2 Dead Chicks in the fourth week????

[nlewis]

This is our first attempt at raising meat kings. We have 20 and they are four weeks.This week we lost two. Most of them have completely grown their pin feathers with others having blotches not yet in. We have them in a barn with a fenced in area about 20' x 6'. They go through about 20 litres of water every 3 days and have continual access to chick starter in a feeder that stretches over 4 feet.

We had a heat lamp on them up until this week and now have two high watt flood lights on them as it is getting colder in Atlantic Canada.

The two chicks we lost were smaller then the rest and do not have any apparent signs of pecking or unusual markings then the rest. Although smaller they are not significantly smaller and were able to reach the feeders and water like the rest.

Is there something we are doing to cause these chicks to not be as large as the rest? Any ideas why they may have died?

 

[Nemo]

First,

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Prob'ly not. They might have been females, which grow a bit slower than the males. They might have been lower on the pecking order and pushed out of the way during feeding time. They might just have been smaller birds.

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There are any number of reasons, none of which is really provable... If they get cold, chicks huddle together, and occasionally some get smothered. They might have had a bad reaction to any vaccinations they might have gotten at the hatchery, or to medicated feed, if you are using it. They might have fallen victim to some illness. They might even have had some congenital defects that finally did them in (which also might have explained their being a bit smaller).