Sleeping in a pile, found one dead this morning :(

[Alliesan648]

bit of a somber morning for me here. Found one of the girls flattened this morning where they normally pile up. They have roosting bars but they don’t use them yet. I figured they would when they were ready (mistake)
I had 7, 9 week old americaunas, they’ve been sleeping out in the coop in a little pile at night.
I didn’t see anything wrong with this til now. Should I have had the heat lamp on for them? It’s been in the mid 50’s at night here I thought they were okay now.
I didn’t realize that you have to show them how to roost either :/
Sighh.

 

[Roosterrob21]

If theyre killing each other trying.to stay warm id say yes to the heat lamp

 

[tacothechicken]

Hmm at that age they should be fine ive got 3. Nine week olds outside and our nights are 56 tops during summer so that many birds shouldn't have a heat issue :/ you can attempt a heat lamp but are you sure the bird didnt have an injury or subtle illness? Chickens Will happily eliminate they're closest friends if they're not in peak condition unfortunately they should also roost instinctively. How high are your bars cause young birds can generally only make a 2-3 ft leap/flight until theyve put some real muscle somewhere

 

[tacothechicken]

Lol I meant on* fricken autocorrect

 

[nminusyplusm]

At 9 weeks they should be fully feathered and don't need a heat lamp. How high are your roosts? How's the ventilation? Can you post pictures of your coop? I'd put them on the roosts at bedtime.

 

[feathermaid]

Oh, I'm so sorry that happened. I guess she got crushed or suffocated under the pile?

Are they fully feathered? At this age and in such mild temps, I don't think they'd need any supplemental heat... they should have enough body heat. Is your coop clean and well ventilated? Moisture and ammonia fumes are a chickens worst enemy.
And yes, without older chickens as a example, they do need to be shown how to roost at first. I brooded my 3 chicks with a heating pad instead of a lamp and my chicks were roosting at 5 wks old... nights were also in the 50's.


When it starts getting dark, chickens can't see very well. That's a good time to go in the coop and pick each one up and set them on the roost. They may protest a little until they get settled but they probably won't jump down if it's dark and they can't see. You might have to do this for several nights. Roosting is a natural behavior, some do it right away... others, like yours, just might need a little encouragement.

 

[LittleMissCountry]

So sorry about your chicken!

Mine were outdoors at 9 weeks, with 40 to 50 degree temps, and I only added heat if it dropped below 40. They did fine. They still slept in a pile until around 10 to 12 weeks, but I only have 4 so they didn't create much of a pile. I moved them to the roosts and they would immediately move back down. Even if I waited until they were sound asleep, in the morning they would be back on the floor. Don't beat yourself up over it...these things happen sometimes, even when you are doing everything right.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Did you check the body for any other signs of what she might have died from - things to look for would be wounds, parasites, or maybe off behavior the day or two before? Sometimes it could be another cause, and the body getting smothered by others happens after and is not the cause of death.

They absolutely don't need a heat lamp at that age and temp.

 

[Chickassan]

They can and do crush each other in piles, the one on bottom never wins. Get them roosting, they aren't cold and are plenty old enough not to sleep in a pile. Poor flat chicken...my condolences iv'e had flat ones before myself.

 

[Alliesan648]

They had a roosting perch up around 3ft up. Maybe it was too high up? I’ve lowered it to about 1.5 ft now. I’m going to go in there tonight and place them on it.
I also had their feeder in there and they’d been pileing up next to it/ and the wall. So perhaps the squished one just couldn’t get free :/ i think I’m going to take the feeder out. There is a pretty decent sized window with a screen and the roof eaves are open with hardware cloth on them.

They’ve been shaking their heads noticeably. But they all seemed to be eating/drinking/moving normally the day before. I did a round of safeguard last week thinking it may be gape worm (taking into consideration the signs my ducks were showing too, and just treated the whole flock) but the head shaking continues.
I bought some permethrin today, removed all litter. Vacuumed out the cracks/floor and dusted everywhere. Also bought some poultry protector that I’m going to spray them with tonight (as well as put them on their newly lowered perch)

I’ll post some pics in a bit here