I've been raising chicks for over four years, but this year I'm having a horrible death rate and I can't figure out why.
March 14 I got 6 laying hen chicks from our local blue seal feeds. I think they were about a week or two old when I got them cause they weren't super tiny and started looking more teen like right away.
I put them in a plastic tote with wire cover, heat lamp (same setup I use every year), medicated chic crumble, water. Used Chuck's pads and pine shavings for bedding.
March 28 I got 5 mix run chicks from tractor supply, I originally put them in with the chicks from March 14, but two died right away, so I separated them to another plastic tote with wire lid, same setup.
April 9 it was a really nice spring day, so I brought them outside in the sun with their food and water, they stretched out in the sun looked comfortable, had a great time running around and scratching, and I brought them inside when they started to huddle. I had changed the bedding in their bins, didn't use chemicals, just dumped old and added fresh. About 3pm, about 6hrs later they started dropping, they'd chirp really loudly like they were in pain, looked tired and started to kind of melt and deflate, looked like they were having a hard time breathing and then dead. All but one of each batch, in separate bins, were dead within two hours.
I put those two chicks together in the smaller bin since they seemed lonely and they are still doing great, I've even moved them out to the brooder in my outdoor coop to get them used to the big girls. Since I had bad luck with buying chicks I borrowed an incubator and incubated 17 eggs from my hens, I have a rooster. 12 of them hatched Friday into Saturday. All chicks looked good and healthy, they dried out and fluffed up, I moved them to my large plastic tote with wire lid, Chuck's pads, medicated chic crumble, water, heat lamp that was right around 90-95, they seemed comfortable at this temp, not huddling, no panting. They were eating great, drinking great, no pasty butt Sunday, Monday. Monday my daughter did open a window next to them to call out to me a couple of times, but I had her close it right away. Tuesday morning I added some pine shavings and let my 10 yr old sons hold them, they were very gental and no trama happened. Tues Eve the same thing happens, they just start dropping and I only have one left still alive. 11 died in about 2 hrs.
What is going on??
Was it the temp change in both cases? It's the only thing that seems the same with all three groups? But why would one chick from each batch live while the others all die? Or maybe the shavings? I'm using the same bag of shavings on our goats and guinea pigs and they are fine. The feed? But the two that lived are still eating it. I placed another order to get another dozen chicks but would like these to survive!!
March 14 I got 6 laying hen chicks from our local blue seal feeds. I think they were about a week or two old when I got them cause they weren't super tiny and started looking more teen like right away.
I put them in a plastic tote with wire cover, heat lamp (same setup I use every year), medicated chic crumble, water. Used Chuck's pads and pine shavings for bedding.
March 28 I got 5 mix run chicks from tractor supply, I originally put them in with the chicks from March 14, but two died right away, so I separated them to another plastic tote with wire lid, same setup.
April 9 it was a really nice spring day, so I brought them outside in the sun with their food and water, they stretched out in the sun looked comfortable, had a great time running around and scratching, and I brought them inside when they started to huddle. I had changed the bedding in their bins, didn't use chemicals, just dumped old and added fresh. About 3pm, about 6hrs later they started dropping, they'd chirp really loudly like they were in pain, looked tired and started to kind of melt and deflate, looked like they were having a hard time breathing and then dead. All but one of each batch, in separate bins, were dead within two hours.
I put those two chicks together in the smaller bin since they seemed lonely and they are still doing great, I've even moved them out to the brooder in my outdoor coop to get them used to the big girls. Since I had bad luck with buying chicks I borrowed an incubator and incubated 17 eggs from my hens, I have a rooster. 12 of them hatched Friday into Saturday. All chicks looked good and healthy, they dried out and fluffed up, I moved them to my large plastic tote with wire lid, Chuck's pads, medicated chic crumble, water, heat lamp that was right around 90-95, they seemed comfortable at this temp, not huddling, no panting. They were eating great, drinking great, no pasty butt Sunday, Monday. Monday my daughter did open a window next to them to call out to me a couple of times, but I had her close it right away. Tuesday morning I added some pine shavings and let my 10 yr old sons hold them, they were very gental and no trama happened. Tues Eve the same thing happens, they just start dropping and I only have one left still alive. 11 died in about 2 hrs.
What is going on??
Was it the temp change in both cases? It's the only thing that seems the same with all three groups? But why would one chick from each batch live while the others all die? Or maybe the shavings? I'm using the same bag of shavings on our goats and guinea pigs and they are fine. The feed? But the two that lived are still eating it. I placed another order to get another dozen chicks but would like these to survive!!
