Dead suddenly at 11 weeks

[Kad123]

I started with 4 Black Star chicks back in February. I lost one within 48 hours of bringing them home, and now, at 11 weeks, as I was trying to integrate them into my existing flock, I found her dead inside the crate that I was using to slowly introduce the flocks. She has no injuries on her body. There was no sign of any infestation (I check my chickens very regularly with live/mites anyway.). Her body was still inside the crate, but her head was outside of it. She was acting normal and eating normal last night, and I checked on them two times today… I found her like this roughly an hour after the last time I checked, when I went out to change food and water, which I do daily… water, sometimes a few times if it gets too dirty… I cleaned the crate and feeders out really thoroughly after… now, I’m wondering if I may have just purchased a weak clutch. These four are the only ones I have bought from a feed store… any words of wisdom in what I can do or should look for would be helpful. I cannot send this bird out for necroscopy. Thank you.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I started with 4 Black Star chicks back in February. I lost one within 48 hours of bringing them home, and now, at 11 weeks, as I was trying to integrate them into my existing flock, I found her dead inside the crate that I was using to slowly introduce the flocks. She has no injuries on her body. There was no sign of any infestation (I check my chickens very regularly with live/mites anyway.). Her body was still inside the crate, but her head was outside of it. She was acting normal and eating normal last night, and I checked on them two times today… I found her like this roughly an hour after the last time I checked, when I went out to change food and water, which I do daily… water, sometimes a few times if it gets too dirty… I cleaned the crate and feeders out really thoroughly after… now, I’m wondering if I may have just purchased a weak clutch. These four are the only ones I have bought from a feed store… any words of wisdom in what I can do or should look for would be helpful. I cannot send this bird out for necroscopy. Thank you.

I'm sorry about your chick.

How large is the crate you have them in? Perhaps she got hung up in the crate or trampled.

 

[Kad123]

I'm sorry about your chick.

How large is the crate you have them in? Perhaps she got hung up in the crate or trampled.

It’s a pretty decent size. There were only 3 in there, and it’s the same one that I previously had had 5 in without issue. She had been roosting on the bar I have in there for them, or so, it appeared. Part of me thinks that it’s possible that her head got stuck in the bars. Her neck was entirely limp, which seemed odd, but it may have just happened. She didn’t appear to have suffered.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Perhaps she got hung up in the crate or trampled.

I was thinking the same. Is this a wire dog crate? At that age I could imagine a head getting stuck somewhere in the space between the wire...

 

[Kad123]

That is one of my concern/fears. Yes, it’s a normal wire dog crate.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Sounds like a freak accident then. I had one too with my first batch of chicks, I moved them to the coop and a couple days later found one dead - she'd caught part of her foot in a small gap and panicked and thrashed herself to death.

If your chicks have been in see but no touch for a week or longer I'd progress to having them meet the hens at this point, just to get them out of the crate sooner.

 

[Kad123]

Sounds like a freak accident then. I had one too with my first batch of chicks, I moved them to the coop and a couple days later found one dead - she'd caught part of her foot in a small gap and panicked and thrashed herself to death.

If your chicks have been in see but no touch for a week or longer I'd progress to having them meet the hens at this point, just to get them out of the crate sooner.

Coming up on a week. I started letting them out yesterday evening. They’re still considerably smaller than the others though. I’m guessing it’ll be another 3 weeks to integration. My “big” girls don’t conform easily. I typically have to put one to two of them in “jail” for 24 hours after fully integrating them.

It’s really sad. I told my husband, I want to build a small “converting” pen in there next time. We have tons of wood we can reclaim. We’ll just have to grab some hardware cloth.

 

[Appalachickens]

I was thinking the same. Is this a wire dog crate? At that age I could imagine a head getting stuck somewhere in the space between the wire...

My 5 week old chicks are in a wire dog crate. Should I add something to the sides so they can't get hung up or stuck in between the wires?

 

[rosemarythyme]

My 5 week old chicks are in a wire dog crate. Should I add something to the sides so they can't get hung up or stuck in between the wires?

It might not be a bad idea to make it more secure but do make sure any additional wire or fencing is secured snugly so they can't wedge themselves between the crate wire and whatever else it's wrapped in (I've seen an adult chicken mashed between a tarp and a wire fence).

 

[Appalachickens]

It might not be a bad idea to make it more secure but do make sure any additional wire or fencing is secured snugly so they can't wedge themselves between the crate wire and whatever else it's wrapped in (I've seen an adult chicken mashed between a tarp and a wire fence).

Yikes! Good to know. I was thinking of just taping on some cardboard on the lower part. This crate is in the garage, so no predator issues.