Welcome to BYC.
Sorry for the loss of your chicks. Chalk it up to an experiment gone bad.
Unless you are in an area where your heat temps are high, I do not think it wise to try and take day old chicks and not give heat. They will pile up on each other to keep warm, killing the ones on the bottom because they can't get out, can't breathe... Mama hens keep their chicks under them for several days, ALL DAY before she even takes them to the food, then will tend to sit right next to the feed and water so the chicks can dart out, eat, dart back under mama. After a week or so, they will start spending more and more time not under mama, but always go back under to warm up. Same with the heat lamp. Thats why we reduce the heat in increments. They are feathering out, and need less and less heat. BUT no heat to begin with... they do not even have the proper feathers to maintain body temps.
Good luck with the rest.
