14 dead chicks found in coop!

[wvwzzz]

Hi All

It was a sad day on the homestead today, I woke to find 14 of my 6 week old chicks dead near the corner of their coop .

6 weeks ago I purchased 300 day old chicks, I had hoped to help a community group by donating eggs, in exchange for donations towards the upkeep and feed for the chickens, some local families have been doing it really hard with the ‘cost of living crisis’, we are 6 hours from the nearest city.

I brooded the chicks indoors in 3 large playpens and then moved the chicks into their coop/shed last week. It’s predator proof with 2.4m fence panels and electric fence. As the chicks get bigger, I plan to open up the fence panels to allow them into the run. I put 2 of the playpens into the shed when I moved them outside so the chicks would have something familiar and learn to perch on the sides however, I unzipped the flaps to allow them to move in and out. I have been keeping a dim night light on however I turned the light off 2 nights ago.

Last night 30 chicks roosted on the sides of the playpen with the remainder inside or just outside on the floor. I have been concerned as at roosting time all the chicks try and pile on top of each other however eventually they seem to settle down.

Last night was one of the coldest nights since they have been outside, around 4 deg C (40 deg F) but all the chicks are fully feathered.

When I woke this morning, I found 14 of them dead on the floor away from the playpen, quite close to the corner of the shed but not in the corner. The 14 dead chicks included ‘upside-down chick’, a chick that had very bad wry neck, I nursed her back to health in the incubator during the first week, spoon feeding her every 2 hours .

I don’t understand how it happened; all the chicks went to sleep in the black play pen but were found dead on the other side of the shed. I have noticed the chicks move to that corner when they get spooked (rooster crowing, loud noises etc).

All I can think of is something must have really scared them in the early morning and they have funneled down the corridor between the other playpen and the corner and crushed each other. The strange thing is, the dead chicks were some of the largest in the flock (with the exception of upside-down chick).

Some of the chick’s necks were contorted at weird angles and some still had their eyes open with their beaks full of dirt. There was a wooden beam running around 6” above the floor, perhaps the chicks have been pinned to the beam and broken their necks. 13 chicks were found in a pile in the large red circle on my photos and the upside-down chick was found in the smaller circle.

Spoiler: Spoiler - Photos of the dead chicks.

I have since moved the playpen that was closest to the corner, out of the shed and put a wooden skirt along the edge of the wall to smooth the corners and turned the light back on.

Tonight 20 or so roosted and the rest piled into the one remaining playpen. Tomorrow I plan to get rid of the other playpen and install some proper roosting bars. Without the playpen I am concerned they will pile along the solid walls, the playpen has some flexibility to the sides and holes in the fabric netting but it seems too restrictive when 300 chicks pile into the one playpen. I had hoped they would roost on the sides of the playpen before moving to their adult perches but they are insistent on piling on top of each other, they roost during the day but not at night .

Any advice on how I can prevent this is really appreciated and any comments on what could be changed. It was heartbreaking to find the pile of dead chicks, I had only lost 2 chicks prior to this due to deformities.

Thank you so much, I have included some photos of my set up and the dead chicks under the spoiler tag.

 

[FarmerGirl101]

Was there any blood? I don't see any in the photos but I want to confirm. What has been the lowest temperature the past few nights? Does the area where they roost get any drafts? The mouths full of dirt could have been because the other chickens were disturbing the bodies. What is their setup at night/where do they sleep specifically?

 

[gimmie birdies]

They may have crushed eachother because of the cold.

 

[FarmerGirl101]

Agreed, I've found that they look contorted when passing away from hypothermia. Like their necks look all funky.

 

[Bsmac]

I`m sorry that is very sad...

 

[BlindLemonChicken]

I’ve put chicks out younger than that at similar temps. I think something else is going on. Not sure what though

 

[NatJ]

All I can think of is something must have really scared them in the early morning and they have funneled down the corridor between the other playpen and the corner and crushed each other.

That is the main thing I can think of, too.
300 chicks can be pretty heavy if they pile up, and that can be pretty hard on the ones at the bottom.

The strange thing is, the dead chicks were some of the largest in the flock (with the exception of upside-down chick).

Just a guess, but maybe the biggest chicks ran fastest or pushed through the rest, so they got there first, so they ended up on the bottom of the pile?

I really do not know for sure.

 

[wvwzzz]

Was there any blood? I don't see any in the photos but I want to confirm. What has been the lowest temperature the past few nights? Does the area where they roost get any drafts? The mouths full of dirt could have been because the other chickens were disturbing the bodies. What is their setup at night/where do they sleep specifically?

I didn't see any real blood, one of the chicks seemed to have had some feathers pulled out with a few small blood spots where the feathers would have been (by the others I think) but nothing to make me thing a predator got in.

The lowest temperature was on the night of the pile up (40 degrees). I tried to make the roost as draft free as possible but it is possible a draft could have got in, the highest wind gusts recorded were 20 miles per hour around 6am in a direction which could have resulted in a draft. The chicks roosted in and perched on the black play pen (in the photos) but were found dead near the corner behind the white playpen.

Maybe the flock got cold during the night and moved out of their playpen pile into the corner. I think I need to get a camera into the coop.

Thanks!

 

[wvwzzz]

Thanks for the replies everyone, it really helps.

The chicks all survived last night, I have made some improvements to the coop to try and prevent a recurrence. I have fitted a wooden skirt along the corner to cover the timber wall support and to blunt the corner. I have moved a playpen out and installed some wooden perching. Tomorrow I will put fit a grain storage warpaint off cut to one of the walls to prevent drafts and allow me to roll it up for ventilation in summer.

The new roost bars are very popular during the day but none of the chicks use it at night, they are insistent in piling into the remaining playpen with about 30 roosting above on the playpen walls. I am a bit hesitant to remove the playpen as the sides unzip so they can get out if they need to. I'm scared they will pile into the solid wooden corner without the playpen otherwise. I don't know why the perverse chicks can't use their nice perch! It would help my stress levels.

Would you remove the remaining playpen and build more roosts? Really they are too big for it now but they seem determined to pile where ever they go.

I think the deaths were caused either by a fright early morning or they migrated to the corner during the night due to a draft or something.
None of my adult hens seemed fussed so I don't think a predator had been around unless it was a bird of pray or cat prowling on the outside but the chicks were very edgy the morning after the deaths.

I put a couple of photos up, the new perch and corner improvements and how they are instant on sleeping in the playpen.