I am a peep killer!!!

[roaminggnome61]

I am sooooo frustrated. I got 30 day old meaties on Wednesday and 4 are now dead. My girlfriend got 10 and she still has 10. I have no idea what I am doing wrong. They have a wonderful brooder box with a red light, fresh food and water. I had the windows open, so my DH told me to close them. We will see how many are dead tomorrow. I read on the forum yesterday to add apple cider vinegar to the water. I did that this morning and I had a dead one in just a few hours. I dumped the waterer and cleaned it well.
Can anyone give me any suggestions?
Last year, I got 15 meaties and lost 6. I had a completely different brooder set up than I do now. The new brooder is much better.
HELP..........

 

[KatyTheChickenLady]

let's see a pic of your brooder and chicks.

 

[fairladi_chick]

whats the temp & how close is the red light to the chicks,, too much heat will kill them.

 

[sfessler]

30 day old meaties, CX, are much too old for a brooder. They are halfway to full grown. My bet is that you are overheating them.

 

[Hillsvale]

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I think OP means he has 30, one day old chicks... I read that at first as 30 days old too.

 

[Dogfish]

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She purchased thirty chicks that were 1 day old, not 30 days old. Some losses are to be expected with those birds. Sometimes you get lucky, like your friend, and no losses are expected. From what I read, losses can be expected to be 5-10%. Out of the 40 you and your friend got, you have lost 10%.

Give them space to get away from the light so in case they are too hot under the light, they have a place to move to. How are the chicks distributed in the brooder? How big is the brooder? 4'x4', or larger would probably be a minimum to start with, knowing that you will move them outside in a few weeks.

 

[SteveH]

If there was a draft of cool air flowing over the new chicks from the open windows it may have been the problem , or one of them . Light from the windows hitting the chicks could also increase temps too high . You may have received chicks that had a bad trip also . Putting a tablespoon of cider vinegar in a gallon of water isn't going to have an effect to save one from sick to perfect health nor to kill one in a 6 hour period . There are too many possibilities to list them without observing your set up . Even with many years experience , and a natural " green thumb " at raising chickens or animals in general [ or the oppoite and not really able to " read " an animal and make an adjustment accordingly ] everybody is still somewhere on a learning curve . Maybe you could ask your friend to come over and give you a few tips or look to see if she can see something wrong . Losses of 6 out of 15 and now 4 out of 30 in just the first few days would be acceptable to me only if I'm learning from the experience . Some losses are unavoidable ; not everything born , hatched or sprouted is going to survive .......... but I'll bet you can lower those losses with some effort and perhaps some shared experience from somebody thats been there before you .

 

[Chicken411]

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Well said.

 

[Penturner]

I can't say what might be happening with your chicks just from the info you provide. For example you say you have a good brooder. I have no way to know if you are qualified to determine if a brooder is good. I do know your chicks are dying in what you consider a good brooder. Gives me at least some reason to go Hmmmmm.
So I will tell you what I would be doing and I have never had any chick die in a brooder.

First I would be watching the chicks very closely for the first 24 hours for signs of stress due to shipping. Any chick that gave me any reason to be concerned would be removed to a quieter calmer surrounding where they had less competition for food water and sleep. this would also allow me to monitor them even more closely, add electrolites, vinegar or whatever else i knew to do for them. but for the most part do everything I can to focus every bit of energy they had left to surviving. not darting from some movement from a clutch mate. think of it as ICU for shipping stress.

Second if your chicks are 1 day old they need to be kept at 95 degrees. There are also 30 chicks. is there a 95 degree spot for all 30 chicks to be comfortable in? I would be watching closely for the lone stragglers that cannot find a warm enough spot. be measuring temps around the brooder and basically making sure they have enough area at 95 degrees.

They also need enough area to get to cooler space if they choose. and this means comfortable room at a lower temp for every chick at the same time.

Unless it was 95 degrees outside I would never have had a window open.

The brooder would also be shielded from drafts from opening and closing the door as I come and go.

plenty of easy access for food and water with water at the cool end of the brooder.

That to me is a good brooder.

As for the chicks.
I would be watching them all closely for the following.
active alert and energetic when they are awake.
seeing that at least at times they all are getting good periods of sleep. not the head bobbing down only to jerk back up type of sleep but deep they didn't even notice you came in sleep.
they they all have found food and water, have returned to it on their own and have in fact eaten and drank at least once. I will also continue to watch them that I see all of them eating as the days pass. I will also watch there droppings for signs they are eating and that they are in fact eleminating.

I can also watch for full crops to confirm they are eating. watch for any signs of pasty butt or any other indication of any sort of illness. listlessness, not growing at the same rate as the other chicks and many many other little signs things simply are not right.

i would also watch the chick carefully for any huddling or dog piling which means they are scared or cold or for panting which means they are to hot.
This is part of what is meant by "Reading" the animal in the post above. You need to be familiar with what is normal to be able to recognize abnormal. It is never a good reaction to Abnormal to say well I will wait and see. You already know something is not right and you should always be able to do something about it. if not do what is needed to learn what to do about it.

I watch my wife and kids look at the chicks doing one thing or another and they will say oh that is so cute. i will say no that is a chick freezing, or to hot or whatever. Don't get so lost in how cute and funny they are that you forget to step back and figure out what all that cuteness is really saying. chick climbing on each other may be funny it also may be a sign they could die. all stretched out in a funny way may mean they are overheating. chasing each other for bits of food may mean the smallest is starving to death. Just don't forget your first responsibility is care. Enjoyment must be secondary.

And finally some chicks simply are not going to survive the stress of being shipped, illness, chills or just refusing to eat or drink. those you cannot do anything about. Rule of thumb is, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

 

[Buster52]

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