Help....I am losing my babies left and right....HELP!

[clheck28]

I bought 8 babies from www.mypetchicken.com. I got 5 americaunas, 2 blue cochin and 1 silkie. I have since lost all but 3 (2 americaunas and 1 blue cochin). I lost 2 at one time. My husband thought maybe it was from them laying on top of each other and suffocating the ones on the bottom. Then I lost another 1 who was laying off by her self. The last 2 I lost this morning. 1 was laying in the middle of the pen and the other 1 was laying in her food dish. UGH! What am I doing so wrong? I put them outside since they have all their body feathers, wing, tail, etc. They do not have their head feathers though. I do not put the heat lamp on during the day but at night we keep it on until about 8:00 a.m. Our day time highs are 80+ and the nights are between 55 and 75....but I do use the red heat lamp at night still. What am I doing so wrong? They get fresh water every day. They get fresh food as they need it. They are about 1 month old. I also let them run around in the grass every now and again. I noticed today that 1 of the remaining americaunas is now limping. Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

 

[silkiechicken]

I'll move this to emergiencies.

We need more information such as what they are being fed and details about their death, bedding used, supplements given, treats and so on.

 

[leokat75]

The only thing I can think of without more details is 1 month is really young to be outside. They need pretty consistent 90 degree temps, day and night, at that age.

Anything weird with their poop? Any signs of loose or red stool?

You have a lamp on, but how close is it? Any actual temperature readings from the area they actually occupy? Meaning just having a lamp on may not be enough, it may need to be lower, it might not be producing enough heat to offset the cold temps at night.

For reference, I put mine outside this year just shy of 5 weeks and that is a bit earlier then I have done with other batches. And this was after weeks of weening them off the heat.

 

[antiquebuff]

Those red heat lamps get very very hot. Mine read 120 and my chicks were cooking! I took it out and used a reg. heat lamp. Have you checked the temperature in the brooder with the light on? This could be the problem if you are finding them dead in the morning.

Just a suggestion, sometimes we find the problem by ruling out other things!

 

[therealsilkiechick]

i don't put mine outside till they r 8-10 weeks old. and u didn't mention grit or what feed they have? are u giveing them any chick grit? if not anytime they have access to other food other than starter they should have it to digest food. also r they on chick starter or what r u feeding them? do u have a shade cover over the run so they can get out of the heat? mabe they are dieing from heat exhaugten(sp).

another thought i just had is what bedding r u useing? some r toxic like cedar and fragrant trees and also powdery ones can give them respitory problems and kil themjust as easily.

 

[clheck28]

The pen they are in is covered with a roof so they do not get direct sunlight. When we check on the babies, they were laying anywhere from directly under the light to laying on the edge of where the light fell...and we checked them a couple of times a day because I was so paranoid of losing more (not like it did me any good

) They have pine shavings to bed in and are eating starter chick food. I did not give them grit so I will add this now. I have moved my remaining 3 babies inside and have them under their heat lamp. I cannot and will not lose these last 3 babies. The other thing we were doing was letting them run around in the yard for about 5-10 minutes about 3 or 4 times we did this. They enjoyed pecking at the grass and trying to bathe themselves. We kept them in an area were the big chickens wouldn't get them but could see them. I was trying to make this a very easy transition for the new babies because we had a silkie in the clutch and I was worried something would happen to her (unfortunately she is one we lost)

 

[dlhunicorn]

is the chick starter medicated?

The piling up makes one tend to think of hypothermia (so they were cold)
Cold / hypothermia is deadly...once the body temps lower to a certain degree (I forget what it is now) that is a point of no return for a chick.... They need steady constant temps if losses are to be avoided.

 

[therealsilkiechick]

8 weeks old around this time a year is not really to little to be out if they r in pens/coop where they can't get into anything and to just have lights at night if they r that feathered should be fine. if they r feathered enough to be outside here and it's colder it should be fine there. i think it was the drafts or wind, mabe rain? and/or the no grit.

if they were playing in the rain and got chilled it would do it, if they r not closed in at night and drafts got to them somehow it would (i put drop doors down at night only for mine and they r fine no heat lamps, but i ween them off lights inside before they go out)and also being so young eating grass and such with no grit to digest.

the only things i feed mine at that age is medicated starter, scrambled or fried egg whites and meal woms. i don't introduce them to anything else till 12 weeks old(that's when i add chick grit) and then i ween them till 16 weeks old gradually from starter and add in slowly adult feed till it is all switched to adult feed at 16 weeks then they get grasses and all the other goodies but that's just me. alot of things when they r smaller r to harsh on their crops and they can't digest them without the grit.
hope that helps,
silkie

 

[jtotherow]

Mine are Rhode Island Reds. they have been outside since they were 8 weeks old and always fed them chick starter and chick grit. i was told by McMurray how to do my first. No matter what I do I always lose at least one. this heat is extreme but I mist them and they have a fan and plenty of cool water several times a day. they've been roosting since 4 weeks or trying too! I was told you will lose these bird if they do not have chick grit. Even outside our ground is so soft I've had to continue the grit or get river sand. They can't digest they will starve!

 

[CleverYou]

sorry to hear about loss of chicks...i hate it when it happens ...is there any places where rats or small verman can get in..some bigger rodents will kill chicks....if you are useing chick starter u dont need any grit....iv incubated almost 400 chicks this year so far and lost 27.

if they range outside they get grit frome the ground.