Mass Chick Death- WHAT COULD HAVE HAPPENED???

[Cyprus]

Mold toxicity caused extreme lethargy in my chicks, not hyperactivity.

 

[Fishkeeper]

Oh, mold can definitely cause some weird neurological effects. The hysteria around the Salem witch trials is thought to have been caused by an outbreak of a psychoactive mold in the local wheat supply. Basically, everyone who ate that wheat was on LSD. You probably don't have LSD-mold in your feed, but I'm sure plenty of other molds have neurological effects of one form or another. I certainly wouldn't be surprised if there's a poisonous fungus whose toxin causes panic in birds.

 

[Kris5902]

Maybe it was the moldy feed if it causes chicks to act hysterical and then die all at once like that.

It’s true that we somehow need to improve the ventilation. We have a fan that brings in fresh air & exhausts old air outside. But during cold weather it doesn’t help well enough to stop condensation. You can see moisture on the windows in some of my pics & there’s a musty smell in my cabinet in there.

There’s not really a way around it short of increasing the insulation like crazy, or investing in the double pane gas filled windows... and it’s basically a “barn” so Over insulating is counter productive... and with the humidity here there’s not much helping it.

You might want to consider replacing the window though, that has had a huge impact on my father-in-law’s cabin, and all our problem areas in the trailer are under windows (single pane) and in places with poor air circulation (under the couch and in corner cabinets). Maybe try adding an oscillating fan, or up the CFM of your vent fan?

I would suspect the feed though.

 

[dalasgalas]

Following. Sorry to hear about your little babies.

 

[Cyprus]

It probably is the feed, but I'm investigating all angles.

 

[Kris5902]

It probably is the feed, but I'm investigating all angles.

Agree... but the OP’s set up is very tight, assuming the can was in good shape to start. I’ve seen a lot of Sea Cans in bad shape, and once they get one little unintended hole they aren’t rodent proof, or mink proof anymore.

I got my hatching eggs and chicks from them, their set up is very professional and clean, people proof, and if the dogs are ratting then they are probably keeping mink/weasels at bay as well.

Granted, there is the point that if there’s been a condensation issue, it could have leaked down and caused a rust spot, creating a place where rodents/mink could chew through underneath? If the damage occurred after the interior was finished... its possible. I’d set a whole bunch of traps on the inside just in case!

 

[Keeperofmunchkins]

I got that. Now I want to know what electric heating plate specifically. I see that it appears to be hung. The one time I used a heat plate for chicks is the only time I ever lost every chick I had in that brooder. They all died in contorted positions.

She said she is feeding medicated chick starter. What brand? Dumor was the feed the above chicks of mine were on when they died. My adult birds got sick on Dumor. That brand is crap.

What happened with your heat plate??

 

[Ms Clucky]

Oh, it's always hard to lose the little ones. I'm so sorry. Something tried to get in and it scared them to death. I noticed you have bricks in front of the coop that has the holes facing forward. Something might have crawled through there and tried to get in through the floor. That would be my guess.

 

[Cyprus]

What happened with your heat plate??

It malfunctioned. Shut off and the chicks froze to death. The few that didn't either drowned or ate the moldy feed later. It was a baddddd time.

 

[Kris5902]

Oh, it's always hard to lose the little ones. I'm so sorry. Something tried to get in and it scared them to death. I noticed you have bricks in front of the coop that has the holes facing forward. Something might have crawled through there and tried to get in through the floor. That would be my guess.

It’s a steel Sea Can, shipping container. It's basically a metal box designed to be rat proof. Unless there’s a rust hole in it somewhere they’ve missed, it’s 12 or 14 gauge steel...