Chick mortality rates - what do I do?

[EggSighted4Life]

My LFS (local feed store) tried to get me to buy electrolytes and said the chick/chickens need it everyday! And said there was no difference between red and white light. For my second brood I changed to red light after a couple weeks and saw an IMMEDIATE difference in their behavior. They were much more relaxed instantly. But I keep learning and mamma heating pad is the next step. So, some of them are good, but I will always do my own research just in case. Some of them don't have a clue and probably never raised animals.

 

[AllynTal]

See, our feed store feeds the idea that they need full time heat lamp and not a lot of room.

And people wonder why their chicks die.

Most of the time, the employees at the feed store are only needed to ring up my purchase and carry heavy bags to my truck for me. We'd like them to be a fount of information, but alas, no.

 

[jmartin0411]

So, since this post, I've moved Dougal back inside (he is the cuckoo maran I had left) and have had him back inside in our downstairs guest bathroom which has it's own heater. I've switched his feed and only run the heater in the bathroom at night when it cools down. He is as happy as can be! And he is truly becoming a pocket chick. He loves when I pick him up, and likes to ride on my shoulder. As young as this guy is, he is ALL BOY lol! So I'm going to look into getting a few girls specifically for him, and we have since gotten a large metal water trough that I'll be putting wood shavings in and we will do the same, heat at night and let them have warm sunshine in the daytime and fermented feed. I'll get some pictures of Dougal on the chick pic thread. Thank you all so much for the advice for this newbie!

 

[junebuggena]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/956958/mama-heating-pad-in-the-brooder-picture-heavy-update
Seriously consider this method instead of heat lamps for your next batch of chicks.

 

[jmartin0411]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/956958/mama-heating-pad-in-the-brooder-picture-heavy-update
Seriously consider this method instead of heat lamps for your next batch of chicks.

Super helpful!!! Could this be applied with any type of heating pad?

 

[junebuggena]

As long as the heating pad does not automatically turn off, it will work. That's the important thing. The chicks have constant access to a heat source, but they get to choose whether or not they need it, just like if they were being raised by a hen. And the warmth is only directly under the pad, it doesn't heat up the whole brooder.

These are two week old chicks. Their pad is on the lowest setting, and they hardly use it. It's there and on, for them to pop under for a quick warm up, and then they are right back out and about.

The chicks on the dog crate are only 6 weeks old, and were brooded the same way. They've been living outdoors for the last 2.5 weeks and are already integrated into the adult coop.
It's a much more natural and healthy method of brooding, then keeping them under a light 24/7 with no day/night cycle. Chicks are not meant to be constantly warm, and the day/night cycle helps them get the rest that they need. I find my heating pad chicks to be much healthier and hardier than heat lamp brooded chicks.

 

[AllynTal]

I know Sunbeam makes a few models of heating pad that either don't have auto-shutoff or you can disable the auto-shutoff feature. You want one of those. Also, get a model that has the option of moist heat. On those, the heating element is encased in a plastic case so it's okay if it gets wet. The chicks will end up on top of the cave pooing and the plastic case protects the heating element.

Sunbeam make a few models that have three-settings -- low, medium, and high -- with a slide button to select temperature that I think they advertise as good for arthritis sufferers because the big slide button is easy to work with diminished dexterity and little or no strength. They also make a few models that have fancy digital controls and six heat settings. I use the three-setting/slide button model.


It was only $13 at Amazon. One thing I like about this model over the digital one is that if the power goes out (or even if it just blinks), this model will come back on. The digital models don't come back on when the power is restored. You have to manually turn them back on. It's not a big deal if you're home and awake when the power fluctuates; you can turn the heating pad back on, but if you're not home or you're asleep and don't know the heating pad needs to be turned on, the bitties can get cold with no heating pad.

It works. I brooded mine outside in the coop. Here they are at just a few days old enjoying the sunshine:


And when they need to, they pop into the cave to warm up:


To get warm, they go in and press their backs against the heating pad.

And here they are at four weeks:


Keep in mind that the heating pad doesn't heat the cave. The chicks need to be able to press their backs against the pad to get warm, so the ceiling of the cave needs to be low enough that they can do that and the ceiling will need to be raised as they get bigger.

 

[Robert M]

This is my first year raising chicks from young ages, and so far I've not had the greatest success. We started with two lf buff brahmas, and lost one. Got 14 lf light brahmas and lost five, and recently got 3 cuckoo marans and 3 mix straight runs, and I've lost two all of these to illness. I cannot figure out if it is disease or possibly vitamin e deficiency? All of the chicks tend to get weak and listless, depressed and then die. No respiratory symptoms, all healthy poop the whole time, eat and drink. It seems they have purely neuro
symptoms and depression. I have cleaned and cleaned and cleaned. They get fresh water and food every day with washings of the water bowl and food bowl between feedings. Fresh pine shavings daily. I keep mine on heat lamp until 4 weeks (unless they start flying, then I'm forced to move them outside). The remainder of my lf brahmas are fine, they are all outside and are now about 7 weeks old and I'm beginning to sex them out. But I'm down to the two cuckoo marines and a black copper maran (pretty sure) inside and am just praying they're going to be fine. One is for sure a cockerel and he is doing beautifully, and the black copper baby seems fine, the other seemed a little down and out last night but seems fine this morning.

Thoughts?
What can I do to ensure this doesn't happen in the future. We lost three brahmas and one of the mix run babies to what we have now figured out is one of our dogs who is now being rehomed. He literally tore the wire to our run apart. I had hoped so badly it was a predator we didn't know about, but alas.

Anyways, what can I do to increase my living chick ratio?
------------------------------------------

It sounds like you need to get your stock from a reputable dealer, who stands behind their products. I had a friend in Maine who had the same problem.

Switched supplier, only ONE loss out of 50 this year.

 

[16 paws]

Be very careful about putting chicks in a metal or plastic brooder with a heat lamp. It gets way too hot for them. I also highly recommend the mama heat pad brooder. I am using it for a blind chick right now that was attacked and her mama rejected her. She is using it just fine.
Marie

 

[Robert M]

I am also passionate. I believe people are more important than animals.

What I am saying is that it is wrong to judge people before you know their situation.

There's your answer, after you've judged me. I'm talking from 50 years experience.
And YOU don't know ME!

Fertig!