My chicks died. Why? Any thoughts?

[aqhaktberry3]

I have bought about 20 chicks from the same person 2 seperate times. Of the 20 only 5 have survived. They were marans and ameraucana . The 1st set were about 2 weeks I did exactly what he said to do. They had good feed and water, and a heat lamp. Do any of you know why? Is it possible that they were just bad chicks? Maybe he is a bad breeder or something? Now I'm worried to buy any young chicks because I'm scared they are all going to die

Thanks for any comments!

 

[Camelot Farms]

Can you give us some more info....how old when they died? All the same breed?
symptoms prior to death?

Thanks!

 

[Laurelm]

That's pretty sad. I've raised a lot of chicks that were only 2 day old and never had one die. I wonder if they were diseased? I probably would not buy my next chicks from the same place.

 

[cheeps4u]

Use a different breeder and get a thermometer to check the heat situation. Feed starter never laying feed.

 

[becky3086]

How old were the chicks when you bought them? If they were alive when you got them, I can't think that it was the breeders fault. Like the other person said, check on your brooder temps. Make sure you know what you are doing before you blame the breeder. What type of brooder did you have them in? Did you sanitize the brooder after the first batch died? Lots of factors could have contributed to the chicks deaths, we just have to know more.

 

[~*Sweet Cheeks*~]

I see back in June you posted about your chicks that had blood in their poo. Maybe they died from cocci??

Didn't you get both sets of chicks from the same breeder?

 

[aqhaktberry3]

I'm not automatically blaming the breeder. That why I'm posting about it to see what it could be.He was a very nice guy and offered to replace all of them for free. They were 2 weeks when I got them. The 1st batch didn't have blood in their poo at all. I fed them Nutrina chick starter. And I cleaned everything before we got the 2nd batch. Some of the chicks in the 2nd batch had blood in their poo but not all. So we separated the sick ones from the others. What watt bulb do you recommend and what temp should it be? Thanks!

 

[farmin'chick]

The first week, brooder temp should be around 95 for chickens. Lower it 5 degrees each week until you get to the atmospheric temperature. (For example, if you live in Maine, the atmospheric temperature would probably be different than if you lived in Houston TX.)

If you have hot days and cool nights, they might need a lamp at night and not in the day -- Are you brooding them inside or outside? Have A/C on? Are they in a draft???

As to what watt light, whatever it takes to get the correct temperature. My ducks needed the 250 watt heat lamp 2 nights because it was cold at night. Then I switched to a 100 watt, then a 75 watt . Use a thermometer that registers the change in temperature quickly -- one of mine only measures the temp every so often and displays it digitally. It is a pain if you are trying to fine tune temperatures.

Good luck!