I got my 16 chicks on 3/1. I lost one within the first few hours as she was weak from the get go. I lost another Saturday night. I went got electrolytes yesterday as that was the suggestion from fellow chicken people. I got up this morning and 2 more were gone! I have them at the suggested 95 degrees, they have fresh water with electrolytes, plenty of food, clean bedding. I have cleaned every girl who had crusty butt from the innoculation...They are not being overly handled, whats happening here. The two I lost were bright eyed and bushy tailed when I went to bed!
Make sure only one area in the brooder is 95 degrees for the first week. The rest of the brooder should be cooler so they can get away from the heat if necessary. Think of it as getting under mom to warm up and then going to explore. If they have that spot to warm up they can tolerate much cooler temperatures. On the other hand sometimes they have problems that only allow them to survive for a few days no matter what we do.
That is true, some breeds have lethal genes that cause them to die within a few days of hatching (or just before hatching). Watch and listen to your chicks and they will tell you if they are hot or cold. Hot = panting ~ Cold = loud peeping ~ Fed and content = very quite, content peeping.
Sounds like they need more than electrolytes if they are experiencing travel stress. See the thread How to Deal With Travel Stress In Baby Chicks in this Raising Chicks forum. Give the chick grit too. If the chicks are stressed, they are not properly up-taking the nutrients available to them because their digestive process isn't working efficiently. The Poultry Nutri-Drops mainlines into the bloodstream and doesn't need to be digested. Best Regards, Karen Waterford English Light Sussex in western PA, USA
I want to pipe in here and suggest perhaps the babies ingested some of the bedding? The lady at southern states told me do NOT put babies in pine bedding, or any other wood/shaved bedding, until they are at least two weeks old. She said the reason is they may ingest some of it, and it will expand in their tiny tummies and kill them. Don't know if that's the case here, but I am keeping my babies on whole newspaper until then, cuz I'm not taking any chances.
