Englishable
Songster
Wednesday night we had our first chick hatch and by yesterday morning we had 10. In past year's we've put them in the basement or the garage, but they end up making such a huge mess, we didn't want to do that again this year. So we put the 8x4 (x2' high) brooder in the (unheated, uninsulated, but draft free) chicken coop with a Sweeter Heater (11"x40") and chicken wire lid. We put the food and water pretty close to the heater, so that they wouldn't have to go too far away from the heat to eat or drink. The heater was lowered so that when the chicks were standing, it just about touched their backs. If I held my hand under the heater, it did get hot. I kept checking on them throughout the day yesterday and while they didn't seem to stray too far from the heater, they were never shivering. It did get pretty cold last night (in the teens) but it was my understanding that the infrared Sweeter Heaters didn't need a minimum ambient temp to work and that it would keep the chicks warm enough if they were under it.
Well, this morning 8 of the 10 chicks were dead. They were in various places around the brooder, not all of them under the heater. I am heartbroken. We have 42 eggs in the incubator now (day 6) and would like to figure out why these chicks died before the next ones hatch. Any ideas? Could they have gotten too hot because they wouldn't leave the heater? Do these heaters not work if it gets too cold? Were these chicks just weaker because we collected the eggs in the middle of winter? (I should note that we only had 10 out of 36 hatch, with one more still in the incubator trying to hatch but it's not looking good. Last year we had a 70%+ hatch rate).
Any thoughts or advice would be greatly appreciated!
Well, this morning 8 of the 10 chicks were dead. They were in various places around the brooder, not all of them under the heater. I am heartbroken. We have 42 eggs in the incubator now (day 6) and would like to figure out why these chicks died before the next ones hatch. Any ideas? Could they have gotten too hot because they wouldn't leave the heater? Do these heaters not work if it gets too cold? Were these chicks just weaker because we collected the eggs in the middle of winter? (I should note that we only had 10 out of 36 hatch, with one more still in the incubator trying to hatch but it's not looking good. Last year we had a 70%+ hatch rate).
Any thoughts or advice would be greatly appreciated!