Second dead chick.

[PeakyBeaky]

We lost our 2 month old gold wyandotte last night.

Her buddy died last week. Now we have one left...with 4 others coming next week. The 2 that died were eatting, pooping and acting "normal", but when they would fall asleep, they were really limp looking from the beginning(we've had them a month). What could I be missing/overlooking?

We house them in my garage and they have a light at night-it's a steady 60-65 degrees in there without the light. They have free access to food/water and roosts in there cage. And we take them out mid-late afternoon when it's warmer outside (for about 20 minutes)and let them be chickens(look for bugs, scratch in the yard).

The feed we use is the chick medicated stuff from Tractor supply. Thanks for any help.

 

[tobin123]

Is it a heat lamp?65 is to cold for a chick

 

[MOChickenz]

I think you are supposed to start at 100 degrees and move the light so the temp comes down 5 degrees a week. 65 is way too cold.

 

[puredelite]

Seems I have read the same thing about starting out at 100 degrees and coming down 5 degrees each week. By doing the math tho those temps should be in the range for 2 month old chicks, 'specially since they are housed out of the wind. At that age they are feathered enough to keep warm by huddling together. I have 2 month old chicks that are in a draft-free coop with no light at all and all are doing great even with the temps here that have dropped down to 32 degrees. Might want to give them a little more warmth at nite just to see if they do better. Sounds like everything else your doing is right on tho. Sorry 'bout your loss...

 

[Judy]

You're not doing a thing wrong, they have plenty of feathers at 2 months for those temps and the feed should be fine. A necropsy is the only way to learn the cause. I would guess there was something wrong inside, like a heart or intestinal defect, there could be so many causes, and you just had bad luck.

Since you bought them at one month, any chance the seller chose the smaller ones, chicks that were not thriving and growing well, to sell you?

There is such a thing as failure to thrive in chickens -- means what it sounds like, for unknown reasons they just don't grow as well as the others, and sometimes die from whatever is wrong.

Sorry for you losses.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I agree with everything Ddawn said. Chicks are usually fully feathered out by 4 to 5 weeks of age. They do not need any heat after that unless you live in an extremely cold climate where the temperature is well below 0* Fahrenheit. Don't let anybody make you feel guilty about not providing heat the them.

By the way, the correct temperatures for a chick are:

1st week - between 90 and 95* F
2nd week - between 85 and 90* F
3rd week - betweeen 80 and 85* F
4th week - between 75 and 80* F
5th week - between 70 ansd 75* F, if necessary
After that - not necessary

I find mine do very well by providing one area of the brooder that is at the correct temperature where they can go warm up if they want to but let them go play in areas that are quite a bit cooler. For example, I see 4 day old chicks playing in the corners of my brooder that are 70* F and occasionally going back to the area that is around 90* to warm up. I have not lost one yet. They do sleep in the warm area of the brooder.

I don't know what you mean when you say they look limp when sleeping. A lot of times, mine look dead when sleeping, especially young chicks. I do find it a little unusualy that two would die at that age. One maybe, but probably not two. If it happens again, I suggest you call your county extension agent, in the phone book under county government, and discuss it with the agent. The agent should either put you in touch with an chicken health expert or be able to tell you where you can get a necropsy. Especially in areas where they raise a lot of chickens commercially, necropsies can be pretty inexpensive. It is best to check on price first as some can be expensive. Often they do the necropsies cheaply to encourage finding and treating diseases before they spread to the commercial operations. A lot of the time, this is tied in with the state land grant university.

 

[PeakyBeaky]

Quote:
You are...but these are 8 weeks old already.

 

[PeakyBeaky]

Quote:
Thanks for the information. The only other thing my kids said they noticed, is that last night the chick was "mouth breathing" when she slept. I'm trying to read up on anything that could kill young birds, but not have little/any symptoms.

 

[Judy]

Quote:
You are...but these are 8 weeks old already.

And 90-95 is plenty, IME.