Mail Chicks Drowning

[Chicka_deee]

I just got my first order of mail chicks last night. When I put them in the brooder they were really thirsty so they have been drinking a lot of water. In the past 2 hours I have lost 2 of the 8 chicks. What I’ve observed is they sometimes get stuck on their backs and then drown from the excessive amount of water they are drinking getting into their airway. After 2 had died I decided to do something about the slippery ground under the shavings which is what I am guessing is causing them to not be able to get back to their feet after they stumble on their back. Right now they are in a black tub from Cosco which is lined with cabinet liner now. On top of the cabinet liner there are shavings. I am using a quail chick waterer because the chicks are smaller Japanese bantams. I will attach a picture of the rest of the brooder setup.

How do I prevent these chicks from drowning by drinking too much so I don’t lose anymore?

 

[MGG]

I just got my first order of mail chicks last night. When I put them in the brooder they were really thirsty so they have been drinking a lot of water. In the past 2 hours I have lost 2 of the 8 chicks. What I’ve observed is they sometimes get stuck on their backs and then drown from the excessive amount of water they are drinking getting into their airway. After 2 had died I decided to do something about the slippery ground under the shavings which is what I am guessing is causing them to not be able to get back to their feet after they stumble on their back. Right now they are in a black tub from Cosco which is lined with cabinet liner now. On top of the cabinet liner there are shavings. I am using a quail chick waterer because the chicks are smaller Japanese bantams. I will attach a picture of the rest of the brooder setup.

How do I prevent these chicks from drowning by drinking too much so I don’t lose anymore?

Is the water warm? I usually use pretty warm water with electrolytes in it. If they drink too much cool water they can actually gorge themselves on it and die. I learned that the hard way with some ducklings.
The ducklings I had would drink too much cold water and then go into shock, which caused them to lose mobility. If they aren't warmed up quickly they die in a very short amount of time.

Sorry for your loss.

 

[Chicka_deee]

Is the water warm? I usually use pretty warm water with electrolytes in it. If they drink too much cool water they can actually gorge themselves on it and die. I learned that the hard way with some ducklings.
The ducklings I had would drink too much cold water and then go into shock, which caused them to lose mobility. If they aren't warmed up quickly they die in a very short amount of time.

Sorry for your loss.

I had the water warm with electrolytes and probiotics from Sav-A-Chick when I first put them in the brooder. I guess I might not be changing it out to warm it up often enough because it was cold when I went to check it just now. I just changed it out and now it’s a lot warmer for them.
How often would you recommend to change it out to keep the temperature warmer?
Thank you for your response!

 

[Kiki]

It looks very hot in there with that red heat lamp.
What is the temperature on the floor under the light?

 

[HeritageFan]

Sorry for your losses

I would move the water closer to the heat lamp - let the light help keep the water a bit warmer.

I would also move both the water and feeder a bit further from the “walls”, so the babies can move around them.

Keep a close eye on the temps of that black plastic- it can get a lot hotter than you might think!

Also. What is your thermometer reading?
It has shavings on it- I can’t see your temp in the “hot side”

 

[Chicka_deee]

Sorry for your losses

I would move the water closer to the heat lamp - let the light help keep the water a bit warmer.

I would also move both the water and feeder a bit further from the “walls”, so the babies can move around them.

Keep a close eye on the temps of that black plastic- it can get a lot hotter than you might think!

Also. What is your thermometer reading?
It has shavings on it- I can’t see your temp in the “hot side”

Thank you for the advice! I rearranged the the brooder and made sure there was space around the feeder and I moved the water closer to the heat.
I always worry too about the black tote getting too hot but I make sure to check where the chicks are running around and where they will touch it it’s completely fine. This is their temporary brooder for about 7-10 days until I can move them to a heat plate and a different/bigger set up. I heard the heat lamps help for the first few days with mail chicks to warm them up better. Even though I prefer heat plates I’ll have the heat lamp on for now. I’ll definitely make sure to keep an eye on the temp for the tote because it’s black.
As for the thermometer, it reads around 103 but I’ve been raising it and watching them very closely to see if they are comfortable with the heat.
Also, no more dead chicks since the last time I updated! I think putting the cabinet liner down under the shavings instead of just having the slippery tote is definitely helping.

 

[RoyalChick]

I don’t use a heat lamp but 103 seems very hot to me. Can you raise the lamp up higher?

 

[Chicka_deee]

I don’t use a heat lamp but 103 seems very hot to me. Can you raise the lamp up higher?

Yeah, I’m playing around with the height right now as this is a new setup so I don’t have a familiar place for it yet. I got it to stay around no more than 100 finally after working with it all day and they seem to be happy.

 

[RoyalChick]

Yeah, I’m playing around with the height right now as this is a new setup so I don’t have a familiar place for it yet. I got it to stay around no more than 100 finally after working with it all day and they seem to be happy.

Better. But I would say still too hot. Particularly as they don’t have a lot of space to get away from it.
I use a heat plate and by day three the babies only ever dash under to warm up - the rest of the time they scamper around in a room with temperatures in the mid 60s (Fahrenheit ibviously).
The one time I had to use a heat lamp for a day or two, I put a tall step ladder over the brooder and mounted it to that so it was way up high. Don’t know if that idea could work for you.
I believe you can also get lower wattage bulbs.

 

[yakitori]

100 is way too hot, see if you can move it to the side and have a cool side for the chicks to escape too. heat can kill just as much as the cold.