2 chicks dead and one with empty crop

[Nynaeve2005]

I would test the temperature of the brooder plate. I've heard horror stories about the big black plates from TS.

Thank you! That scares me and makes me want to take the littles out that still actually need the heat and use a different heat source in a different brooder. No heat for the older ones being it doesn't get cold in the room they are in. High 60's at night is fine for chicks that have gotten some feathers?

 

[2ndTink]

I have always (4 years) used heat lamps. I got my first brooder plate this year as they are supposed to be safe but I ended up doing the heat lamp for the first 4 to 5 weeks then moved them to the brooder plate.

It worked well for me, it helped to wean them off thr light source at night as I had younger crews coming up so there was always a glow in the room and they didn't go from heat lamp light to pitch black at night. I had an early hatch I went from the light to no light and a ceramic heat bulb, they suffocated a chick the first night and they were 6 or 7 weeks old. After that I gave them a night light every night, they were a really flighty group. The only change was not having a light source so that's why I've gone to the heat lamp, then brooder plate with a "night light" and then to darkness.