Chick Dead to Unknown Causes

[JustAFarmer00]

Hello everyone, today is a very sad day for me because I lost a chick that I had become attached to. I woke up this morning and found it’s corpse under the heat lamp that I’ve used for all of my other chicks and has worked wonderfully in the past. It always seemed to like it under there, but this morning it was certainly dead. I don’t know what could have gone wrong, I had spotted him eating drinking and pooping the day before his demise. It was a miniaturized bantam, very small and had no visible ailments from the day it hatched to the day of its departure from this world. I’ve been beating myself up all day pondering what could have gone wrong. If anyone has any guesses as to how please let me know. Here is a photo of it that I took just a day ago for reference, thank you so much.

 

[AidKD]

Is it possible that the chick was overheated? What temperature is their brooder?

 

[BastyPutt]

Unfortunately, if it didn't have any ailments the day before, it would be really hard to diagnose anything. In terms of sickness, just keep an eye on the other chicks.

This has certainly happened to me in the past, a random chick dying under the heat with no other chicks showings signs of anything. I attribute this to temperature, but the temp being too LOW.

Chicks should never be piled up under the heat source, this means they are too cold. They should be spread out along the general area where the heat is, some underneath it. Not sure if this is case or not, but if I had to guess, I'd say it was probably smothered.

It could be too hot, but you'd see other chicks displaying symptoms like panting, wings held away from the body, etc. the chicks would also be spread out in the case, but along the edges of the brooder or anywhere they can get away from the heat - and you would have none directly under the heat.

 

[carlaashdown]

Sometimes chicks just die. It's always the favorite ones though and breaks my heart, too.

 

[JustAFarmer00]

Is it possible that the chick was overheated? What temperature is their brooder?

I don’t think so, we have an AC unit where they are kept, and I have raised the heat lamp since he first hatched to avoid baking him, but I also do not think he was too cold. He seemed perfectly content before today.

 

[JustAFarmer00]

Unfortunately, if it didn't have any ailments the day before, it would be really hard to diagnose anything. In terms of sickness, just keep an eye on the other chicks.

This has certainly happened to me in the past, a random chick dying under the heat with no other chicks showings signs of anything. I attribute this to temperature, but the temp being too LOW.

Chicks should never be piled up under the heat source, this means they are too cold. They should be spread out along the general area where the heat is, some underneath it. Not sure if this is case or not, but if I had to guess, I'd say it was probably smothered.

It could be too hot, but you'd see other chicks displaying symptoms like panting, wings held away from the body, etc. the chicks would also be spread out in the case, but along the edges of the brooder or anywhere they can get away from the heat - and you would have none directly under the heat.

I use a small heat plate that provides a space of warmth for the chicks and they can self regulate when they want to be under it and when to stay away. Every day they would be out and about the brooder seeming perfectly content and then at night would go under the heater either entirely or with their legs or feet hanging out. This seemed like normal behavior when compared with my other clutches. If the chick was too hot there would be nothing stopping him from moving so I don’t think this is the case.

 

[AidKD]

I use a small heat plate that provides a space of warmth for the chicks and they can self regulate when they want to be under it and when to stay away. Every day they would be out and about the brooder seeming perfectly content and then at night would go under the heater either entirely or with their legs or feet hanging out. This seemed like normal behavior when compared with my other clutches. If the chick was too hot there would be nothing stopping him from moving so I don’t think this is the case.

As @carlaashdown said, sometimes chicks just die, seemingly without reason. I'm really sorry that you lost it!

 

[BastyPutt]

. If the chick was too hot there would be nothing stopping him from moving so I don’t think this is the case.

Exactly why if it was a temp related issue, it may have been too cold and was smothered in the huddle, or it was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Bantams are also significantly smaller, relatively speaking, if the rest of the babies are standard size chicks.