Help with Broiler chicks

[pfoster]

This is only the second year raising broilers. This year we are having a high number of deaths and a few look like they aren't growing like the others. We received 51 chicks from Welp, all alive. We lost a few over the next few days, we suspected that we didn't have the temp quite right. Every now and again we'd find another one dead! so now we have lost 7, and we have noticed 2 that are WAY smaller(like half the size) than the others like they aren't growing correctly. ideas? Could it just be the batch from the hatchery? Any thoughts on Welp as a hatchery? Last year we had the same number and only lost 3. Today they are 15 days old. We have 2 waters ( 1 gal and 1 qt) and 2 linear feeders, which I just swapped out one of them for a 7lb hanging feeder. Brooder is about 4'x4', we had a hover with a light, but recently bought the EcoGlow50 for them. They will be going out to the tractor when they are ready. We are saddened and frustrated too. We have 2 more sets of 50 to arrive throughout the Summer and we want to make sure we are successful with this!

 

[AmberRex]

It could be just an illness in the flock. Perhaps the temperature was wrong or they were infected during transportation or hatching or whatever... If you have had really bad weather recently this too could affect them. I live in Ireland and last year we had really bad weather and lost an awful lot of livestock to illness. I haven' t had lost any so far this year and I plan not to.

How are they doing now? and