Issues with sick chicks?

[mommagoose]

On another forum , several people have been complaining of chicks dieing several days after delivery in the mail. The chicks begin trembling , get uncoordinated and throw their heads back and fall onto their backs. They usually die within 24 hours. I am concerned since this looks like the beginning of a repeat of last years disease problems. Have any of the people who frequent this forum had similar experiences this year? I am telling all of my chick customers to be careful and isolate any mail order chicks from their flocks.
Linda

[Neil E. Grassbaugh]

Are you talking about Avian encephalomylitis?

http://www.thepoultrysite.com/diseasein ... ic-tremors

http://www.merckvetmanual.com/mvm/index ... 205300.htm

http://www.lahinternational.com/pdf/AET ... etin_w.pdf

[goosedragon]

Neil you would need a good poultry or virus lab to be sure and by then it would be too late. Might I suggest that anybody that has chicks like this from a hatchery contact the hatchery, they are more likely to know what is going on with their chicks. As I understand it (only from the links posted) that prevention not treatment is the only practical "cure", that the parents should have been vancinated months ago to prevent transmission thru the egg. If they are having eggs shipped into them for hatching from uncontrolled flocks they still should have some idea that something is wrong because of low hatch rates.
Without getting nasty another approach is those Department of Poultry Labs at land grant colleges that will do free testing. Give them a call, tell them what you suspect and ask if they can confirm. They will tell you if they can do the testing, and shipping details.