Baby chicks keep dying

[TennesseeLinda]

I have been trying to raise baby chicks, I am buying them from tractor supply, I have the recommended food, bedding, heat lamp, but my chicks start to die after a day or 2 and by 4-5 days they’re all dead. I have the temp between 90-100 and have the lamp on one side so they have a cool off side, I don’t know what I’m doing wrong, I have done so much research and takes to so many people and am told I am doing everything right. Can someone please help I’m tired of seeing them die. I am not getting anymore until I can figure out what I’m doing wrong

Ok, start by making sure that you're NOT using CEDAR shavings! Use pine shavings only. Hay works too! Try to keep the little poop piles cleaned up, and change out the bedding as often as necessary. Wash feeders and waterers in hot, soapy water every 2 days, but rinse out well on the "off" days. I always, always, ALWAYS sprinkle Cayenne pepper generously into their NON-medicated chick starter, and I always put Rooster Booster powder in their drinking water - year round! (1/3 teas per gallon of water). It's best to watch them as much as possible too, so you can see what's going on in the brooder box/tote. The 1st week, temp should be 95° (not 100!). Week 2, 90 degrees, week 3, 85 degrees, etc..
We ALL lose a chick (or two) sometimes, but that's just Mother Nature's way of doing things. Sad, but true. Watch all the chicks' behavior frequently, as that will be your clue, as to what may be wrong. If some are laying around panting with their mouths open, this indicates overheating, so you'd simply need to raise the height of your heat lamp! And if you notice your chicks huddling together in a pile under the heat lamp, then lower the height of your brooder light! If they're being kept in a cage, then drafts could be the problem, because of that vital heat constantly escaping - causing their body heat to become too low. A mama hen is best, but when in a brooder, they MUST BE KEPT WARM ENOUGH. Hope this helped, and that you have much success in the future! Linda

 

[BFen]

24 is a lot of chicks to lose. There probably is something else at play. There is no way you're doing something so wrong that 24 chicks die and you didn't figure it out yet. I say something is tainted, either the food, water or bedding. If you haven't tossed it all yet, do so, or send it to a laboratory so they can do a recall. Did you buy all the chicks from the same TSC? If so, they could have an infected warehouse or something. Talk about a murder mystery.

 

[nancylee679]

I have been trying to raise baby chicks, I am buying them from tractor supply, I have the recommended food, bedding, heat lamp, but my chicks start to die after a day or 2 and by 4-5 days they’re all dead. I have the temp between 90-100 and have the lamp on one side so they have a cool off side, I don’t know what I’m doing wrong, I have done so much research and takes to so many people and am told I am doing everything right. Can someone please help I’m tired of seeing them die. I am not getting anymore until I can figure out what I’m doing wrong

Have you checked their vents? When they poop sometimes it gets crusty and clogs. You need to make sure it’s clean. A little water on a paper towel and clean their little bottoms. Other than that I am stumped.

 

[getaclue]

Just lower than head height, it should be about 95 degrees for the first week. Move your heat source to one end, instead of in the middle. That way they can move from warm to cool, as they choose. Make sure it's NOT a teflon coated bulb. In my experience, all chicks do better if you put a bit of Nutri-Drench (feed store) OR Poly-Vi-Sol for infants without iron (pharmacy), into their water, for the first several days. Don't handle, or disturb them much for the first few days. I don't care for shavings at all. I use the waffled Rubbermaid shelf liner, and cut to size. I get a couple rolls, and make several, so they can be changed daily. They can be rinsed out, and tossed into the washer/dryer to keep clean. I don't have to worry about them eating any of the shavings, or getting wet, if they spill a bit of water. Be sure to dip their beaks into their waterer when you first put them in their set-up. Keep food in a feeder, but I put some in small piles around the brooder floor too. The shelf liner makes it easy to see when they need more.

At the first sign of runny poops, etc. put them on Corid. If they are on medicated feed, don't forget to figure the medication in the feed, into the Corid dosage. Be sure to keep their vents clean.

Every week, lower the temp by 5 degrees. Week 1 = 95, Week 2 = 90 etc., until they feather out.

 

[Tambrower]

I have had 16 and am down to 4. Mine keep dying also. Also bought from TSC. They seem to be doing great. Then just start breathing heavy and die. I just found out the food I bought from TSC was or might have been recalled. I don’t have the actual bag as we dumped it in a trash can. I am heart broken.

 

[Kiki]

To much heat!!!! If the chickens are kept in a room free of drafts and at least 65 to75 degrees I would not use any heat. When they get their feathers and the night time lows outside are no lower than 60 I put them outside. The ONLY time I lost baby chicks was do to keeping them to hot.

I agree.
I'm reading this thread now, from the beginning, and this is the first I've seen someone mention you are keeping the container TOO HOT.
95-100 is just too hot.

 

[Kiki]

From the look of your setup, the heat lamp is way too far away. It needs to be down low directly over the chicks. Temperature on the floor under the heat lamp should be about 100 F.

No way..
100 is too hot.

 

[SurferchickinSB]

I agree.
I'm reading this thread now, from the beginning, and this is the first I've seen someone mention you are keeping the container TOO HOT.
95-100 is just too hot.

I agree that it is probably way too hot for them and also the tub looks tiny because the chick feeder and waterer look big inside the tub.

 

[Uff Da]

To much heat!!!! ....When they get their feathers and the night time lows outside are no lower than 60 I put them outside. The ONLY time I lost baby chicks was do to keeping them to hot.

I agree with the too hot part, but not the 60 degree minimum for feathered chicks part. I live in Montana, and it never gets as warm as 60 degrees at night here. Even when it is 100 degrees during the day. My 4-week-old chicks go outside with no heat when it is in the 20-30s and they do fine. Point being, people overestimate how much heat chickens need.

 

[L11]

I wonder if the metal tub is holding in to much heat and they are over heating. The temp they should be is 95 degrees. That metal tub may be trapping heat from the lamp causing them to over heat and then eventually Die. Maybe to state the lamp. Have it on for an hour or so then shut it off for an hour then turn it back on and rotate it till they are a little bigger and can start keeping themselves warm.