Baby chick died and I don't know why

[anniemarie01]

I don't even know what to say I feel so bad. I picked up my (maybe 1-3 day old) Silkie chick about 12 hours ago from a feed store that gets its chicks from hoovers. The rest of my chicks (5) are supposed to come in two weeks, so since I had one coming early I was going to introduce it to a hen to raise. Long story short the hen pecked her (not extremely aggressive, but also not too light) so I decided to put her back in the house and I would get another chick to keep her company until the rest of the chicks come in. However, I woke up in the middle of the night and found her dead. She was perfectly fine before I went to bed so I don't know what happened. She was drinking a lot of water (eating maybe five pieces of medicated food), was moving around the kiddie pool I'm using to keep her in and she wasn't huddled beneath or away from it. She had pasty butt when she came home but I fixed that before I went to bed (around 12:30 or 1am) Her poop was watery and foamy aside from the pasty butt. When I found her (2:30am) she had a little bit of pasty butt and her mouth was slightly open. I don't know why she died and it's driving me crazy I need to know before the other chicks come in. She didn't seem lethargic or sick at all before I went to bed. She was chirping a lot but I figured she was lonely so I was going to get another chick in the morning. If anyone can help at all, please respond.

 

[Artichoke Lover]

Did she have a heat lamp or brooder plate where she could get warm?

 

[Chookchicken]

I’m just interested (probably a stupid question) but did you have a heat source for her?

 

[anniemarie01]

Did she have a heat lamp or brooder plate where she could get warm?

I used a heat lamp and it wasn't too hot or cold

 

[anniemarie01]

I’m just interested (probably a stupid question) but did you have a heat source for her?

Yes I had a heat lamp and ample room where she could move towards it or away

 

[Artichoke Lover]

I’m afraid there isn’t really much to go off of here. Maybe someone else can figure it out. There are a lot of reasons why chicks dont make especially those of age 3 days and under. It’s very possible that the chick had gotten chilled or trampled while at the feed store or just generally had a rough time in shipping on the way there. It also doesn’t tend to show up immediately if a chick has some sort of internal defect since they live off the yolk until about day 3. Considering how young the chick is and how short a time you had her I wouldn’t be overly concerned with something contagious. 3 days old should be too young for coccidia to be the cause. I would just clean everything really well with a bleach or steam and maybe replace the box if you used cardboard. I wouldn’t worry over it too much.

Sorrry for you loss

 

[rosemarythyme]

When the hen pecked her did she peck her on the head? Did the chick have a vaulted skull?

 

[MissE]

The hen may have caused an injury you didn't see. Was this a broody hen? If not, she probably wanted nothing to do with the chick. Even if she was broody, there's no guarantee a hen will accept chicks.

It also could have been severely stressed. Imagine being transported, attacked by a large, strange chicken, then put in a tub by yourself, all when you're only a couple days old.

 

[anniemarie01]

When the hen pecked her did she peck her on the head? Did the chick have a vaulted skull?

It happened so quick I'm not sure where she pecked her. I just looked up a vaulted skull but I have no idea if she has one. I attached a picture if you can tell?

 

[anniemarie01]

The hen may have caused an injury you didn't see. Was this a broody hen? If not, she probably wanted nothing to do with the chick. Even if she was broody, there's no guarantee a hen will accept chicks.

It also could have been severely stressed. Imagine being transported, attacked by a large, strange chicken, then put in a tub by yourself, all when you're only a couple days old.

It was her first time being broody (she's only a little over a year old). The hen didn't seemed distressed when I put her under there I think she was more confused so I kept my hand close, but then she was looking at her for while and then pecked her really fast.

If stress is a big factor, do you think I should even try with another broody hen and new chicks? I'm getting 6 chicks in about 10 days and I have another broody (about 5 years old) who's sat on eggs before (unfortunately only one hatched but she died). Do you think this scenario would be better since they're in a group of 6 and the broody already hatched eggs? I was hoping the hen would raise the chicks but now I'm very worried for another one to get stressed or pecked. I don't know if maybe I should just give up on the hens adopting chicks and just raise them inside like I normally do. I've also only tried the hen adopting chicks this one time.