Post by Greathouse on Mar 18, 2013 21:18:54 GMT -6
Hey guys and gals! I could use some opinions and advice, if you have a moment to spare. Sorry in advance that this is so long.
I brought home 3 BLRW chicks two weeks ago. They came from a NPIP breeder, and everything seemed to check out. I felt safe enough to put them in with my 4 SLW chicks that were a week old. Everything seemed fine.
5 days after I brought the BLRW chicks home, I found one of them barely alive. Too weak to use its legs and sort of flopping around. I gave it Save-A-Chick laced water with a syringe, but it ended up passing a few hours later. I went ahead and gave everyone else the same in their water. There were no prior signs of illness. I have the chicks in the house with me, and everyone earlier in the evening had been running around, eating, drinking ,etc.
The next morning, I wake up to find another BLRW in the same condition as the one I'd found the night before. It died within the hour. I lost the 3rd BLRW as well. This was on March 11th-12th, they were just over a week old.
There was no sign of illness or anything of the sort prior. The only issue I had had with the BLRW chicks was some pasting, but I didn't think this was an issue as long as their bottoms were kept clean and free of poop. (And on the subject of poop, it looked normal. No blood or anything like that. )
I chalked it up to just an unfortunate turn of events, that just happens. Survival of the fittest and all that.
So 5-6 more days pass, and the remaining 4 SLW chicks have been doing great. But then, this past Sunday, I came home to find one of the SLW chicks (these guys are 3, almost 4 weeks old now) laying in the bedding, weak and not moving well at all, wings were drooping. A lot like the symptoms of the BLRW chicks. It died about two hours later.
One thing I noticed about the dead SLW chick that wasn't so obvious in the BLRW was that it was noticeably smaller than the 3 remaining. Like it's growth had been stunted, even though they were all around the same age.
That was Sunday night, and so far, the other 3 SLW chicks are still holding on. Though, I am not getting my hopes up for any of them to survive whatever is going on.
After the first BLRW chick died, I treated everyone with Save-a-Chick and added the probiotics. I looked into Corid over the weekend, but at almost $25 a pouch, I can't really justify that cost on just 3 chicks.
My first question is, have any of you guys every experienced anything like this in with your chicks? At first I thought it was just bad chick luck, but now that it seems to have spread to my SLW chicks, I'm not so sure. Thoughts, opinions are appreciated!
My second question is this: I have 2 Black Australorp chicks that are going to be 6 weeks old, this coming weekend. They were not in any contact with the BLRW chicks at all, but they were kept in the same room in the house but a separate brooder. (Until I started losing chicks, then I moved the "sick" bunch to another room to isolate.) They seem fine and they were never in the same brooder as the BLRW chicks. I was planning to move them out to the big coop/run this weekend, but after this, I'm wondering if I should? Do you guys think it would be safe? What would you do?
I brought home 3 BLRW chicks two weeks ago. They came from a NPIP breeder, and everything seemed to check out. I felt safe enough to put them in with my 4 SLW chicks that were a week old. Everything seemed fine.
5 days after I brought the BLRW chicks home, I found one of them barely alive. Too weak to use its legs and sort of flopping around. I gave it Save-A-Chick laced water with a syringe, but it ended up passing a few hours later. I went ahead and gave everyone else the same in their water. There were no prior signs of illness. I have the chicks in the house with me, and everyone earlier in the evening had been running around, eating, drinking ,etc.
The next morning, I wake up to find another BLRW in the same condition as the one I'd found the night before. It died within the hour. I lost the 3rd BLRW as well. This was on March 11th-12th, they were just over a week old.
There was no sign of illness or anything of the sort prior. The only issue I had had with the BLRW chicks was some pasting, but I didn't think this was an issue as long as their bottoms were kept clean and free of poop. (And on the subject of poop, it looked normal. No blood or anything like that. )
I chalked it up to just an unfortunate turn of events, that just happens. Survival of the fittest and all that.
So 5-6 more days pass, and the remaining 4 SLW chicks have been doing great. But then, this past Sunday, I came home to find one of the SLW chicks (these guys are 3, almost 4 weeks old now) laying in the bedding, weak and not moving well at all, wings were drooping. A lot like the symptoms of the BLRW chicks. It died about two hours later.
One thing I noticed about the dead SLW chick that wasn't so obvious in the BLRW was that it was noticeably smaller than the 3 remaining. Like it's growth had been stunted, even though they were all around the same age.
That was Sunday night, and so far, the other 3 SLW chicks are still holding on. Though, I am not getting my hopes up for any of them to survive whatever is going on.
After the first BLRW chick died, I treated everyone with Save-a-Chick and added the probiotics. I looked into Corid over the weekend, but at almost $25 a pouch, I can't really justify that cost on just 3 chicks.
My first question is, have any of you guys every experienced anything like this in with your chicks? At first I thought it was just bad chick luck, but now that it seems to have spread to my SLW chicks, I'm not so sure. Thoughts, opinions are appreciated!
My second question is this: I have 2 Black Australorp chicks that are going to be 6 weeks old, this coming weekend. They were not in any contact with the BLRW chicks at all, but they were kept in the same room in the house but a separate brooder. (Until I started losing chicks, then I moved the "sick" bunch to another room to isolate.) They seem fine and they were never in the same brooder as the BLRW chicks. I was planning to move them out to the big coop/run this weekend, but after this, I'm wondering if I should? Do you guys think it would be safe? What would you do?