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

[Tclloyd0812]

It sounds to me as if the issue was brought home with the chicks.
They could have had health health problems before you bought them. Especially because you said they were dirty and you never had issues with the brooder set up before.
I would give the brooder and everything in it a pedantic clean with bleach, dry it in the sun and try again.
Sorry that happened!!!

Could be a possibility, but no signs of sickness were mentioned besides the dirtiness, and why would they all die simultaneously?...
This is so confusing!

 

[Swbertrand1]

I agree! It's the most logical thing at this point, the OP didn't know if for sure it was CO poisoning, but I believe someone mentioned it and it was discussed a little. But, even if it isn't CO poisoning, it may have been some sort of toxic chemical/gas as you mentioned. It would make since because all 12 were dead together, it doesn't sound like they died separately, and no visible signs of electrocution are present, though I'm not an expert. That, or something else that I can't possibly come up with killed them.
This is mind boggling, and I've never seen or heard anything like this!!!

I concur. I've read reviews of that particular brooder heater malfunctioning, the large majority of malfunctions being that it just fails to heat, but there were a handful of reviews (about 5 or 6 as I recall out of over 500) where it over-heated and cooked the chicks. If this were the case (over-heating), the chicks would have moved to the outer edges of the brooder.

Since they didn't move from their sleep positions, a toxic gas is all that makes sense - or they all ate the same bad dinner! This reminds me of the Chinese drywall that a lot of homes were built with some 12-15 years ago that started making folks sick. There are lots of chemicals in all the components that make up a heating system: wire coverings, glues, circuit boards, and more. If any of those contain toxic materials that can evaporate off when heated, then................. ???

Very sad though :-(

 

[Ninabelle5087]

We have an indoor parrot, and parrot "experts" have warned us that using Teflon-coated cookware can be fatal to the bird. I can't imagine it would be much different for chicks.
FWIW, stovetop cookware easily reaches 300+, even 400 degrees on occasion.

Does anyone know if the OP used this brooder heater for the first time, or if it had been used successfully in the past?

It was not the first time, I've used it on multiple groups of chicks.

 

[Ninabelle5087]

What did you find out?
@Ninabelle5087

Waiting on necropsy results. Still too scared to buy new chicks.

 

[Ninabelle5087]

Still no answers y'all. My vet also thought it was weird, and could find no obvious cause of death. Sent the one I brought him to Auburn. Idk when they will get back to me.

 

[Kiki]

Still no answers y'all. My vet also thought it was weird, and could find no obvious cause of death. Sent the one I brought him to Auburn. Idk when they will get back to me.

It usually just takes a few days to hear back from the state lab. How long have they had the chick?

 

[TheOddOneOut]

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.

I’m guessing it must be gas fumes or heat.

 

[Chicalina]

There were too many chicks in a small space. And not much room to get to a cooler spot as it was taken up with the food and water bowls. If the heatplate overheated then they had nowhere to go.

 

[Hopeful homesteader]

Thank you!! I have given my chickens eggs from a teflon pan before

I have too I was looking up the toxicity to humans a while ago and decided to switch to stainless steel. Long term use is where the problems show because the toxins build up in our bodies over time a certain ones are harder for the body to expell. I didn't know it was worse for chickens.

 

[Swbertrand1]

It was not the first time, I've used it on multiple groups of chicks.

If I were you, I'd try to rule out some things while waiting. Run some tests on the heater. Plug it in, turn it on, and get a thermometer out. Does it heat to the correct temperature? Does it stay at that temperature? For how long?