Two bantam 6 week old chicks dead after moving outside

[Rogue Chickens]

Are the gnats bad where you live? I've lost young ones before due to buffalo gnats... Not sure that's what is going on here, but it is worth me mentioning.

Yes definitely are gnats. I've never experienced buffalo gnats?? Guess I don't know what they look like.

We noticed a bunch of gnats hovering all around the coop. One of the BO's has a scratch on her neck and the gnats wouldn't leave her alone.

Tonight we saw the suggestion on another site for a vanilla water mixture to use. So I currently have vanilla scented chickens.

 

[Rogue Chickens]

Is is possible something reached through the fencing?

Not likely... It's got smaller openings on the lower half of the fence and has a skirt all around to keep anyrhing from digging in.

Didn't see any blood on the first chick who died. The 2nd one today my hubby just thought she looked trampled.

 

[MrsEskew]

That is probably the culprit then. Gnats can get in their nostrils and suffocate them. I use the vanilla mixed with water and spray my chickens when the gnats are out. It's the only thing I've found that really works. Buffalo gnats are the ones that bite... They're the ones that killed my chicks.

 

[llombardo]

I use vanilla on my dogs, good to know I can use it on the chickens too.

 

[CannedMonster]

They can be quite rough with each other.
I have seven: 5 are standard size and 2 are bantams; all are 7 weeks old.
One of the bantams is a Silkie.
She’s way smaller than the others, even the bantam Cochin.
My standard birds are Naked Necks.
Sometimes they behave like...well...animals lol.
But seriously, they step on each other, jump on each other and sometimes bite each other.
It’s not to the point where I think they’re overcrowded but if my Silkie couldn’t get away they probably could kill her.
She tends to keep a low profile and she’s fast.
She’s amazingly tough and resilient.
I highly recommend more than one feeder placed in different locations so that birds lower in the pecking order can eat without being constantly chased away by more dominant birds.
Did you notice your Orpingtons bully the bantams at all?

 

[Rogue Chickens]

They can be quite rough with each other.
I have seven: 5 are standard size and 2 are bantams; all are 7 weeks old.
One of the bantams is a Silkie.
She’s way smaller than the others, even the bantam Cochin.
My standard birds are Naked Necks.
Sometimes they behave like...well...animals lol.
But seriously, they step on each other, jump on each other and sometimes bite each other.
It’s not to the point where I think they’re overcrowded but if my Silkie couldn’t get away they probably could kill her.
She tends to keep a low profile and she’s fast.
She’s amazingly tough and resilient.
I highly recommend more than one feeder placed in different locations so that birds lower in the pecking order can eat without being constantly chased away by more dominant birds.
Did you notice your Orpingtons bully the bantams at all?

I did notice the orphingtons lunging and darting at any of the chicks. It seemed worse in the small brooder. Outside they just seemed to fly and run around. But being outside I don't really see them as often.

Seemed really surprising for our bantam brahma... She was very feisty herself... Seemed like she held her own or even started things herself. She didn't hold back.

So may have just been a bad combination. We had very hot humid day when the polish died... And we did have a lot of gnats. And maybe our girls are just too rough for the little ones...

Hoping no deaths today! The 3 remaining girls looked ok when I opened their coop door.

 

[lazy gardener]

I would give them some "shelter" in the middle of that run. Perhaps a pallet raised up on cinder blocks, or 3 hay bales in a pyramid, with a tunnel between the bottom two so the birds can climb on the hay mountain, or lounge or hide in the tunnel. Put a piece of plywood over the bottom two bales, spanning the tunnel, then put the top bale on top. That way the tunnel won't collapse when it gets wet. A run that is wide open with no out of sight, or hidey places can result in panic if a predator does show up. Does your run have a skirt around the base of it to deter predators?

 

[Rogue Chickens]

I would give them some "shelter" in the middle of that run. Perhaps a pallet raised up on cinder blocks, or 3 hay bales in a pyramid, with a tunnel between the bottom two so the birds can climb on the hay mountain, or lounge or hide in the tunnel. Put a piece of plywood over the bottom two bales, spanning the tunnel, then put the top bale on top. That way the tunnel won't collapse when it gets wet. A run that is wide open with no out of sight, or hidey places can result in panic if a predator does show up. Does your run have a skirt around the base of it to deter predators?

Ooh excellent ideas!! Safe and I think the girls would love to play on it too.

And yes, the run does have skirting all around it to keep predators out.