Chick dying

[Baby-chicken raising]

We now have a little over 800 chicks we had 1200 and keep randomly loosing chicks. They are outside of brooder rooms but still have access to brooder rooms to go in and out. They have a entire layer barn for their space to run around in. They are 17 weeks old and we have just found 50 dead in different piles of chicks. The Layer barn has its sides boarded up so chicks don’t get to cold but if they are getting to cold why would they die a random cold night. We just decided to shut access to brooder rooms after the 50 died because they peck around in their allot and there is a lot of waste in rooms. We also give them 4 buckets of feed in morning and 3 in evening a bucket weight is 25 pounds. Could they be falling malnourished, sick from pecking around in brooder rooms, just cold, or something else. How do I figure this out? Thanks for reading and helping me.

 

[LaFleche]

We now have a little over 800 chicks we had 1200 and keep randomly loosing chicks. They are outside of brooder rooms but still have access to brooder rooms to go in and out. They have a entire layer barn for their space to run around in. They are 17 weeks old and we have just found 50 dead in different piles of chicks. The Layer barn has its sides boarded up so chicks don’t get to cold but if they are getting to cold why would they die a random cold night. We just decided to shut access to brooder rooms after the 50 died because they peck around in their allot and there is a lot of waste in rooms. We also give them 4 buckets of feed in morning and 3 in evening a bucket weight is 25 pounds. Could they be falling malnourished, sick from pecking around in brooder rooms, just cold, or something else. How do I figure this out? Thanks for reading and helping me.

Did they run out of water?

Although they can withstand cold temperatures, the draft has to be taken care of and I can imagine that in a big barn one might need some partitions to provide draft free spaces for the chickens to roost at night.

Keeping them enclosed at all times, you would need to supplement the lack of natural light by Vitamin D3 additives or special lamps that provide a spectrum akin to daylight, as for instance used for terrariums etc.

 

[LaFleche]

We just decided to shut access to brooder rooms after the 50 died because they peck around in their allot and there is a lot of waste in rooms.

Instead of shutting them out of the brooder rooms, I would suggest to clean them more often and thus provide dry bedding.

What exactly are you feeding them? Do they have granite grit available at all times?

 

[LaFleche]

And how do you prevent predators from getting in or sneaking around and causing them to panic? Is the barn dark at night?

Please, provide some pictures of you entire set up and some more information about where you live, country, climate etc.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Really need a ton more info here. And photos. I would guess they're crushing each other if they're all piled up, either from panic or from trying to stay warm, but that's just a guess.

If they're 17 weeks old they're hardly babies anymore. How big is the space and how it is laid out? How much ventilation is available? What are the temperatures? Are they allowed out of the barn? What specifically are you feeding them?

 

[Baby-chicken raising]

Did they run out of water?

Although they can withstand cold temperatures, the draft has to be taken care of and I can imagine that in a big barn one might need some partitions to provide draft free spaces for the chickens to roost at night.

Keeping them enclosed at all times, you would need to supplement the lack of natural light by Vitamin D3 additives or special lamps that provide a spectrum akin to daylight, as for instance used for terrariums etc.

They have plenty of water access with water heaters. We analyzed the situation tonight and did are research. We found out that due to the cold we must feed them 1.5 grams more for every degree below 20 celcius. So we now feed them 3 more buckets. This will help them produce heat at night when they eat.

We now have a little over 800 chicks we had 1200 and keep randomly loosing chicks. They are outside of brooder rooms but still have access to brooder rooms to go in and out. They have a entire layer barn for their space to run around in. They are 17 weeks old and we have just found 50 dead in different piles of chicks. The Layer barn has its sides boarded up so chicks don’t get to cold but if they are getting to cold why would they die a random cold night. We just decided to shut access to brooder rooms after the 50 died because they peck around in their allot and there is a lot of waste in rooms. We also give them 4 buckets of feed in morning and 3 in evening a bucket weight is 25 pounds. Could they be falling malnourished, sick from pecking around in brooder rooms, just cold, or something else. How do I figure this out? Thanks for reading and helping me.

 

[Mellowmalt]

You didn't really answer the question on whether they have perches to sleep on. Chickens are quite stupid and this is the age that they start squashing each other n their sleeps if they haven't got roosts to sit on. It seems counterintuitive as they will have plenty of space to each have a sleping space but in practice they will pile ontop of each other and suffocate some below.

 

[Aapomp831]

You didn't really answer the question on whether they have perches to sleep on. Chickens are quite stupid and this is the age that they start squashing each other n their sleeps if they haven't got roosts to sit on. It seems counterintuitive as they will have plenty of space to each have a sleping space but in practice they will pile ontop of each other and suffocate some below.

I don’t agree that chickens are stupid. They are just creatures of routine and habit - which keep them safe.

 

[Baby-chicken raising]

You didn't really answer the question on whether they have perches to sleep on. Chickens are quite stupid and this is the age that they start squashing each other n their sleeps if they haven't got roosts to sit on. It seems counterintuitive as they will have plenty of space to each have a sleping space but in practice they will pile ontop of each other and suffocate some below.

I was reading about this today they have roost but are prone to sleeping in brooders. We lost another 20 last night when we checked on them they were very crowded. What we will change is we are going to begin to feed them before sunset and move them to perches so they can learn where to sleep I'll keep updates thanks for the advice.

 

[Baby-chicken raising]

Really need a ton more info here. And photos. I would guess they're crushing each other if they're all piled up, either from panic or from trying to stay warm, but that's just a guess.

If they're 17 weeks old they're hardly babies anymore. How big is the space and how it is laid out? How much ventilation is available? What are the temperatures? Are they allowed out of the barn? What specifically are you feeding them?

We do believe they were crushed from other chicks. We will begin to feed them before sunset so they have food burning in their stomach to keep them warm. We will also put them on perches during night so they will learn where to sleep. What I forgot to mention is that they are currently 3 weeks behind on body weight. This could be a factor of why they are cold. The birds seem healthy though so we are increasing food. Thank you