HELP! Biddies drowned in rain storm, suggestions??

[portia66]

We finally got a good soaking rain last night after going almost 30 days without rain. I have 25 biddies (incubator babies)that are about 20/25 days old and they huddled in a mass last night outside as if they didn't know what to do. Of course they had never seen rain and we got a good saoking rain that lasted all night. So this morning when I go outside to check on my flock as I do every morning, I find a mass grave all but about 8 had just piled together and drowned , they didn't go inside the coop they usually sleep in or I have two or three other small coops they could have gone into and I left the doors to our huge shop open so anyone could go in if they wanted. I have dried the 8 off with a warm hair dryer and have them under a heat lamp and cleaned them up and all but 2 have responded well , a small buff dantam cochin and a naked neck turken . Any suggestions ?? These two are like bobble heads and won't stand up , the cochin has had a few tremors for lack of a better decription. I hate to lose even one animal and this has been a devasting day already. Any help will be appreciated!
Thanks,
Portia
Portia

 

[dlhunicorn]

Ensure their water is lukewarm (not hot)...add electrolytes...it is important to get them warm and hydrated first...also if you can keep them on a warm surface that helps a bit too... you can microwave sacks of rice and place a towel on it (to ensure it is not too hot) ...enven a warm waterbottle...Good luck

 

[portia66]

Thanks for the help, I appreciate anything that might get these little guys through this.
Portia

 

[MayberrySaint]

Good luck with saving the rest of your babies...but, as an owner of chickens it is your responsibility to care and protect them. Three week old chicks are not going to know to get out of the rain especially when they have never been exposed to it. At night, you need to make sure they are in the coop and locked up. At that age they don't need to have access to the outside. They may have been inside and the rain scared them and they went out and piled up.

 

[portia66]

I try very hard to take care and protect each and every pet I own and my chickens especially because they are my favorites. I have never had anything like this happen and have kept my biddies in this coop set up for over 3 years , and even when we had the small hurricanes in the last couple of years I never had this problem. I cannot change what happended to them and I am going to re-examine this coop set up but I have never been made to feel like I am a bad pet owner ..until now.

Have a good day and by the way the two that I wrote about are doing fine (they are up and even eating and scratching around in the pen I have put them in until I know they are 100%).
Portia

 

[MayberrySaint]

I didn't mean to make you feel like a bad pet owner...just emphasizing that three week old babies need a lot of supervision (there are a lot of new owners on the board), especially if they have access outside during a rain storm. When it rains hard, my chicks pile in the corner of the coop and I have to go out and make sure they don't smother themselves. They have been doing this since they were put out in the coop at 4 weeks of age...

 

[chickbea]

Glad to hear the remaining little ones are doing well.

 

[Motherhenandflock]

So sorry about losing your babies!

And glad to hear the others are doing better now.

 

[TitiBebbs]

Portia,

We got a good soaking this morning and all of our chickens (all 10-12 weeks) huddled together under a table. Like yours, they have noever experienced rain. We had a good storm 2 days back but I left them in their coop. When the boys tried to put a piece of wood to shield the rain, everyone took off running into the rain and huddled together against the fence. We got all but one stubborn bantam white leghorn, named trixter, into the coop and all worked out. I stood in the rain, and fashiioned a canopy over their door from a tarp and fence posts. Hopefully this will afford them a better option next time it rains, as I hope it willstart doing a lot soon. I'm very sorry for your loss and pray for your remaining babies.

Beth

 

[silkiechick]

I didn't even know 3 week old chicks could be outside without a mother! You can see what I know! LOL Sorry about your loss and so glad to hear the other two are doing well. I've had some grown chickens get soaking wet and almost die but if I keep them warm long enough they seem to come out of it. When we first moved here we didn't know that the creek got out of it's banks when it rained, all the way up in to the shed we used as a chicken house. I had hens sitting nests and they stayed right on them. I had to wade out there and get them. Lost the eggs but the hens made it.
Donna