Hello everyone, I’m new to chicken owning & I say new as in close to a year. During this time it’s been a lot of up & down. After I built my coop I was Excited to get my first set of chicks! I found a feed store with good reviews on google & got my babies! Within a few weeks they got sick & one by one died. After a while I got Another set & seems like I ran Into the same issue where they all died. All but one which we called Oreo. Oreo was a loner for a month & then we got two grown hens . No territorial issues & everything seemed good! Turned out Oreo was a male & we think we was trying to mate & tore up one of my hens. She passed & I went back to my feed store where they offered to trade out Oreo with one of their hens. My two girls were doing good for another month or so & I decided to get two silkie chicks. Separated the chicks from the big girls in the coop & everything was fine .. till yesterday . One of my grown hens stopped walking, her comb turned purple & she passed . I guess I’m reaching out here to ask what I’m doing wrong. I give Fresh water every two or so days & buy good hi protein food. They get snacks & I add fresh bedding once every twoish months. My coop run is all open & my coop has plenty of windows for ventilation. These girls are more like pets to me & it’s really been hard.
Don’t know what I’m doing wrong
- Thread starter Seeds1711
- Start date
Hi, and welcome to BYC! 
Baby chicks need heat at 95°F for the first week, then down 5 degrees per week, sometimes more or less, depending on how they act. They should be on chick crumbles with some kind of paper towels or puppy pads for the first couple of days, then they can just be on bedding, which most use pine shavings, but there are lots of different bedding options.
All that said, was just making sure they had all that, and if they did, then something was wrong with them before you got them. I had this exact same thing happen, as did the farmer across the road, with turkey poults.
Your hen sounds like she had a heart attack. That isn't common, but it just happens like it does with humans.
We have a Learning Center here full of articles written by our members about raising chicks and chickens. Maybe if you read a few of them you might figure out something that catches your eye.
We're glad you're here!
Baby chicks need heat at 95°F for the first week, then down 5 degrees per week, sometimes more or less, depending on how they act. They should be on chick crumbles with some kind of paper towels or puppy pads for the first couple of days, then they can just be on bedding, which most use pine shavings, but there are lots of different bedding options.
All that said, was just making sure they had all that, and if they did, then something was wrong with them before you got them. I had this exact same thing happen, as did the farmer across the road, with turkey poults.
Your hen sounds like she had a heart attack. That isn't common, but it just happens like it does with humans.
We have a Learning Center here full of articles written by our members about raising chicks and chickens. Maybe if you read a few of them you might figure out something that catches your eye.
We're glad you're here!
- Thread starter
- #3
Thank you for the reply & the welcoming. When I purchased my first two sets of chicks they were already on normal feed no starter & I did have them a heat lamp still just in case they wanted it. The two silkies I’ve got now I had been feeding them starter at first but now have gone to regular feed . Currently I have all of them under heat lamps with the winter storm coming . I’ve honestly got to the point where im considering getting rid of all the girls I have, completely cleaning the coop & starting fresh in the summer . It’s very discouraging .Hi, and welcome to BYC!
Baby chicks need heat 95F for the first week, then down 5 degrees per week, sometimes more or less depending on how they act. They should be on chick crumbles with some kind of paper towels or puppy pads for the first couple of days, then they can just be on bedding, which most use pine shavings, but there are lots of different bedding options.
All that said, was just making sure they had all that, and if they did, then something was wrong with them before you got them. I had this exact same thing happen, as did the farmer across the road, with turkey poults.
Your hen sounds like she had a heart attack. That isn't common, but it just happens like it does with humans.
We're glad you're here!
Hello and welcome to BYC! Glad you joined.
Sorry you're having so much trouble. I hope your luck changes with your current flock
Glad you joined.Sorry you're having so much trouble. I hope your luck changes with your current flock
Welcome to Backyard Chickens. This is a great place to explore and hang out. Was the coop you built or was it already there?
- Thread starter
- #6
I built It
Hello! Welcome to BYC! So sorry you have had such bad luck... I hope it turns around for you soon! Keeping chickens really is very enjoyable for numerous reasons! 
HI and welcome. The only thing I can think of only applies if your birds are in the house, and that's if you cook on pans with Teflon. Teflon is deadly toxic to birds, but if they are outside it's not a concern. That's all I've got, sorry! 
Sorry for your losses and a bad start to chicken keeping!
As another poster already suggested maybe browsing some of the articles on housing and feeding chickens of different ages may help sort a few things out. It may not have been something with your setup but it’s always good to read about others experiences. Learning how to check for external parasites, coop ventilation, observing chickens behaviors for subtle changes that may indicate illness takes a little time but is well worth it! Check your coop and birds for mites and critters, make sure your feed is balanced and not moist or moldy from storage issues and provide fresh water daily. Ask questions in the forums, folks are usually very knowledgeable and helpful
As another poster already suggested maybe browsing some of the articles on housing and feeding chickens of different ages may help sort a few things out. It may not have been something with your setup but it’s always good to read about others experiences. Learning how to check for external parasites, coop ventilation, observing chickens behaviors for subtle changes that may indicate illness takes a little time but is well worth it! Check your coop and birds for mites and critters, make sure your feed is balanced and not moist or moldy from storage issues and provide fresh water daily. Ask questions in the forums, folks are usually very knowledgeable and helpful
New posts New threads Active threads
-
Latest threads
-
Chicken unable to walk properly after heavy moult- Started by Kiwi_The__arnevelder
- Replies: 0
-
Any advice? (Is this infection or tissue necrosis?)- Started by Katakornchicks
- Replies: 0
-
hen with swollen cheek that wont go down- Started by Tessanator
- Replies: 0
-
-
Will my new to laying hen know where to lay an egg
- Started by jkmom
- Replies: 2
-
-
Threads with more replies in the last 15 days
-
-
Open Contest Cutest Couples Photo Contest—Poultry Edition- Started by Lacy Duckwing
- Replies: 140
-
BYC's 52-week Photography Challenge. Week 2: (Jan 12-18, 2026). Theme: Flock Star
- Started by Lacy Duckwing
- Replies: 95
-
-
-
