Chick die off using brooder plate

[TillyPeeps]

I always set my heating plate in an angle with two legs very short and two legs longer, so they can find the right spot themselves. Make sure that their back can touch the plate at the lower side when they lay down, and the higher side is tall enough for them to stand under it without touching the top. I didn't have any problem with my shipped chicks with it.

 

[FunClucks]

I took a look at your brooder. Is that sawdust I see in there from those pellets that break up when you add water (horse stall bedding pellets)? Do you have any chick grit in there for them? Because if not, it could be they got some sawdust or wood chips stuck in their crops and couldn't get it out. They may have eaten it instead of or in addition to food, and that was the end of it. Takes them a few days to understand what is food and what is not.

You've gotten great advice about the heat plate, heat lamps, and brooder temperatures. I suggest you add a small container of chick grit.

For my day old chicks, I mix the chick grit in with their food to be sure they get some, and at about a week or two I feed it separately. For the Quart chick feeder, I fill the feeder 1/4 way, add a handful or so of grit and mix it up, add 1/4 more food, handful of grit and mix, etc. Just so the grit is scattered through and you know they get some, but they don't just fill up on grit. Once they're old enough to understand the difference, they can eat around the grit if they want to, or they can pick it out.

 

[Aki no niwatori]

Update: After a complete sterilizing of the pen and removal of the brooder place switching for a heat lamp there have been no more deaths so far. I may reintroduce the brooder plate later this week as part of the temp reduction process. At the moment though the heat lamp is doing just fine.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Update: After a complete sterilizing of the pen and removal of the brooder place switching for a heat lamp there have been no more deaths so far. I may reintroduce the brooder plate later this week as part of the temp reduction process. At the moment though the heat lamp is doing just fine.

That's good news, Aki!

 

[NameIwish]

Two of them died under the plate

Huh!? What's 'the plate?'

Also, two of them died out of Six? Ten? Twenty?

Are we talking 'day old chicks fresh from the mailman or Tractor Supply/Rural King/etc?

We have always used a heat lamp and a covered brooder box with a temperature controlled lamp. In our larger brooder box we use a recycled electric griddle set to low and contained in a compartment below the brooder box (removable) floor. The thermostat that controls the lamp mounted in the lid and the griddle below resides on the wall furthest from the heat lamp. We try to maintain 85 degrees or so 24/7 for three weeks. We had a thermostat failure into the second week and lost one out of six the next day as the brooder is out in a shed and if we don't remember to check . . .

If you watch a momma hen with chicks she has hatched, you will probably not see those chicks too often. They'll be under 100 degree+ Hot Mamma - (and, did I mention moisture? Momma is that, too). If they are in a small warm area, they may venture out a bit more but it looks as if you've got a big galvanized container with LOADS of circulating air volume.

I've bought chicks and would put the carry box the store put them in right in the brooder after tearing out the 'window' to allow them to come nd go at will. I find they love that Petit poulailler better than the brooder and often huddle in it rather than under the light. It's a security thing I suppose.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Huh!? What's 'the plate?'

The heat plate

Also, two of them died out of Six? Ten? Twenty?

Headcount shows 12 chicks minus the older one not having issues, not including the 3 lost. So out of 15 chicks

Are we talking 'day old chicks fresh from the mailman or Tractor Supply/Rural King/etc?

Shipped from McMurray

We have always used a heat lamp and a covered brooder box with a temperature controlled lamp. In our larger brooder box we use a recycled electric griddle set to low and contained in a compartment below the brooder box (removable) floor. The thermostat that controls the lamp mounted in the lid and the griddle below resides on the wall furthest from the heat lamp. We try to maintain 85 degrees or so 24/7 for three weeks. We had a thermostat failure into the second week and lost one out of six the next day as the brooder is out in a shed and if we don't remember to check . . .

If you watch a momma hen with chicks she has hatched, you will probably not see those chicks too often. They'll be under 100 degree+ Hot Mamma - (and, did I mention moisture? Momma is that, too). If they are in a small warm area, they may venture out a bit more but it looks as if you've got a big galvanized container with LOADS of circulating air volume.

I've bought chicks and would put the carry box the store put them in right in the brooder after tearing out the 'window' to allow them to come nd go at will. I find they love that Petit poulailler better than the brooder and often huddle in it rather than under the light. It's a security thing I suppose.

Information was in the 1st post.

 

[NameIwish]

added vitamins and probiotics to the water.

Early on I was told to add Apple Cider Vinegar to the water. I do that. The chicks get crumbles until they can handle cracked corn. When they are old, they free-range and eat whatever as well as various table scraps deemed tasty to chickens. Cantaloupe rinds (well the orange bits I leave) and seeds are devoured, all our egg shells are recycled through our hens.

But probiotics and such? Nah they're chickens - let 'em forage for amateur biotics!

 

[NameIwish]

I know there is always a slight chance of a die off during the first week but i feel so helpless. I have had three chicks die so far. I need to know what I can do to prevent anything further. Ive been changing the water regularly and cleaning up the bedding.

Two andulusians and 1 supposed wyandotte.
Two of them died under the plate and the other next to it. They all willingly hide under there so I am unsure of the problem. I am just short of buying a camera to keep and eye on them while im at work.

All but Wynnie the week older wyandotte is from murrays.

3 dead out of 15 = 20% Not good, but I've had worse!
Still, that's an awfully large arena for such tiny creatures - calculate the volume and measure the temperatures on the floor outside that container, under the heat plate, at the extremes within that steel coliseum to learn what is going on temperature and humidity wise.

Remember George Washington was out on horseback 12/12/99 when it began to snow. Upon returning home, he did not change out of his wet clothes (feathers?). By the next morning, he had a sore throat. His conditioned worsened. In the evening of December 14, 1799, George Washington was dead.

"Don't go out in that weather, you'll catch your death of cold." Chicken Little 1781

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Nah, brooder that size is very common. It works well as long as the chicks are smart and strong enough to actually be able to use a brooding plate.

 

[Aki no niwatori]

I had cleaned out the entire brooder, sterilized everything and removed the plate. No one has died since. They are getting their feathers, Winnie who is a week older than the other chicks now outweighs the 7 week old sebrights. I think I may have lost the rooster but I can't tell yet.


On a semi good note. With the ducklings I only lost two, one in shipping the other that night. I had previously identified the body wrong as one of the hook bill but I believe she is still waddling around and I misidentified the body of a Welsh harlequin. So I hate that I lost it but technically it was a filler in my order to meet minimum.

They are moving to the larger pen soon.