Most of the hatcheries have very detailed instructions on what to do with very young chicks. I'll attach a link to Cackle's care page, but most of the other hatcheries have good pages too. It is in their interest that your chicks survive so the care pages are usually pretty good.
http://www.cacklehatchery.com/page14.html
There are a lot of things that I don't know about your set-up or care methods so I have no idea why your mortality rate is that high. It should not be. I'll try to go through a few possibilities, but I have no idea if any of these apply to you and there are plenty of others.
Chicks need a draft free, well-ventilated brooder with heat at one area in the range of 90 to 95 degrees Fahrenheit, but they also need a chance to find a cooler area. Keep one area of the brooder at the recommended temperature but allow them a chance to find a more comfortable area if they want to. Too much heat is as much a danger as too little heat. Having different temperatures in different areas of the brooder is a good safeguard. When I put mine in the brooder, it was in the low 90's right under the light, but as low as 70 degrees in ther far corner. The first couple of days they pretty much stayed under the light, but by the third day they were playing all over the brooder.
When you first put them in the brooder, dip each one's beak in the water to teach it where to drink. For the first couple of days, scatter feed on the floor and not just in the feeders. The learn to eat better that way. Usually if one learns the others will learn from watching them, but not always. Some chicks just never learn to eat and I have had to teach a chick to drink on the second day, even after dipping its beak the first day and all the others learning to drink.
I don't know what you use for bedding in the brooder. I don't like them on wood shavings the first couple of days. I think they need to learn what is food before they learn to eat a lot of wood shavings. Their digestive system is not set up and operating the way it should and they don't have grit to grind up the wood shavings they do eat. I don't like to give them grit the first couple of days for the same reason. They need to learn what their food is, but I do like to give them grit about the third day so they can handle wood shavings or anything else they eat that they cannot digest or process thorugh their digestive tracks. Putting paper towels over the wood shavings the first few days is a pretty good precaution.
If the only thing they eat is chick starter, they do not need grit. Many people successfully never give their young chicks grit, but I like to offer it on or about day 3 to help get their digestive systems set up the way it should be. That way I can offer them something other than chick starter if I want to and I feel they are protected if a hard-shelled bug wanders into their brooder or they find something to munch on that I did not intend.
Pasty butt is a risk in very young brooder raised chicks. That is where the poop dries on their vent and plugs them up. If the vent gets plugged you need to unplug it.
The brooder needs to stay dry. Diseases like coccidiosis are a real problem in a wet brooder.
Offer them the right food. Chick starter or the combined chick starter/grower is specially formulated to give young chickens a good start to life.
A lot of people on here put things in the water or feed them many different things like yogurt, boiled egg yolks, feed formulated for game birds instead of chickens, or feed medicated feed and do well. If it works for them, I have no problems with that at all. Whatever works for them is what works for them. All I've ever done is feed them food especially formulated for chicken chicks, give them clean water, keep the brooder dry, give them proper heat in one area of the brooder and allow them cooler areas if they want it, keep drafts of them, and offer grit at day 3. I have yet to lose a brooder-raised chick. I don't know what is causing your high mortality rate. You may need to do something special for yours. I hope this helps some. Good luck!
http://www.cacklehatchery.com/page14.html
There are a lot of things that I don't know about your set-up or care methods so I have no idea why your mortality rate is that high. It should not be. I'll try to go through a few possibilities, but I have no idea if any of these apply to you and there are plenty of others.
Chicks need a draft free, well-ventilated brooder with heat at one area in the range of 90 to 95 degrees Fahrenheit, but they also need a chance to find a cooler area. Keep one area of the brooder at the recommended temperature but allow them a chance to find a more comfortable area if they want to. Too much heat is as much a danger as too little heat. Having different temperatures in different areas of the brooder is a good safeguard. When I put mine in the brooder, it was in the low 90's right under the light, but as low as 70 degrees in ther far corner. The first couple of days they pretty much stayed under the light, but by the third day they were playing all over the brooder.
When you first put them in the brooder, dip each one's beak in the water to teach it where to drink. For the first couple of days, scatter feed on the floor and not just in the feeders. The learn to eat better that way. Usually if one learns the others will learn from watching them, but not always. Some chicks just never learn to eat and I have had to teach a chick to drink on the second day, even after dipping its beak the first day and all the others learning to drink.
I don't know what you use for bedding in the brooder. I don't like them on wood shavings the first couple of days. I think they need to learn what is food before they learn to eat a lot of wood shavings. Their digestive system is not set up and operating the way it should and they don't have grit to grind up the wood shavings they do eat. I don't like to give them grit the first couple of days for the same reason. They need to learn what their food is, but I do like to give them grit about the third day so they can handle wood shavings or anything else they eat that they cannot digest or process thorugh their digestive tracks. Putting paper towels over the wood shavings the first few days is a pretty good precaution.
If the only thing they eat is chick starter, they do not need grit. Many people successfully never give their young chicks grit, but I like to offer it on or about day 3 to help get their digestive systems set up the way it should be. That way I can offer them something other than chick starter if I want to and I feel they are protected if a hard-shelled bug wanders into their brooder or they find something to munch on that I did not intend.
Pasty butt is a risk in very young brooder raised chicks. That is where the poop dries on their vent and plugs them up. If the vent gets plugged you need to unplug it.
The brooder needs to stay dry. Diseases like coccidiosis are a real problem in a wet brooder.
Offer them the right food. Chick starter or the combined chick starter/grower is specially formulated to give young chickens a good start to life.
A lot of people on here put things in the water or feed them many different things like yogurt, boiled egg yolks, feed formulated for game birds instead of chickens, or feed medicated feed and do well. If it works for them, I have no problems with that at all. Whatever works for them is what works for them. All I've ever done is feed them food especially formulated for chicken chicks, give them clean water, keep the brooder dry, give them proper heat in one area of the brooder and allow them cooler areas if they want it, keep drafts of them, and offer grit at day 3. I have yet to lose a brooder-raised chick. I don't know what is causing your high mortality rate. You may need to do something special for yours. I hope this helps some. Good luck!
