5 chicks died over night

[sumluk]

HELLO!!!

out of 29 chicks 5 have died. They all looked and acted healthy. None of them were pasted up, i've been washing fluffy butts. I now some chicks just never thrive, but all of them seemed healthy and alert when I went to bed. They were hatched on the 28th i received them on the 1st. Any ideass or tips? I tried searching previous post .... but all kinds of topics came up. ANY ideas and advice are very much appreciated.
PS_ they have sugar in the water as directed and heat



Thanks!!!

 

[easttxchick]

Could be shipping stress from the cold-that would be my best guess.

 

[ranchhand]

What's the brooder temp? Can they get away from or closer to the heat as they want?
What kind of food?
What kind of bedding?

There are so many little things that can be off just a tiny bit, can you give the details, please?

OH! And welcome to BYC!

 

[Zed3]

Sorry for your loss. I have had chicks get smothered by their siblings. Were they all sleeping in a pile to stay warm?

 

[Duramaxgirl]

I lost 3 in the first 24 hours that I got mine. I'm almost positive it was to much heat. Do you have a thermometer in there so you know what the temp is?

 

[sumluk]

bedding-pine shavings
heat - at 92 and they have room to move away
feed- commercial chick starter bought at farmers co-op


thanks!

 

[KimberlyJ]

Sometimes chicks will eat the bedding. For the first several days put a few layers of papertowels over the shavings. This will also help you monitor the poo in case anyone has diarrhea etc.

 

[ranchhand]

Quote:
Now I'm stumped, sounds like everything is right. I have nothing to base it on, but I'd stop the sugar in the water. I've never used it and in 18+ years I've only lost one chick. Sniff the food, make sure it's fresh. It MIGHT be the cold from shipping, but unlikely since they were running around.

I'm fresh out of ideas, sorry.

 

[sumluk]

well thanks everyone for responding sooooooo fast! I'm thinking maybe some weak ones just didnt thrive. I've tried to do everything to ensure they are happy and healthy .......... and I did have paper towels down over the pine yesterday and removed it this AM so they knew where the food was so....... IDK Like I said I think they were probably just not thrivers

but I'm in AR and though my area got no snow i know they were cold during shipping maybe some just gave up??????? I just really dont know. My mom was shocked with the loss when I told her. she said she never lost but 2 chicks when she was raising them. Who knows????? cold/shipping stress..... I did have 2 that had runny stools but i chalked this up to stress from shipping?????? Some have told me chicks on a chick starter DO NOT need grit??? TRUE or FALSE

 

[KimberlyJ]

I agree with the other posters. It does sound like you are doing everything right. Maybe it is what it is? IMO they do not need grit yet.