Trying to save my 4-week old chicks...

What a challenging week it's been so far and this happens on the week I'm off from my day job when I initially intended to just relax.  So let me rant…

Last Friday, 5 of my 4-week old chicks died.  By Saturday morning 2 more died.  And by Tuesday morning, 2 more died.  A total of 9 chicks died out of the 25.  That’s a major casualty.  When only 3 died last Friday, I was going to let natural selection to happen.  But 9 out of 25 is a big loss.  Based on the symptoms, the vet told me that they have coccidiosis (a common disease and most chicks are born with it).  All these chicks are living separately from the adult chickens and they do not share the same pen or run to avoid infecting the healthy adult chickens.  The rest of the adult chickens are all healthy.  

Anyway, the vet prescribed Amprolium but the problem is that her clinic does not stock it because they deal mainly with dogs and cats.  She referred me to the local farm supplies and another vet who deals with cows.  I did and our local farm supply does not carry it.  The local vet that deals with the cow won’t sell it to me obviously because they said they can only prescribe it to cows and not chicken.  I was determined to find a place that sells this because I don’t want to loose all 25 chicks.  About 4 of the ones that are still alive are showing the symptoms (lethargy, blood in poop and depression). The vet said I can maybe save them from dying if I give them the medication as soon as possible. So I called various different vets who are even over an hour away from us and no luck.  I probably phoned more than a dozen places.  I tried the Peterborough veterinary but unfortunately, they cannot sell it to me either because they need to physically see the chicks.  They can get in trouble if they don’t and I totally understand.  But there’s no point for me to bring the chicks. Their reception was very helpful enough and recommended I check the local farm co-op in Peterborough.  And I was so relieved that they carry it.  I called my dad to give me a ride to Peterborough and I was shocked to find out the price.  $130 + tax for 3.8 L medication.  They don’t sell it in smaller amounts.  I only need a very small amount because it is something you mix in the water.  The proportion is 500 ml medication mixed to about 200 L of water.  Yes, I really need just a very small amount.

One thing I don’t understand is if I buy this from the vet, they require prescription but anyone can buy this extremely pricey medication from the farm store.

So the cost of treating a chicken can be in the hundreds of dollars but the chicken alone is not even worth more than $15 each.  It’s insane. But I purchased it anyway.  Vet confirmed this medication is safe for chicks that will lay eggs later. This is becoming a really expensive hobby.  

So how does other poultry or beef producers do it with totally NO medications?  I see them in grocery stores labeled antibiotic-free or no medications, etc.  I mean how is it even possible?  I did not feed my chicks any medicated starter feeds even though it is recommended because I wanted them to be as natural as possible.  But when something kills your livestock, then it is a great loss.  I now totally understand why antibiotics are used in cattle (that costs thousands of $ each) for example.  To be totally antibiotic free, in my personal view means you will have to clean their housing 24/7 to prevent disease.  How is that possible?  If one gets infected, it will spread to the rest of the flock.

I’ve hatched 3 batches of chicks this year and the last batch (25 chicks) had coccidiosis. I didn’t have the ducklings in the first two batches. The vet said it could be because I raised 2 ducklings along with the chicks.  I knew about the risk of mixing them but I thought well, it’s only 2 ducklings anyway so maybe it will be fine.  Well, I will never do it again.  Ducklings are a lot messier.  They poop on the water.  And that’s what infected the chicks.  They were indoors up until they were 3 weeks old.  They were living outside in their coop for just over a week when the chicks started dying.  While they were indoors, I replaced their water almost every 3 hours during the day.  But once they are outside I cannot do that anymore.  I only replaced their water once or twice a day if it’s dirty.  And that’s probably what caused it.

I almost screwed up with the proportion of the medication to water though.  Below picture shows the mixing directions.  I missed  the part that says “then add water to the 200 L mark”.  So my first mixture was 8 times STRONGER and I’ve already given some.  Only a few drink it maybe because it is too saturated and I could smell it being too strong.  The mixture was in their coop for about half an hour and after I was done doing the other chores, I started to think and said to myself “wait a minute, what was that 200 L supposed to mean then?”  I’m glad I double checked and corrected it immediately.  I pray that whoever drink the first really strong mixture will survive.

Lesson learned, do not mix ducklings with baby chickens!