Lost Two to Heat Lamp?

[Hazard]

Hey Gang,

Unfortunately I have lost 2 of my original 15 chicks. One week into their lives, I came home to find one of them sleeping….but she wasn’t sleeping. She was gone. This was at the end of the day on Monday so not sure what time she actually died. But sometime during the day. I cast it off as a fluke as all the other chicks looked healthy and happy. Then again, so did this one too though before she died.

Overnight, I lost another one. Same situation, in fact, she was laying in the same spot!

I immediately checked the temperature under the edge of light from the heat lamp where they lay and it was up to 105*. Is that what did it do you think? Could that 10 degrees over and the fact they were both in the same spot really be the culprit do you think?

I can’t think of any other reason why these little gals looked so good, yet be dying!

I feel so guilty about this if that is the case. Hopefully this post will help save other chicks!!!

 

[jak2002003]

I doubt it was your lamp. If it was too hot, all the chicks would be suffering and panting a lot too.

If the chicks get too hot, they will just move to a cooler place. Whats the temperature away from the lamp?

 

[cva34]

You mentioned the end of day and it was 105. What was it in the heat of the day...Already mentioned they move away from heat to a more comfortable zone ..Was 105 the coolest area ???. cva34

 

[A.T. Hagan]

Sometimes you'll lose a chick for no apparent reason that you can see. I've come to call those "failure to thrive" when I can find no reason that I can discern. I seldom lose any at all in the brooder, but once in a while I do and of those at least half of them seemed to be completely healthy all the way up to the point I find them dead.

But on the chance that it was too much heat here is what I suggest. It can be very hard to accurately measure the heat the chicks are experiencing when using a radiant heat source (as in a bulb). Instead I would go by the behavior of the chicks. They'll tell you if they are too hot or cold.

This is what you are looking for:

The smaller the brooder the more important this becomes because there is less room for them to get away from the heat and less air volume to absorb and dissipate the warmth.

Also don't forget the basics of keeping their water clean, fresh, and plentiful and their feed as well. In particular make sure it's not stale and especially not moldy or mildewed. The bedding should be dry at all times and not too nasty with built up manure.

Good luck with the remaining chicks!

 

[Hazard]

The brooder is set up in my basement where the ambient air temp is 65-70. In the brooder itself is a 4’ circle cardboard brooder guard with pine shavings floor. The temp directly under the edge of the light was the 105 temp and the edges of the brooder were about 85. They seemed to sprawl out in ALL areas of the brooder at any given time. So the top right pic above is what it is, plus they go under the lamp no problem. Whether sleeping or just mulling around.

They really didn’t seem uncomfortable at all, even directly under the light. It just seemed weird that both chicks happened to be lying dead in the exact same spot.

Food is refreshed daily and water twice a day. Litter had only been down for two days.

I do find a lot of pine shavings in the water however form their roughhousing. Could the pine wood leech into the water and affect them??? Again, it gets replaced twice a day…

 

[A.T. Hagan]

No, the shavings should not be leaching anything into the water. You can prevent that though by putting the waterer on a small platform of some time to elevate it above the shavings.