Suddenly Dead Chick

[Madie'sOddFlock]

My chicks are 5 days old, they've been doing great. No overheating, I pushed the electrolytes at first, they've all been eating and drinking just fine. I had a chick with spraddle leg that fixed itself... I've been very surprised, to say the least. Everyone has been doing fine. 20 minutes ago, everyone was fine. Now suddenly a chick died... There are no signs of it being trampled, it's been awake and lively, there are no signs of it being eaten... The only possible thing I can think of is that it somehow drowned because it was covered in water and right next to the waterer. Any ideas?
Thanks,
Madie.

 

[basement chick]

My chicks are 5 days old, they've been doing great. No overheating, I pushed the electrolytes at first, they've all been eating and drinking just fine. I had a chick with spraddle leg that fixed itself... I've been very surprised, to say the least. Everyone has been doing fine. 20 minutes ago, everyone was fine. Now suddenly a chick died... There are no signs of it being trampled, it's been awake and lively, there are no signs of it being eaten... The only possible thing I can think of is that it somehow drowned because it was covered in water and right next to the waterer. Any ideas?
Thanks,
Madie.

I haven't had this happen but I'm sorry about your chick.

 

[Lady of McCamley]

I'm so sorry you lost one of your chicks. That is always saddening.

From your description, it sounds like it drowned. Chicks can drown in very little water if it fell face first and took in a big gulp in reaction.

What kind of waterer are you using? It shouldn't be anything larger than the quart size gravity flow feeder.

While drowning is a much rarer occurrence with the traditional quart waterer, I've heard of it happening. I definitely have had chicks fall into water bowls and drown. Place marbles around the bottom edges to keep that from happening for the first week or two.

As to accidental...the only other thing I can think of is interrogate each of the chicks to see if there was malice in the brood. Chicks generally crack under pressure and confess. (Just Kidding!)

Sometimes it just happens.

LofMc

 

[Kiki]

I agree with it probably drowning.
Make sure there is enough room around the waterer for the chicks to walk all the way around it.
Don't put it up against a wall.

 

[Madie'sOddFlock]

I agree with it probably drowning.
Make sure there is enough room around the waterer for the chicks to walk all the way around it.
Don't put it up against a wall.

I will admit that it is against the wall, but oddly enough the chick wasn't even against the wall, it was nearer to the center of the brooder(but with its head next to the waterer). I will keep that in mind, and I've already hurried away to the brooder to move it.

I'm so sorry you lost one of your chicks. That is always saddening.

From your description, it sounds like it drowned. Chicks can drown in very little water if it fell face first and took in a big gulp in reaction.

What kind of waterer are you using? It shouldn't be anything larger than the quart size gravity flow feeder.

While drowning is a much rarer occurrence with the traditional quart waterer, I've heard of it happening. I definitely have had chicks fall into water bowls and drown. Place marbles around the bottom edges to keep that from happening for the first week or two.

As to accidental...the only other thing I can think of is interrogate each of the chicks to see if there was malice in the brood. Chicks generally crack under pressure and confess. (Just Kidding!)

Sometimes it just happens.

LofMc

I've never had a problem with drowning, so I've never put marbles in(although I strangely was really thinking about it this time before this happened...). I'll start looking around for some now.
It is a quart waterer, I never use anything else because it's really the only thing that properly fits in the brooder. I use them up until they're out into a larger coop(since they go from the brooder to small, cheap, TSC coops, and then out into bigger coops later), although I end up using multiple of them by the time they're about 4 weeks old... It's probably a strange setup that doesn't really make sense, but it works for me(it's just another form of chicken math).
I really wish I could interrogate the chicks, it would make some issues so much easier to handle...

Thanks,
Madie.