3 week chicks, acting fine but suddenly dying

[Slater0805]

New chick family here, we started with 14 now we're down to 10! We feed them medicated chick feed, I'm cleaning bedding daily with pine shaving in a good size brooder, as well as . We use a heat lamp and have a thermometer inside to keep an eye on the temp (stays between 90-95). I also wash their water out daily to prevent bacteria growth as well. There's two legbar/bcm mixes and the rest are barred rock/bcm mixes. They just suddenly drop in a convulsion and pass out of nowhere with the previous last few. The only one we noticed anything with we separated which was #3 who was breathing weird and had watery poops but no venting issues with any when I check. We don't have any local vets who see chickens so that's not an option for us unfortunately. We bought them newly hatched at 2d from a local breeder. I'm looking for advice on what to do here because I'm at a loss now since I've done all I can as far as I know outside of asking for further help here! I know I was told to not expect 100% success rate but I'm worried it's something more now!

 

[GuineaMania]

I'm so sorry to here this! If they're 3 weeks old the temperature is too hot and it should be only about 80-85 degrees. Is the whole brooder under the heat lamp, or do they have room to get away from the heat? Hopefully others chime in too!

 

[AshVau22]

So sorry for your loss Picture of brooder set up is very helpful. Did you happen to notice if there appetite decreased? Did water consumption increase? Were they moving around like the others?

 

[rosemarythyme]

Photos of set up along with as many specifics as possible, like what are you feeding, where is brooder located, etc. Turn off red light for any photos and try to get photos showing the entirety (or close to that) of the brooder.

Do you happen to be on well water?

One thing I'll note is the temps are too high for their age, the hottest part of the brooder should be around 80 with the majority of space in the brooder 70 or lower. However that's not going to cause sudden death.

 

[Slater0805]

I'm so sorry to here this! If they're 3 weeks old the temperature is too hot and it should be only about 80-85 degrees. Is the whole brooder under the heat lamp, or do they have room to get away from the heat? Hopefully others chime in too

I'm so sorry to here this! If they're 3 weeks old the temperature is too hot and it should be only about 80-85 degrees. Is the whole brooder under the heat lamp, or do they have room to get away from the heat? Hopefully others chime in too!

Thank you! I was curious about this too since I was thinking of 10min time outside around 5w but needing to bring temp down first. I have it at one side but I did move it over more to the edge for more spacing of more cooling! We have a old soda rack on the other side with no heat they like roosting on! Do you think some electrolytes would help boost them up from heat for recovery?

 

[GuineaMania]

Thank you! I was curious about this too since I was thinking of 10min time outside around 5w but needing to bring temp down first. I have it at one side but I did move it over more to the edge for more spacing of more cooling! We have a old soda rack on the other side with no heat they like roosting on! Do you think some electrolytes would help boost them up from heat for recovery?

I would definitely adjust the heat. Outside time is good for them, and electrolytes sound like a good idea to me! @rosemarythyme has a good point that the heat probably wouldn't cause sudden death, but I don't know what the root cause of the deaths are.

 

[GuineaMania]

Also, could the watery poops be due to excessive drinking because of the heat?

 

[Slater0805]

So sorry for your loss Picture of brooder set up is very helpful. Did you happen to notice if there appetite decreased? Did water consumption increase? Were they moving around like the others?

No appetite decreased, water consumption did increase. They've been fine until they're not then they just suddenly convulse and drop. They have been fluffing their feathers out so I did adjust the heat lamp prior to this. I may need to raise it significantly higher maybe?

I would definitely adjust the heat. Outside time is good for them, and electrolytes sound like a good idea to me! @rosemarythyme has a good point that the heat probably wouldn't cause sudden death, but I don't know what the root cause of the deaths are.

That's why I'm also getting confused because I do watch their poops and like I stated check vents but nothing seems wrong until literally in a matter of minutes. I'm starting to wonder if it's just too warm.

Photos of set up along with as many specifics as possible, like what are you feeding, where is brooder located, etc. Turn off red light for any photos and try to get photos showing the entirety (or close to that) of the brooder.

Do you happen to be on well water?

One thing I'll note is the temps are too high for their age, the hottest part of the brooder should be around 80 with the majority of space in the brooder 70 or lower. However that's not going to cause sudden death.

We are not on well water but our filtered water is not the best (even we don't drink it due to boil noticed frequently) we use filtered water from a water cooler(thinking maybe lack of minerals now that you mentioned this too). They are in our kitchen which is the safest place for them (kid free, draft free and animal free). I'll be having hubby get chick electrolytes tomorrow though as well to help boost that if it's heat related.

 

[Slater0805]

Also, could the watery poops be due to excessive drinking because of the heat?

Looking into it i feel this may be it

 

[GuineaMania]

Looking into it i feel this may be it