3 week chicks, acting fine but suddenly dying

[GuineaMania]

Final update: our solution is light off during the day but on through the night! Leaving it on and further away was still too warm and one got too stressed out like the previous ones did( does not make me feel great knowing the cause was preventable) however she is doing GREAT after no light and electrolytes ♡ they're all very happy and active again!

Awesome!

 

[dyearous]

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!

Don't use pine shavings! Use straw.

 

[Slater0805]

Don't use pine shavings! Use straw.

Just wondering why not? I'll have to see if I know someone who sells them for a reasonable price.

 

[RoyalChick]

Don't use pine shavings! Use straw.

Why?

 

[HydroGardener]

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?
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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.

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.

I've read numerous posts where fumes from overheated Teflon pans are toxic to chicks and would cause sudden death. If they stay in the kitchen, avoid using Teflon cookware.

 

[Slater0805]

I've read numerous posts where fumes from overheated Teflon pans are toxic to chicks and would cause sudden death. If they stay in the kitchen, avoid using Teflon cookware.

It was heat stress, they're great now after electrolytes & light only during nights. We don't use anything but cast iron.