Update for today. Woke up and went down to check on the babies. Found what looked like a battlefield. There were 5 or 6 babies laying with their legs rigid spread all around the food and water, away from the heat, not moving and with their eyes closed. I was super bummed out. They all seemed to still be alive, but not really responsive at all and pretty stiff. I had to go to church, but figured maybe they were just super cold. Put them all under the heat where the other babies of course started trampling on them. But there was not much else I could do. Luckily when I came home, all but one are fine and I cant even tell which ones were the ones with problems.
Here is what I am convinced happened. Every time I have brooded a batch, I have had a light bulb indirectly casting a gentle light 24/7 so they can see where they are going at night. Not for heat, but just for some dim light. Yesterday I sold some babies to someone who needed a clamp fixture, so I sold him the clamp fixture I was using for my "light" bulb. This meant my babies went overnight in the pitch darkness. I think they wandered out of the heat from the ceramic heater and couldn't find their way back in the dark.....
So moral of the story is that brooding with daylight/natural darkness with ceramic (no light) heaters has a risk if you ask me. I like the ceramic/no light bulbs (usually either 75 or 100 watts), and using a 250W red bulb is definite overkill for heat reasons, but at least it lets them see where they are going and where they need to get back to! I can't decide if I want to toss a 250W red bulb in my hanging fixture to kill two birds with one stone or not. Well.....I don't want to kill ANY birds. Haha. So that isn't the best turn of phrase to use, is it!
