Chick mortality rates - what do I do?

[Blasingame]

Just read your post.....I think that "TRUE BYC ADDICT" , hit the nail on the head.......you are keeping your chick much too warm.....they are piling up to try to escape the heat......there should be a warm spot under the heat lamp and then they should be able to move away to regulate their own body heat......they should not be enclosed on all sides, this lets the heat build up to intolerable levels.....AT HOME IN ALABAMA

 

[Blooie]

I think your chicks might be getting two warm. A heat lamp suspended over a plastic tote type brooder can hold an awful lot of heat, and then you have their body heat besides. Weak and listless are certainly symptoms that can also be found with diseases, but it seems to me the common denominator in all the deaths has been a heat lamp suspended over a brooder, and overheated chicks don't want to move much either. You said that you didn't think chilling was the problem because the heat lamp is maintaining a fairly even temperature throughout the brooder. What do you do when you get too warm? Look for a cooler spot? Yep, so are they, most likely, but with the heat concentrated over their entire brooder they don't have any place to cool off. Remember too that as they grow feathers and become much more active, they will heat up faster, too.

Think about a broody hen with her chicks. She's not heating the entire space they occupy. She's just sorta there. If they get chilled or scared, they run under her for a quick warm-up and/or some security. They aren't constantly in temperatures of 95 the first week, 90 the second, etc. It's only warm when she covers them. The rest of the time they are running around exploring, even in really cold temperatures. Some members have reported their chicks running over the snow, then running back under her. This is why so many of us are now brooding under Mama Heating Pad, and having great success with it. It mimics Mama Hen as closely as possible.

Do I know that's what the problem is? Of course not. If you do have something in their environment that is causing the deaths, of course you want to get to the bottom of it, and that can best be done, as was previously mentioned, by sending one off for testing.

I am so sorry you are having such a hard time, and commend you for wanting to get to the bottom of it to avoid any more chick deaths. It's tough to come out, look in the brooder, and see those little guys lost, I know.

 

[PamelaJo]

Curious: Are you using medicated chick food? I used it with all my chicks until I'm ready to put them on mash and scratch.

 

[Robert M]

Just read your post.....I think that "TRUE BYC ADDICT" , hit the nail on the head.......you are keeping your chick much too warm.....they are piling up to try to escape the heat......there should be a warm spot under the heat lamp and then they should be able to move away to regulate their own body heat......they should not be enclosed on all sides, this lets the heat build up to intolerable levels.....AT HOME IN ALABAMA

Howdy,
That's why most of use use a 6x6 enclosure with a 4x4 incubation brooder. It is a very hot environment under the light/heaters. You're right, they need a respite from the heat. If they cannot get away, they will die. They are smarter than WE are, even at newborn stage. They KNOW what they need.

OTS: I have a very good friend in Elba Alabama.

 

[Robert M]

Curious: Are you using medicated chick food? I used it with all my chicks until I'm ready to put them on mash and scratch.

Do you know that those medications include government mandated GMO medications? The Mormons, Mennonites and Amish have been fighting this for decades and decades!!

 

[Blooie]

Actually the medicated foods contain Amprol, which isn't really a "medication" at all....it is a Thiamin blocker. And being one of the few Catholic families in an almost totally Mormon community, I'm not sure where you got your facts on "Mormons...........fighting this for decades!!" We are in a farming community, and I can tell you first hand that most of the farmers here use Round-up Ready Beets for sugar beet production. Every friend and neighbor I have here is Mormon. So a blanket statement like that just isn't accurate, which leads me to question your response totally.

Sorry, not trying to be argumentative but before tossing out opinions as facts it's best to have the facts.

 

[Robert M]

Actually the medicated foods contain Amprol, which isn't really a "medication" at all....it is a Thiamin blocker. And being one of the few Catholic families in an almost totally Mormon community, I'm not sure where you got your facts on "Mormons...........fighting this for decades!!" We are in a farming community, and I can tell you first hand that most of the farmers here use Round-up Ready Beets for sugar beet production. Every friend and neighbor I have here is Mormon. So a blanket statement like that just isn't accurate, which leads me to question your response totally.

Sorry, not trying to be argumentative but before tossing out opinions as facts it's best to have the facts.

My "facts" came from Mennonites. They and the mormons have been "at it" for years, so I am not getting into the "religious" BS.
Let it lie, as far as I'm concerned, I will NOT debate facts.

 

[lazy gardener]

Time for a block.

 

[jmartin0411]

Lazy Gardener - A block? Sorry not clear what you ,meant

I have had them on medicated feed. It is not something that I normally do, and intend to switch everyone once I decide if I am going to mix my own or find an organic feed I like and can afford. But right now I am trying to make the best choices for my flock.

I did lose two chicks last week out of a new batch. one was quite small, and I still feel it got cold. The other stopped eating and drinking, went listless. I brought it inside (have an outside brooder with outdoor sun, heat pad) and put it in a container next to the turkey poults under a lamp but not fully under. I did this with another of the same breed who was acting a bit off and it bounced right back. This one did not, and continued to not eat or drink. I've got a broad base antibiotic that I'm trying to decide if I should do a round with the entire flock, or not. Otherwise I'm rather at a loss.

 

[Blasingame]

Thanks for the post Robert......The medicated foods do contain a mild antibiotic, at least what I can buy here does......My brand does not contain Amprol.......You said that the Mormons, Mennonites, and The Amish have been fighting this for years.......Some do wanting a more "natural" product (eggs and meat)......Don't know why that lady took offense .....To each his own....thanks for your post......Larry, ....AT HOME IN ALABAMA.