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

[Ninabelle5087]

Lemme set it back up y'all hold on a sec. And the heat plate literally only gets warm, not even hot enough to be uncomfortable to the touch. The house is 70 degrees, and the inside of the brooder not under the heater was only 72, unless my thermometer is broken. After the heat lamp incident in my early chicken keeping, I've always been terrified of overheating chicks. I'll set it back up and double check.

 

[Ninabelle5087]

Gonna let it warm back up and check temp under, and the ambient temp again

 

[Mellowmalt]

It is a 200 watt heater. That is pretty powerful to be honest. Even my 75 watt heat lamp can overheat a tub like that so 200 watts is pretty powerful no matter what the description claims it does unless it is thermostatically controlled.

 

[Kiki]

Gonna let it warm back up and check temp under, and the ambient temp again

What is in the feed dish?

 

[Kiki]

It is a 200 watt heater. That is pretty powerful to be honest. Even my 75 watt heat lamp can overheat a tub like that so 200 watts is pretty powerful no matter what the description claims it does unless it is thermostatically controlled.

If I'm not mistaken there are numerous threads about this exact product overheating.

 

[Ninabelle5087]

It is a 200 watt heater. That is pretty powerful to be honest. Even my 75 watt heat lamp can overheat a tub like that so 200 watts is pretty powerful no matter what the description claims it does unless it is thermostatically controlled.

The 200W setting is the heater setting for use in an entire coop for winter heat. The brooder setting is only 120 volts. I can literally handle it and it just feels warm, like a heating pad. It was on the brooder setting and it was the first thing I checked, I lifted it out to check under it for survivors. It didn't feel unusually warm or hot,

 

[Ninabelle5087]

What is in the feed dish?

Rural King's brand of chick starter grower

 

[Ninabelle5087]

If I'm not mistaken there are numerous threads about this exact product overheating.

I'm gonna Google and look into that. Maybe it overheated, then had cooled again by the time we noticed????

 

[Kiki]

I'm gonna Google and look into that. Maybe it overheated, then had cooled again by the time we noticed????

You could refrigerate a few now and take them to your state lab tomorrow for a necropsy if it is close by. If it's not close you could over night a few to the lab. They will tell you why they died.

 

[BirdsBeesTrees]

I don't want to make things more confusing but when i read this all i keep wondering is if the plate malfunctioned and electrocuted them...