If you decide to wait to move them and need more room, you can always make another brooder out of a plastic tub. (I use chicken wire with a few rocks over the top when they start to try to fly out.) You'd need another light, but they're not too expensive. If this death has you that shaken up, you should probably wait to move them. I've only had two chicks die... One I had to cull because it had such horribly splayed feathered legs that started to bleed, and the others started picking on it so badly that it was going to be killed. That was a nightmare! The other I got free from the feed store because it was already doing badly, and they were hoping I could save it since they don't really have the time to baby a sick chick. That didn't work, but my friend at the feed store wasn't too hopeful when she sent it home with me. Luckily it died before the kids got home from school.
Just realize that what happened wasn't intentional, but moving them so young is very stressful for them. It amazes me how many make it through any hatchery shipping process! You meant well by giving the little kids a chance to see chicks at the pre-school, so you didn't do it on purpose! You were trying to be kind and share the great experience your kids were having with them! Your heart was in the right place. Just bringing some day old bantams home today stressed me out because of how cold they got in the car, but don't beat yourself up about it. Give the poor chick a nice funeral in the back yard with your kids, and don't move them again until they're old enough unless the farmer tells you exactly how to do it safely.
Just be warned... It is HEART BREAKING if any of the chickens you've grown to love get killed by predators! Make sure your coop is raccoon proof and other predator proof!!! We learned that the hard way and lost my oldest son's favorite hen. My kids were upset, but they dealt with it. My brother free ranges his chickens, and he loses a lot more than I do, and his young kids are just fine. He tells them it's natural for a hawk to get a chicken once in a while, and they cry, but they get over it. His point is that his chickens may have a shorter life than my chickens, but they have a lot more fun too.
Be sure to tell your son that his chick who died had a very good life even if it was short. Go back to basic medicated chick feed, fresh water, and chick grit, and don't move them until the farmer tells you to. Your chicks are obviously very loved and very spoiled. You're doing fine.
believe me it bothers me more than the kids! my son is in a program on a farm where they raise food. the kids tend to the gardens and animals, he's learning that the quality of life is much more than longevity when it comes to chickens! when we go to the farm he points out laying chickens versus food chickens, like it's a matter of fact, which it is! lessons i wish i had learned myself, everything's a "pet" to me!
