2 chicks died from being stepped on

[pax12]

2 chicks died from being stepped on

is there a way for this to stop happening

 

[pax12]

anyone

 

[pdsavage]

In the brooder or the incubator?
If you feel you have weak chicks and need to pull em,do it fast and spritz some water to aviod a humidity drop....

 

[Ridgerunner]

Yes, a little more information would help. What can you tell us of the circumstances? How old were they? How many did you have?

Sometimes chicks die, then are stepped on. Sometimes if you have a lot, they will get frightened and pile in a corner, with those on the bottom getting crushed. Or maybe they are getting cold at night and piling up. I've seen mine step on each other a lot without any dying. I think there is probably something else working there, other than just being stepped on.

 

[pax12]

They were in the brooder a few days old

 

[kelseygirl707]

Quote:
Were they with older bigger chicks?

 

[HorseFeathers]

Quote:
Were they with older bigger chicks?

Yes, that would be important...
Also, how many chicks are in the brooder and what size is it?

 

[pax12]

they are the same age and size

 

[HorseFeathers]

Quote:
How many? What size brooder? We need more details here!

 

[Ariel301]

I had some trouble with mine doing that this year too. They were all the same age and size, and not overcrowded, but some of my Old English Game chicks will get really aggressive over food, and if one chick had a bite of something extra tasty, the others would trample it down trying to steal it. A few got killed that way, trampled and pecked until they died--or trampled down into food/water dishes so that they inhaled it and died from that.

The best you can probably do is to make sure they have enough room to move around, and that chicks are grouped by size. Overcrowding can lead to trampling, pecking, feather pulling, and even cannibalism. Some of mine from the same hatch ended up growing faster than others, so I set up a second brooder for the smaller ones. If you've got a few you notice are super aggressive and more likely to trample the others, you might try grouping them in different brooders by personality; get the bullies away into their own area.