How many days have you had your chicks now? How many days were they when you got them? First start out by cleaning the plastic container with regular dawn dish soap. Rinse it out well. Let air dry. Place a small layer of dust free bedding down in the brooder. I would lower your temp to 90 degrees for the first week of their lives then lower it every week afterwards by 5 degrees. So if they were already a week old in the store your temp sure be at 85 when you bring them home. I used a large plastic tote also for my brooder. The plastic containers maintain heat. So place a thermometer inside the brooder maybe even two and check your temp every hour to see how much higher it is during the day then at night. Your night time temp needs to be the 90 or lower depending on age of chicks. Daytime temps will make it climb some times. Keep adjusting your light source till its correct. Give your chicks electrolytes in their water and take a coffee grinder and use if the crumble is to big for the bantams. Also a little scrambled egg can help, make sure its mashed up real fine. YOU must show the chicks where the food and water is once you first get the chicks and put into the brooder box. Dip their beaks in the food and then water. Watch out for the nostrils you don't want water in them this can also kill a chick. Make sure your water bowl is very shallow and place marbles in it if you need to. This helps so they don't drowned. Take and look at your brooder divide it into 1/3, 1/3 and 1/3 visually. Off set your light so the chicks can move far enough away from the light source if they need to. Offset the light just a little off the first 1/3 but not into the middle of the container. Do not keep the lid on the container. Keep it off till you cut the lid and put hardware cloth on it. Make sure you wash feeder bowl, water container and any other items your using before you place them into the brooder and that they air dry. You don't know where they been of how long they been sitting out on a shelf or in a box. I hope this help you just a bit and you find out why your chicks are dying. You can also make your own electrolytes instead of buying packets. 2 liters of water heat to a boil. Add 1/2 teaspoon of Baking soda, 1/2 table salt, 1 tablespoon of Sugar. Mix well and let cool completely. Keeps for 2 days in frig. Let warm to room temp before you give it to chicks out of frig.
So sorry for your losses. What % protein is your feed, are you providing vitamins or electrolytes in their water? We're thrilled that you've decided to join us
