All my chicks died in 20 minutes!

[aart]

Totes have no circulation.

Right....then why would you want to do this:

You can flip a tote upside down and cut a hole in the center for a light .Cut one side out for them to go in and out .Works like a heat plate or heating pad and they aren't in the dark.

A heat lamp sitting on a tote sounds like a recipe for disaster.
...and what's wrong with them being in the dark?

 

[hysop]

Were they indoors?
Pine shavings aren’t recommended for chicks.

 

[629864]

My first thoughts were the temperature being too cold, as chicks that young need a warmer environment. I dont know why all would die in such a short span though.

 

[nuthatched]

Any Febreeze or scented candles? In thinking it was a Teflon coated light.

 

[RubelliteRose]

There’s a post “TSC bedding poisoned chicks”

Is that the same kind?

I’m so sorry.

No, that discussion was about recycled coffee ground bedding

 

[BlindLemonChicken]

Opening the top doesn't provide air movement at the level the chicks are at and CO2 would build up in the bottom of the tote. Drilling holes in the tote near the bottom would help move the air around just as it should be in a chicken coop. For the air to move up in a coop and pull ammonia fumes away from roosting hens you will also need ventilation at top and bottom

 

[Flockincrazy]

I've used pine shavings for all my chicks and never had any issues. I believe it is cedar shavings that shouldn't be used.
So sorry about your chicks.
What kind of light bulb are you using? I have heard of some being coated in teflon for safety, but teflon fumes can kill birds.

I use bulbs you have to read the box they say Teflon free at least mine does

 

[bobbi-j]

I'm adding a thermostat controller to regulate the light in my brooder and adding a heating pad in case either one malfunctions .I keep my baby chicks in my bedroom the first week to 10 days because they're fragile.I wouldn't use a heating pad by itself.

I use a heating pad alone, and they are in the coop from day 1. The chicks I’ve raised with the heating pad method are healthier, feathered out and off heat sooner than the ones I’ve started with a heat lamp.

 

[TwoShepherds]

Oh gosh, I’m so sorry for your loss. The chicks didn’t have any build up of poop on their vents, did they? How did they act before they passed? Did you notice anything abnormal with their droppings?

I had a chick die in my hands the other day. I had noticed that it had a bit of poop stuck to the feathers near its vent. Pasty butt can kill a chick, so I pulled it from the brooder to clean it off at the sink with warm water. I’ve done this dozens of times with chicks in the past so I didn’t think a thing of it. But right as I finished this one suddenly went limp in my hands and was gone. I feel terrible…the blockage might not have even been bad enough to need intervention. I was just trying to stay on top of things. I was gentle, chick was not smothered…I think it died from some combination of fright, being cold from the cleaning, and/or some kind of cardiac defect. It was one of the smaller of the 19 chicks I hatched.

It is really sad and disappointing to lose a chick. I use the large flake TSC pine shavings all the time…I think it is safe unless the chicks were ingesting a lot of it. I hope you and your family try again with a new set of chicks.

 

[junior67]

I have used just the MHP since day 1 with my 2 batches worked GREAT! I have never had a heat lamp. I like they they are used to a natural night and day cycle from the start. I don't like getting them used to false light then having them have to figure out natural day light cycles. First batch I brooded indoors the whole time. 2nd one was inside for about a week. They have been outside in a coop brooder for 10 days now. so they are around 2.5 weeks old and have a TON of feathers already.