Our Initiation....

[newhenmama]

Sadly, we lost 11/12 of our beloved chicks yesterday. This is our first experience as chicken owners and we are deeply saddened. It was in the moment of tragedy that the greatest strength of all was found, in our 3-year-old daughter. I was the most upset, being the one that found them, and she was the one comforting me, reassuring me that everything would be okay and that we'd get more chickens. I thought they were all gone, and had crawled in bed with our daughter, and my husband came into the room holding our sole survivor - I took that as a sign that we were not done with the adventure we had put our heart and sole into.
Our DEAR FRIEND Honeysucklehills has volunteered to gather age-appropriate chicks to become a flock with 'Popper', our survivor. I was up most of the night worrying about what had happened, how we are obviously going to ensure that it doesn't happen again, and cuddling 'Popper', as it is obvious she misses her friends.
Good thoughts and prayers would be appreciated, thanks!

 

[HEChicken]

Awwww...sorry for your loss. Kids can be so wise!

Some of the factors that can come into play:

Temperature
Bedding (if they eat shavings instead of their food - for the first few days put down towels over the bedding until they understood where to get real food)
Getting wet and then chilled (put marbles in the waterer for the first few days so they can't get in it and get wet
Suffocation - if there is only a small area that is the optimum temperature, they will all crowd together and may end up getting crushed (generally only 1-2 are lost at a time)
Mold - if you are incubating in a basement or damp area, mold can be lethal to them
Disease - usually you see some signs or symptoms first

 

[newhenmama]

Thanks, these are good things to look for, appreciate your reply.
We had a predator get into the coop.....yes, very sad.

 

[HEChicken]

Oh, I'm so sorry - I misunderstood. I'm glad you had a survivor then and that you will be able to companions.