grab some Corid real quick, but doesn't sound like that's any issue.

 

[karenls50]

So sorry!

All I would assume is that was a FTT (failure to thrive) chick. I too have hatched a lot and never had one just die like that, but did lose a 2-day-old chick a while ago. That was definitely a FTT though. When it's only 1 out of hundreds, that's pretty much what it has to be and we will never know why or what went wrong and when. Probably goes back to the day the egg was laid.

If you'd start seeing coccidiosis symptoms from any of the others, I'd grab some Corid real quick, but doesn't sound like that's any issue.

So sorry!

All I would assume is that was a FTT (failure to thrive) chick. I too have hatched a lot and never had one just die like that, but did lose a 2-day-old chick a while ago. That was definitely a FTT though. When it's only 1 out of hundreds, that's pretty much what it has to be and we will never know why or what went wrong and when. Probably goes back to the day the egg was laid.

If you'd start seeing coccidiosis symptoms from any of the others, I'd grab some Corid real quick, but doesn't sound like that's any issue.

Thanks for responding. She didn’t seem to be failing to thrive. She was one of the bigger chicks. I’ll watch for coccidiosis. Other than bloody stools what should I look for? I’ve never had it in any of my flocks.

 

[Debbie292d]

Thanks for responding. She didn’t seem to be failing to thrive. She was one of the bigger chicks. I’ll watch for coccidiosis. Other than bloody stools what should I look for? I’ve never had it in any of my flocks.

The ones I saw were about two weeks old.

The chicks stand around listless, with their heads down and wings out a little bit. I never saw blood in their stools.

I don't think that's what this is though but I too am always watching. As careful as we both are, it can happen!

 

[Ridgerunner]

It is hard to know for sure. With no marks on the body it does not sound like another chicken or a predator killed her.

Some possibilities, however remote. Could she have been smothered under a pile. If something startled them they could all run to a wall or corner and pile up. That happens in commercial operations where they are raising a lot of chicks. If she was not in a corner I'd consider this highly unlikely but you are looking at them, I'm not.

I had a grown hen bang into a wall and break her neck. I think she was trying to get away from an amorous rooster. Again, I consider this highly unlikely.

Some chicks never figure out how to eat or drink, even if the others around them are. Most learn by watching the others. The chicks absorb the yolk before hatch and they can live off of that for several days, longer than the 3 days you often read about. I had a chick that was giving the plaintive peep that tells you something is wrong about Day 5. When I first put them in the brooder I dipped the beak so they would know where water was. This one never learned. I dipped its beak again and it immediately drank a lot of water and was fine. If that chick was acting normally I again think this was highly unlikely.

What I think did happen is that it was hatched with a birth defect. As quickly as it went quite possibly something wrong with its heart though it could have been something else. It just wasn't meant to make it, nothing you could have done.

Most chickens with coccidiosis do not have blood in their stool. Don't depend on that. At one week coccidiosis was not likely your problem. The bugs that cause the problem had not had enough time to multiply to a high enough level to kill a chick. The symptoms I look for are a chick standing by itself with down and feathers fluffed up, sort of hunched with eyes drooping. Totally listless, just standing there. You can tell by looking that they feel horrible.

 

[karenls50]

Thank you for your thoughtful reply! I’ve thought of everything you mentioned. Only nine chicks so plenty of room. She had grown quite a bit so I know she was eating and drinking. I’m thinking heart too. She looked like she just dropped. All the others are just fine. So I have to realize it’s just life raising animals.

 

[Crazi Oma]

We’ve hatched chicks for years. We hatched 25 chicks over the last month in two hatches. Everything has been fine with the first hatch. We know how to properly care for chicks.
We came home after being away a couple of hours and one of the week old checks was dead in the brooder. She looked like she laid down to fall asleep and just died. One leg was stretched back but there was no trauma. I check her body and she looked totally fine. Just dead. I noticed a teeny bit of loose stool in her butt but no pasty butt. I watch out for that and clean any if I see it. Which is rare.
All the other chicks seem fine and growing rapidly.
Temp is 90 degrees. Plenty of clean chick starter water. Kalmbach chick starter food. I’m not feeding them medicated feed. There’s no blood in stools at all.
Any ideas of what might have killed her? I’m praying no others die. Thanks for any suggestions.

She may have been piled on by the others while they snuggled to sleep and suffocated. She may have just been weak. The bedding may be dusty? She may not have tolerated the heat. I've found my chicks prefer and are more active if I keep the brooder at 80°f after one week. But it can be breed specific. My RIRs, ISA Browns, and BPRs like it 5° cooler - as do Brahmas. My White Rocks will hang out at the warm end of the brooder box, as will my Ameraucanas.
Also try looking for anything foreign baby may have ingested, and make sure they can't drown themselves accidentally, though I don't think this is your case.
Do they have enough chick grit to properly digest their food?
Regardless why baby died, I'm sorry for your loss.