I'm guessing they shouldn't be out in the coop.. chick death mentioned

[chantald]

Ok.. I am wondering if I am making a huge mistake here.

I received an order from Ideal last week of 11 chicks. 7 are bantam and 4 were EEs. I have 5 chicks already in the brooder that are about 3 week solder, 3 RIRs and 3 bantams..

I got the chicks home, made sure they were all drinking and eating.. and the next day integrated them with the older chicks in my indoor brooder. Smooth as glass..

One EE chick passed away a day later..

On Monday or so I moved the entire lot to the coop in this set up

I lost another EE on Tuesday, found her dead in the wood shavings...

We lost power Tuesday and I added lots of hand warmers to the box.. the rest of the chicks seemed ok..

Went out today and in the small box found another chick.. flat as a pancake..dead

Are they too cold and smothering one another??? The coop is fully insulated with R11 insulation. The door to the run is closed and latched shut at night.. the heat lamp stays on at all times..

 

[Wynette]

Best way to tell is with a thermometer mounted at about head level. But, rule of thumb is, if they are all gathered and huddling under the light, they are too cold. If they are out at the very edges, too warm. Do you know for certain that they are all eating and drinking?

Edited to add : I'm very sorry for your loss.

I just looked at your pictures again, and I see they are right next to the open pophole door. I'd say by the pics that yes, they are too cold. Most folks leave chicks indoors until they are fully feathered (which is 8 weeks) before putting them out...

 

[ChickenToes]

Your setup seems perfectly fine, I am wondering the same thing as Wynette - are they eating and drinking? Do they seem to be lethargic or ill in any way?

 

[Cuban Longtails]

I'm guessing they are too cold and smothering each other, if they are not showing any signs of being sick. The ideal temperature for brooding chicks is near 100 degrees. If you can get the temp in the brooder to stay around 90 degrees or so, they should be fine.

 

[DulcyDoll]

I agree with ChicknGurl, being smashed is a good sign that they were in a chick pile from being too cold and he ended up on the bottom. Maybe stick another board on the open side of the brooder to keep the heat in, or take them in the house

So sorry for your losses.

 

[chantald]

I've moved the week olds back inside.. leaving the month olds out there..they seem happy there.. but the littlest ones are back in the guinea pig cage in the basement..

sigh.. dumb human

 

[ears73]

Definitely need to find out the temp inside the coop and the brooder.... what temp does it get down to at night? Also, I agree that the open side needs to be covered. Plus, have you had any of the other birds drop poop bombs through the top?

 

[chantald]

poop bombs.. yes.. I'm guessing now that this is a no no.. I cover the top of the mini cage now.. to prevent that..as I wasn't happy about it when it happened the first night.. but hadn't thought about it until it did..

the other hens don't go into the coop during the day..they range outside in the yard

 

[DulcyDoll]

Are the older guys fully feathered?.. I think you mentioned they were 3 weeks? I usually keep my little ones in the house, when it is cold out, until they are 5-6 weeks old and mostly-fully feathered. But then again, I don't mind the barn-ish smell that comes along with that.

If you covered the top of the brooder, would maybe set another board out about 6 or so inches on the open side, to deflect any breeze that my go through the coop.

Not dumb human, we all make mistakes, it happens..You can make it up to the ones that are left.

Good luck

 

[s6bee]

They look awful small to be outside in the cold temps we had..
Didn't you get all the snow with the storm that just came through? Drafts are bad keep door closed till all adult feathers on on them if you are keeping them outside. Temps need to be closer to 75 degrees if they are 4 wks. old or more, till about 3 mos.

If one was flat, he got smooshed and they all probably kept really close due to being cold...