chicks dying after being perfectly healthy

[FarmGirl01]

Quote:
This is the first thing I thought of. I agree with you. Water, food and a thermometer. I buy a new one every year. Good luck with your little ones.

 

[Autumnchicken]

I always keep them about 90 when i first get my babies and i make sure I have a spot they can cool off or warm up with food in the middle.

 

[bock]

I got the temps down to 90F finally.

Two of the chicks that were weak this morning seem better now, and the weakest one is still holding on. I don't think she has eaten anything for a day now though,I can only get her to drink by dipping her beak in the water. I also changed their water out and just put in sugar, I noticed they are drinking a lot more now without the vitamins. I hope things get better now and I am able to enjoy my remaining fuzz butts. Thanks everyone, and I hope the OP's chicks get better.

 

[felidaet]

Some of you were saying that a 250 watt heat lamp would fry the chicks. That is not necessarily true. It depends upon many factors: What is the air temperature where the brooder is located, how big is the brooder, what material is the brooder made of, etc. Last year I setup a large plywood brooder in my garage. The garage is attached to house and is insulated but it is not heated. I needed to use 2 - 250 watt bulbs to get the temperature to 95 degrees. One was near the top edge of the brooder and the other was about 1 foot above it. One would only heat it to about 85.

 

[treeman52]

I have twenty five chicks four days old now. I have a 250 watt red heat lamp over them in my garage . Its hanging about 2 feet over them and its staying about ninety degrees at chick head high. seems to be working fine I monitor the temp often I was concerned most about keeping them too hot. I would not atempt to start chicks without the thermometer.

 

[CowgirlPenny]

Quote:
Like I said, for MY brooder I know 250 is way too much. Mine is small, indoors in my heated house. 250 would melt them. 125 is more than enough and I even need to move it up a few inches during the day because it gets TOO warm. We are using a large plastic container as well.

But definitely for people with outdoor brooders you probably want to go the 250 route.

 

[Minniechickmama]

Okay, so basically, you use whatever light bulb works in the area you have your brooder in and monitor it. We don't need to keep debating the light bulb.

MY chicks are not too hot. They are dropping over dead for some other reason. The others in the brooder box are running around, eating and drinking and having a grand old time. I had the same EXACT set up last year and lost only one chick out of about 100. So, I am trying to find out if there are other things that would cause this. Unfortunately, I am finding several possibilities, none of which I have much control over. Perhaps this is a congenital thing that is because there is some close line-breeding or in-breeding going on. The Standard chick is still up and going. I haven't seen it eat or drink on its own, but it still can walk around. I found a Silkie dead in there just a little while ago and it was looking like it was not right last night when I went to bed.
If these are just weak chicks, then I am better off without them, but I hate losing them just the same.

The rest of the chicks, other than the Brahma are doing great, so I guess I should just be happy with that. Perhaps I should just go ahead and get some vaccinations for the ones I am hatching in case that is part of the problem as well.

Thanks for helping, and Bock, I hope your babies are doing better.

 

[pips&peeps]

How about sending one in for a necropsy???????????

 

[FarmGirl01]

Could it have anything to do with the feed? Is the protein level to high? Just trying to figure this out.

 

[cairopd1069]

I have raised 25 and have 25 more that are 5 days old in the brooder. As long as they have a space to go to that is away from the lamp, they should be fine. I have read several places, if they huddle under the lamp they may be cold, if they are spread out under the lamp, they are fine, if they stay away from the lamp, the lamp is creating too much heat for them to stay under.