Sick Keets

[Beetul]

I have 5 ten day old keets, born in an incubator and raised in their box - we did have 10. Feed is chicken starter, mealie worm and mashed cooked egg yolks. They have a heat lamp in their brooder box and the box itself is in a barn which is relatively warm. We lost one on Friday and since then have been losing one a day....spoken to the vet who gave us some baycox to mix in their water but we have still lost one. Their bedding is a picnic blanket - they cant possibly eat it and it has a waterproof base so easy to clean. The vet has cut the one open from last night and says all looks fine apart from a smelly intestine and says that they must be dying from husbandry and not a disease. What are we doing wrong? First time we have ever tried this

 

[MattCopeland]

Check the heat lamp you have and make sure it's not teflon coated. It can make birds sick and die from toxicity. Also it could be they are just getting too hot. What is the temp in the brooder?

 

[Beetul]

It's just a normal bulb, we stuck it in a lamp from a billiard table and lined it with foil. It's a big brooder so they have plenty of room to escape the heat or huddle together - bulb is a 100Watt, we tried 75 but the weather turned mean.