HELP!!!! 12 chicks dropped dead within minutes????

[Ninabelle5087]

I have no idea what could have possibly happened. I have raised dozens of chicks, and altogether lost a total of maybe 5. Thursday, I bought six chicks from tractor supply. Brought them home, put them in the brooder, three of them had dirty feet, but I cleaned them up and everything seemed fine. Yesterday, I bought six more from Rural King, all seemed healthy, I put them in the brooder, everyone seemed to be doing well. One had mild pasty butt, but again, I cleaned her up, and she was acting perfectly fine. They have a brooder heater, not a heat lamp, it was on the correct setting, brooder temp was great. Fresh water, fresh feed, from the same feed bag I've been feeding my 8 week old chicks in the coop, all of whom are ok. Clean bedding, from a brand new bag. As of six p.m. all the chicks were acting just fine. Spread around the brooder, eating, drinking, etc. At about 8 p.m., my youngest son who is seven came running to get me screaming all the chicks were dead. I ran to the living room, and all but one of the chicks was sprawled out dead as a doornail. The last one was barely alive, and died in my hands minutes later. I have never in my life seen anything like this. I'm desperately trying to figure out what happened. Does anyone have any idea at all what might have happened???? No sign of injury, no sign of illness, just like they literally all just dropped dead. I'm freaking out right now.

 

[nuthatched]

Oh dear, I'm sorry.
Is there any chance Febreze or something was sprayed around them? Heater plate malfunction?

 

[dawg53]

That's terrible and I'm sorry for your losses. I've never heard of anything like this.
I'm not familiar with a brooder heater. Is it possible it was too hot, some type of malfunction?
Also, what type of bedding were you using?

 

[Isadora]

Since it was so sudden with seemingly healthy chicks, I would lean more towards some kind of chemical issue, like the above poster mentioning febreeze or something similar. I'm really sorry this happened. What a shame.

 

[NatJ]

Were you cooking with a teflon pan? Hot teflon can give off fumes that are toxic to birds.

Does the brooder use any kind of a light bulb? Some heat lamp bulbs have a teflon coating (dangerous for baby chicks, not a problem for some other uses.)

Maybe there was something in the new bag of bedding? Maybe some mold or a contaminant of some kind?

You have already checked the other things I would consider-- temperature (fine) and food (fine for other chicks, so presumably fine for these as well.)

This is definitely puzzling, and not in a good way

 

[RosemaryDuck]

Agree with the above users. Birds are extremely sensitive to anything airborne. Air fresheners, candles, perfume, smoke, etc. The list goes on and on. It can kill them almost instantaneously if they don't have anywhere to get away from it.

So so sorry for your losses.

 

[Ninabelle5087]

No febreze, no air fresheners of any kind. I had cooked supper earlier, but in the crock pot. I've brooder all my chicks in the house in the same brooder set up, never had an issue, save for when I used to use a heat lamp in the early days, and had two chicks die from heat stroke. Hence the reason I switched to the brooder heater. I checked the heater, and it was at the correct setting, brooder was not too hot, not too cold. The brooder heater is a rectangular plate that uses gentle, localized warmth, similar to a mama hen. The chicks can go under it to warm up, and wander out to eat and drink. Two of the dead chicks were under it, the rest were around the brooder. I am racking my brain trying to think of anything I could have done, or any signs something was wrong. I used the same pine flakes I have always used, although I did use a new brand. I usually get my shavings from rural king, but this time I got a bag from tractor supply. Surely that wouldn't be an issue, but it's literally the only difference, but then again, the first six chicks were on it for two days with no issue. It's like they were all completely fine, normal chicks, then they all just flat out died where they stood. Freakiest thing I have ever seen in my life. The kids are all crying asking what happened and I don't have an answer for them.

 

[RosemaryDuck]

No febreze, no air fresheners of any kind. I had cooked supper earlier, but in the crock pot. I've brooder all my chicks in the house in the same brooder set up, never had an issue, save for when I used to use a heat lamp in the early days, and had two chicks die from heat stroke. Hence the reason I switched to the brooder heater. I checked the heater, and it was at the correct setting, brooder was not too hot, not too cold. The brooder heater is a rectangular plate that uses gentle, localized warmth, similar to a mama hen. The chicks can go under it to warm up, and wander out to eat and drink. Two of the dead chicks were under it, the rest were around the brooder. I am racking my brain trying to think of anything I could have done, or any signs something was wrong. I used the same pine flakes I have always used, although I did use a new brand. I usually get my shavings from rural king, but this time I got a bag from tractor supply. Surely that wouldn't be an issue, but it's literally the only difference, but then again, the first six chicks were on it for two days with no issue. It's like they were all completely fine, normal chicks, then they all just flat out died where they stood. Freakiest thing I have ever seen in my life. The kids are all crying asking what happened and I don't have an answer for them.

Pine can cause pretty significant respiratory issues in close quarters after it gets wet/or heats up. I wonder if it was giving off fumes and that's what killed them?

https://www.thefeatherbrain.com/blog/toxic-chicken-coop-pine-shavings

 

[Ninabelle5087]

Seeing as it is the only difference I can think of, I'm going to get rid of the rest of that bag of pine shavings in case there was something in it. It didn't appear moldy, and it wasn't damp at all. Y'all, this is the weirdest thing I have seen in all my years of raising animals. So upset, I had finally gotten some breeds I've been on the lookout for, and they are just gone. Poor little things, I feel so awful

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Photos of brooder?