Chicks are dying, don't know why

[rascal66]

I have about 50 chicks in the barn that I'm raising for meat, there are various breeds, like Brahma and RIRs. (Frypan special). They are roughly a month old now.

In the past 3 days, 3 of my Brahma chicks have died on me.1 right now is hunched over, very weak and I'm sure she's going to die in the next hour or less, making 4 deaths.

All other chicks are thriving and running about. I have no clue right now what is killing them...

My main suspect is Coccidia, since I had an outbreak among new birds and Im sure I foolishly tracked I infected poop around. (I didn't know at the time).

I treated these chicks with corid per recommendations on the forum here about 3 weeks ago. Poops are looking fine, but the chick that is dying on me now is drooping her wings and is hardly making an effort to move.

Upon a brief inspection, there is no runny nose or eyes, and her breathing seems fine. (However the first chick that died had a minor gurgle).

I really don't know what to do. I think Im Going to move the chicks to a new stall, with fresh bedding and continue watching. Tomorrow I plan to get some pro biotics and vitamins for them.

Should I treat with corid again? I really don't know where to turn.

 

[azygous]

What are you offering the chicks as grit? Have you checks the crops? Have you inspected the poop for blood? Are these sick chicks pooping at all? If so, what does it look like?

What is your water source? Well water by any chance?

Do you have rodents? Have you put out any rodent bait?

When you treated the chicks with Corid, what were the proportions of Corid to water? How long did you treat? Did you do the followup round one week later?

 

[Eggcessive]

I would go ahead and give her Corid at the maximum dosage 2 tsp of the liquid per gallon of water for 5-7 days. Also, give her the undiluted Corid drench 0.1 ml per pound of weight twice a day. That is in addition to the Corid water. In the meantime I would try to get some sulfa antibiotic from a vet in case she has a resistant strain of coccidiosis. In your previous thread, there was a picture of a lot of droppings. I would clean the coop, and make sure that the bedding stays bone dry, stirring it daily, and add new bedding as needed. At a month old they still are building a tolerance to coccidia in the soil and in the poop.

 

[rascal66]

What are you offering the chicks as grit? Have you checks the crops? Have you inspected the poop for blood? Are these sick chicks pooping at all? If so, what does it look like?

What is your water source? Well water by any chance?

Do you have rodents? Have you put out any rodent bait?

When you treated the chicks with Corid, what were the proportions of Corid to water? How long did you treat? Did you do the followup round one week later?

These chicks just receive a 20% protein chick feed, I don't provide grit for them. The sick chick I had just passed this evening. Unfortunately I didn't see any of her droppings... However, I did find this among the other chicks.

Does this resemble coccidia well?

Yes the water is well water.

We do have some mice here and there, but the poison left out for them hasn't been touched yet so I'm not so sure they're running around by these chicks?

For the Corid, I followed the article on here, doing 2tsps per gallon for 5 days, then 1/2 tsp per gallon for another week. (I accidentally left the corid out in the barn when it was getting freezing at night, I'm worried if it ruined the potency of the lliquid, or if it made it fail altogether?) I need to get some more Corid tomorrow.

Can I mix probiotics in the same water as the corid water?

Thanks!

 

[rascal66]

I would go ahead and give her Corid at the maximum dosage 2 tsp of the liquid per gallon of water for 5-7 days. Also, give her the undiluted Corid drench 0.1 ml per pound of weight twice a day. That is in addition to the Corid water. In the meantime I would try to get some sulfa antibiotic from a vet in case she has a resistant strain of coccidiosis. In your previous thread, there was a picture of a lot of droppings. I would clean the coop, and make sure that the bedding stays bone dry, stirring it daily, and add new bedding as needed. At a month old they still are building a tolerance to coccidia in the soil and in the poop.

Unfortunately said chick passed this evening. I need to buy some more corid tomorrow, I will retreat the chicks again.. As I mentioned above, I'm worried leaving the corid put in freezing temp may have rendered it useless? Was by complete accident

The pictures from the other thread were from a separate coop house. Thankfully those birds are doing just fine. These chicks are in the barn currently.. I did clean their stall this evening and I'll try to stay ontop of keeping it dry. Thanks for your input! I'll consider the sulfa antibiotics perhaps

 

[azygous]

It's likely Coccidiosis that's at issue. However, I'm concerned about the grit issue. Are the chicks being given anything other than feed to eat? Are they on a wood shavings substrate? It's possible not all these chicks that are getting sick are dying of coccidiosis. They may be suffering from constipation or impacted crop.

I would offer chick grit as a matter of course, regardless of what they eat. It's just a good management policy to head off digestive problems. Any chick still sick, I would dose with a teaspoon of coconut oil just in case. It can't hurt at the same time they're on Corid.

Well water, if it is high in iron, which many wells are, can develop a bacteria load when the bacteria binds to the iron and throws a party. It may not be enough to make you and your family sick, but small chicks are very vulnerable and it can kill them. I'm all for having a sample tested at your county health department water testing lab.