Chicks Dying

[Sgtfirstwife]

I have my chicks who range from three weeks to about six weeks in a brooder in our garage. There are two heat lamps on them and the temp is around 90. A couple of the chicks were larger than the other chicks and kept walking on the smaller chicks. So last night I decided to move the two older fully feathered chicks into a wire cage. They had their food and water and were near the heat lamp, but not under it. When I got up this morning, one of the big chicks was dead. I checked it over, but could not find anything wrong with it. The other chick was fine. Moved him back in the brooder box with the light on it. Our gargage is not heated, but has a floor and is fully enclosed. Should I move them back into the house? I am so confused and don't know what to do. This is really discouraging.

I don't know what I am doing wrong. I have lost three chicks this week. Two were dorking chicks. I thought maybe they were getting run over by the big chicks. They had no symtoms, just dropped dead. Is this normal? I put vitamins in their water. I used the new chick starter when they were born. What am I doing wrong? I don't want to keep losing them.

Please does anyone have any ideas?

 

[countrygoddess]

It could be that the bigger one who died wasn't vigorous enough to make it without the heat lamp, but the other is stronger and was able to adapt to cooler temps. Or sometimes, chicks die mysteriously, just as chickens sometimes do. I'm sorry it died. =(

As far as the Dorking chicks, I wonder if they're more tender and fragile than other chicks? Last year 2 of my Dorking chicks failed to thrive and died within a few days of arriving in the mail. When you said, "...when they were born..." do you mean you hatched them? I'm going to be incubating my Dorkings' eggs in the next couple of weeks and I'm wondering if I'll see this happening again (this will be my first time incubating and my first year breeding them). But Dorking chicks that die because they weren't vigorous clearly didn't have a part in my breeding plan because I want to breed for hardiness, vigor, etc. Sounds hard-hearted, maybe, but that's they way conservation and improvement breeding goes. Are you going to be breeding yours, too?

 

[stefan333]

At 3 weeks if the chicks are in the house (even an unheated garage) I don't use a heat lamp anymore, but I live in KY, and the winter temps here rarely get below 20. Six weeks is definately way too old to have a heat lamp on them if they're in a garage. And a 90 degree brooder at that age would tell me they're overheating. Observe them and see if they're opening their mouths and panting like a dog. It could be many other things, but I'd definately fix the temp right away. Chickens who are feathered can handle more cold than people think, but too much heat is really bad.

 

[Sgtfirstwife]

Thanks for the response. The one older chick that died was fully feathered and not under a heat lamp. She was in our workshop though. I never noticed anything wrong with her.
As far as Dorkings go, I did read somewhere that they are harder to raise. My friend who I got them from is giving me two more, so we shall see how that goes. I am not really raising Dotkings. I just got into chickens about a year ago and at that time I got one of everything. Now I have become more interested in certain breeds. I would like to narrow my breeds down to two or three kind. My goal is to breed just those chickens and keep some chicks and sell eggs and chicks. I have decided to breed Silkies. I love there dispositions and the different colors. For the next two breeds I am not sure. I love Necked Necks, especially the Frizzie ones. Dorkings also interest me. I love their colors. However having the deaths in the brooder could be a huge issue. I am going to try different breeds this summer. I am putting Seramas in my incubator next. My friend has those and I think they are adorable. I will probably always have a mixed flock, for eggs if nothing else. We are moving this summer and I hope to be able to set up breeding pens and concentrate on which breeds I want raise.
Thank you both for your answers regarding my chicks deaths. I do think it is a temperature issue. I brought my smaller chicks, Silkies, Necked Necks and my last Dorking inside and put them in my small brooder with my just hatched chicks. I can monitor there progress better in here in the house.
It is so difficult to know when to move the chicks outside. Everyone has a different answer. I am with you Stefan I think we keep them under the heat lamps longer than necessary. Of course a lot depends on the climate where you live. Right now I live in Eastern North Carolina, but we are moving to Missouri this summer. So my heat lamp may see a lot more use!
Countrygoddese (by the way love the name) I hope you Dorking projects goes better this time round. Please keep in touch. I would very much like to hear how it goes. You can private message me or I can add you to my Facebook. Are you raising any other breeds? What kind of birds do you have? I wish you luck on incubating. I love incubating. One of my good friends has several different breeds of chickens, so I am lucky enough to get my eggs from her. I am getting ready to set new eggs this weekends.
Again thank you both for your input. Backyard chickens rock!!!!!

 

[stefan333]

I've never had Dorkings, and I don't know too much about them. I possibly have some in the incubator now, though. I got an assortment of more rare breeds this time around. I started out with typical RIR, BR's, etc, but it quickly became a frenzy of any breed I could get my hands on. It's so much fun having variety, but I too, want to narrow it down after I figure out which are my favorites. I have found there are some I just don't like at all. I love my BR's when it comes to their personalities and eggs. Right now I'm praying that I get at least one Fayoumi in my batch of incubating eggs. If not, I guess I'll have to order more baby chicks.

I want them for their disease resistance, early egg laying, and I plan on using them to breed some mutts. I have so many plans, but it's so hard to be patient waiting for them to grow. I'd love to eventually get some Naked Necks, too. Ya, you are very lucky to have a friend to get a variety of eggs from. I know some people who breed, but they're the typical farm chickens I already have. Me and my sister do plan on mailing our more rare hatching eggs to each other when ours get old enough to breed. I'm looking forward to sending her Lavender Orps, and I can't wait to get Marans. That way when you lose a chick or hatching eggs don't work, you're not really out anything. You just try again.

I noticed your name and where you're located and moving to. Army, by any chance? My hubby retired out of Fort Campbell, and we liked the area so much that we settled here in KY when he got out. I used to live in MO, too. The only thing was the overwhelming humidity in the Summer and storms. MO gets some pretty bad storms. The nice locals make up for it, though. I've lived all over the US, and I'd take the middle of the country or the South any day over the coasts, so in my opinion you're making a pretty nice move.