Bantam chicks dying

[Ruler of the Roost]

Purchased several chicks from Rural King & the bantams are dying. Initially, had a mix of regular size chicks & bantams mixed together, lost a handful of bantams in that batch. I hatched a few bantams before getting the first batch from Rural King & put them together with that first batch & they are all fine. After losing the initial handful of bantams, went back to the store & purchased a few more & they keep dying. One of them I didn’t think was doing too well in the store, but took it home anyway to try to give it a chance. It was dead within a couple of hours. Another one died a couple hours after that, another one dead by morning. I have never had this issue with chicks dying. I did set up a separate brooder for the new batch since they were all about the same age & to give them the best shot at survival. They are on pine shavings, plenty of food & water, and have a heating plate. They don’t seem to be cold, but they mainly stay under the warmer. They come out to eat & drink, maybe walk around & peck around a bit & then go back under the warmer. They seem fine & then I’ll notice one that is not wanting to walk around much, lethargic, not interested in eating or drinking. A bit later, it looks like it’s sleeping, may open it’s eyes, can see it breathing, but it will close its eyes & lay there & occasionally flail about for a second, lay on its side or back & die over a few minutes to hours. They don’t seem to be gasping for air or anything like that. I would like to know what could be going on with them. All of them, with the exception of the ones I hatched, have come from the same brooder in the store. It’s been about a 50/50 chance of survival & very heartbreaking.

Sorry to revive an old thread, but this is the exact issue I am having. To a T, only its much closer to 100% at this point. They are fine, then they get lethargic and lay down, then they convulse, then they die. In this experience, this has been happening over the course of 10-12 hours in most cases, 5-6 for two exceptions...

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Maybe the problem is the chicks themselves ...

 

[Cheekychook12]

Sorry to revive an old thread, but this is the exact issue I am having. To a T, only its much closer to 100% at this point. They are fine, then they get lethargic and lay down, then they convulse, then they die. In this experience, this has been happening over the course of 10-12 hours in most cases, 5-6 for two exceptions...

I had a a pair of bantams that weren’t doing well and we called the breeder and he gave us a couple of tips and they did great
Our first problem was it was too hot because the light had too many watts
They gave us a tip to crush the food smaller and put it all over the floor of the brooder like a substrate until they realise what food is
But with the amount dying, is it possible they contracted some disease or something? Where did you get these chicks?

 

[Ruler of the Roost]

I had a a pair of bantams that weren’t doing well and we called the breeder and he gave us a couple of tips and they did great
Our first problem was it was too hot because the light had too many watts
They gave us a tip to crush the food smaller and put it all over the floor of the brooder like a substrate until they realise what food is
But with the amount dying, is it possible they contracted some disease or something? Where did you get these chicks?

Hi, thank you for the data. As previously stated, they were purchased from Rural King.

 

[pecky33]

How is everybody’s chicks doing now? Pictures?