We bought 10(all) chicks at Tractor Supply 3 weeks &5 days ago and put them in the tub until a few days ago while we added on to our current chicken house. We moved them out into their own area of the coop separated from the existing chickens by a chicken door covered in hardware cloth. All are fully feathered and all are healthy.
This morning I went out to let the bigger birds outside and poked my head in the man door to the other half of the coop to check on the babies and all was well. I checked the food and water and tossed in some scratch and a few dried worms for them and left to do some gardening. A few hours later, DH went out and checked on them too and 3 were dead! There was evidence of canabalism and ants were already all over them! They were fine and then they weren't! We've had black sex link before, raising them from chicks. The to-be roosters are usually culled later if showing Any aggression, but dang, they've never done this. I know that something else may have killed them, and canabalism is unlikely because of the breed (unless already dead I'm sure), but there was nothing in there with them. There was one rooster wanna be that was more peck-y than the others and we were keeping an eye on him, but so young?? Could we have introduced the worms too early? We've had a mild front come through and the brooder heater wasn't in there. The temp was 60 overnight but the birds are fully feathered and the coop is warm anyway. Any ideas about this would be appreciated. DH is sure it's canibalism outright as the cause of death from boredom or outright meanness. Thanks all
This morning I went out to let the bigger birds outside and poked my head in the man door to the other half of the coop to check on the babies and all was well. I checked the food and water and tossed in some scratch and a few dried worms for them and left to do some gardening. A few hours later, DH went out and checked on them too and 3 were dead! There was evidence of canabalism and ants were already all over them! They were fine and then they weren't! We've had black sex link before, raising them from chicks. The to-be roosters are usually culled later if showing Any aggression, but dang, they've never done this. I know that something else may have killed them, and canabalism is unlikely because of the breed (unless already dead I'm sure), but there was nothing in there with them. There was one rooster wanna be that was more peck-y than the others and we were keeping an eye on him, but so young?? Could we have introduced the worms too early? We've had a mild front come through and the brooder heater wasn't in there. The temp was 60 overnight but the birds are fully feathered and the coop is warm anyway. Any ideas about this would be appreciated. DH is sure it's canibalism outright as the cause of death from boredom or outright meanness. Thanks all
. But it'd be nice to know what happened for sure
