Hatchery chicks keep dying

[uisceros]

Hi all,

I recently got a shipment of baby chicks from Meyer Hatchery. I ordered 9, and while they all arrived alive, I keep losing them one by one.

The first night two died, the second night another two died, the third night I lost another, and today was another one. Out of nine, I’m down to 3.

I originally had them with a broody hen, but have since switched them over to a cozy coop heater since I was worried they weren’t warm enough.

Is there anything else I should be doing? I’m giving them save a chick electrolytes, and medicated feed in case of coccidiosis.

At first I was sure I was doing something wrong, but now I wonder if it’s because of the hatchery, and the shipment. Was early May too early?

Last year I had chicks shipped from My Pet Chicken in mid May and I only lost one. I think they use Meyer hatchery, so it’s odd that this lot is filled with losses.

Any ideas? I’m not sure what else I can do, but I really don’t want to keep waking up to dead babies.

 

[Gigachad poultry]

Honestly I don't know for sure

However I do wonder if the brooder has a draft I've lost some chicks a few different times, because there was a draft and i didn't even know.

 

[Rose_adamaj]

Hi all,

I recently got a shipment of baby chicks from Meyer Hatchery. I ordered 9, and while they all arrived alive, I keep losing them one by one.

The first night two died, the second night another two died, the third night I lost another, and today was another one. Out of nine, I’m down to 3.

I originally had them with a broody hen, but have since switched them over to a cozy coop heater since I was worried they weren’t warm enough.

Is there anything else I should be doing? I’m giving them save a chick electrolytes, and medicated feed in case of coccidiosis.

At first I was sure I was doing something wrong, but now I wonder if it’s because of the hatchery, and the shipment. Was early May too early?

Last year I had chicks shipped from My Pet Chicken in mid May and I only lost one. I think they use Meyer hatchery, so it’s odd that this lot is filled with losses.

Any ideas? I’m not sure what else I can do, but I really don’t want to keep waking up to dead babies.

It was recommended to me to add a drop or two of nutri drench to the drinking water upon arrival. My chicks from Meyer are ok, almost three weeks old.
I am not an expert! I just wonder if you did that now if it might help.

 

[mcdze]

when chicks have died for me in the past its because they got chilled .. once theyre chilled in the first several days they usually deteriorate and die .. no amount of 'vunder drench' is gonna fix that .. could of been the shipment conditions or the broody scheme, i dont know why people mess with broodys at all, its usually a disaster, might be cool and everything, but you paid 'what' for nice pure bred hatchery chicks and stuck them out with an old flea bitten scruffy broody messing up your nest box? i wouldnt a .. id stick them in a well set up brooder and get the garden hose sprayer to fix that broody .. get outta that nest .. if it dont stop its the time out pen for you lol ..

 

[JacinLarkwell]

dont know why people mess with broodys at all, its usually a disaster, might be cool and everything, but you paid 'what' for nice pure bred hatchery chicks and stuck them out with an old flea bitten scruffy broody messing up your nest box?

People generally have broodies because when they do well, which is more often than not, they take care of raising the chicks, integrating them and just in general teaching them how to be chickens. And I think it's rather unfair to just call them "an old flea bitten, scruffy" bird. Some are, yes, but plenty of broodies don't fit that image.

 

[uisceros]

Thanks for the info all! I believe the issue was the shipment conditions - I had a replacement shipment sent the next week, and 3/4 of those bird survived. The box for the first shipment was cold when I got it, and the weather at that time was a little cooler than usual. I believe this was the issue far more than anything I or my broody chicken did.

As of right now the surviving chicks are about a month old, and all seem perfectly healthy.

Regarding my use of a broody hen, I had previously hatched out chicks using a broody, and it was a wonderful experience. I never had to worry about pasty butt, or temperature issues. The mom took care of the babies amazingly.

 

[PHI-413]

Sorry to hear about losing some of your chicks. We received a shipment of 6 chicks from Murray McMurray a few weeks ago. The shipping experience and the air conditioned post office caused a lot of stress on the chicks. We put them in a brooder and provided a heat lamp. They seemed to be doing much better, but within the first 2 days we lost 2 of them.

The lamp was at one end of the brooder and the food/water was at the other end. The hatchery instructions said to keep the chicks at 90 degrees (F) and gradually lower the temp but I think 90 degrees was too hot for our stressed-out chicks. After figuring out why the first chick died, we tried putting the feet of the other overheated chick in cool water. She seemed to be doing better but the chick died shortly after placing her back into the brooder. We changed out the heat lamp bulb to a standard 90w bulb and now the rest of the chicks are doing well. Wish we had trusted our instincts from the beginning (90 degrees seems too hot!).

 

[qwackers9]

Just my own experience with babychiks re temps... I have 5 2-week old chicks (two days into third week). Hatchery instructions said 100 degrees for first week. TSC poultry thermometer said 95. Both said to lower by 5 degrees each week. Not a single chick really laid directly under the heat lamp at 95-100 the first or second week. They would lay right outside of the direct heat. Occasionally they would go under for a couple minutes but then move. I know how important warmth is for survival in these early weeks & I've been really anxious about keeping it warm enough but not too hot. I have them on an enclosed porch so the temps can fluctuate but I am home so I can very closely monitor -raise/lower heat lamp - watch their behavior...if they all cuddle together alot, spread out, or somewhere in between, etc. Even tho they don't seem to like being directly under heat, I'm still keeping the temps pretty close to what is protocol. They have never seemed uncomfortable as they can go in & out of the direct heat as they want. This is my first time with baby chickens. I've had baby ducks before but had a different setup then. Hope this can help someone but also open to any advice if I'm doing something wrong.

 

[McChooky]

If you lost 6 out of 9 in the first order and 25% of the replacement order its a big improvement but you're still losing too many.