We've lost 50%...

[dolly85]

I ordered my chicks from Ideal in January this year. They went from Texas to northwestern Wisconsin in below zero weather and I only had one loss out of twenty six. I never keep my chicks at the recommended temp. Honestly, they get too warm!

 

[dldolan]

I have my 5-day olds in an open top 45 gal plastic bin. Temp on the floor says @87 and they are not sitting right under it to sleep--off to the side. Fresh air is important. And no shavings for first few days, right? Don't want them mistaking shavings for food... Medicated feed to prevent a high build-up of coccidia, which they will get from pecking at their own poop.
Sending hopeful thoughts your way...

 

[zatsdeb]

when I put my light in with my chicks, I put it low enough so they can move closer to it to get warm, but still if the area is big enough they can get away if they are too hot. when I had mine in the house I also put a sheet over the brooder, but left part of it open on the top, I had wire on top to keep them safe and the sheet went on top of that. I had mine in a big cardboard box I got from walmart, the kind they keep watermelons, or potato's in. it worked great!

 

[rancher hicks]

Quote:
Question,
we are in a plastic trough...not metal...does all that apply?

They are actually wood shavings with sheet over the top(my husband is has a wood working business, will that matter?)

Looking for your feedback. Thanks for you post.

The plastic would be fine. What I would suggest is to get rid of the sheet. If you must have something over the top then hardware cloth would be fine. Tape your thermometer to the side at the height of the chicks head.

Now if they are in your husbands wood working shop, is there or are there any chemicals around? Is he doing any work in there? Chicks are highly suseptible to the fumes of solvents and paints. These things would be heavier than air and settle to the lowest part of the room wouldn't they?

Are these purchased shavings or are they your husbands? The type of shavings would make a difference too. Pine would be best. Other types of wood might be toxic. Walnut and the like. The resin in these types would not be good. Even fresh pine has a sap that would hurt them if they ate it or breathed the fumes. I believe what we buy in the store are kiln dried.

If this trough is one of those "black" tar looking things that they sell at TSC, it may not be the best. I have some dishes I use and I was smelling them myself to see if they were giving off a petroleum smell. They do somewhat and I was concerned using them for a grit dish.

If you haven't put sugar in the water perhaps you might try it now.

Can you post some pics of your set up. It may very well be the chicks you got too. Nothing I'm saying is to rule that out. It may not be anything your doing wrong. I'm just suggesting so you can fish around and eliminate all possiblities.

I'm sure you'll figure it out.

Rancher

 

[chickensinwasillaAK]

I live in Alaska and order from McMurray and have never lost a chick in Transit. If they can make it clear up here, they should make it anywhere down south.

Temps here are cold, the chicks adjust to it and seem to feather a bit faster. Just to keep them warm and since I get a large order each time, I cut a 55 gal
drum lenghtwise, added adjustable legs and a light element. Put in a 250w Red bulb in it and set it in the center of the brooder (8x8) and they all survive fine.
the drum reflects the heat down over a larger area, I can fit 75 chicks in ther and they're running all over the place.

I wouldn't think it was a rough trip that is doing them in, if they can get clear up here and handle a 1 hour drive in the car to get home from the PO, they are tough.

I would bet if you're leaving the sheet over the top, your temps are getting up into the 100's. Remember that light is putting off hear all the time, heat rises and
will be trapped by the sheet. Eventually the heat will come back down and cook them. Place chicken wire over the top if you're worried about them getting out.

 

[kneit099]

Thanks everyone for your suggestions!!!
We have a total of 6 chicks that made it but the good news is that Ideal is sending out 20 new chicks on Wednesday. Something was weird and Ideal said the same thing.

So the next questions is...when the new shipment of chicks come can we mix 1 week old chicks with the new ones or do I need to do something different?!

 

[pixiedouglas]

I've got 1 1/2 wk olds in with nearly 3 wk olds right now without trouble. I've heard as long as it's within a couple weeks of each other it's usually ok, but just to watch them closely at first to make sure the younger ones aren't getting trampled and everyones getting enough food and water. I hope your next round goes much better.

This is our first time with chicks too and we really closely monitored both the chick behavior and the thermometer and we found that the chicks preferred it about 5 degrees cooler than recommended. They seemed much happier at about 90-91ish. At 95 they would pile on the furtherest side of the brooder away from the lamp. I put antibiotics, sugar, and vinegar in the water. We only lost one chick in the first 2 days and she seemed very weak from the get go.

I've heard you can hard boil eggs and mush up the yolk very fine and feed that to new chicks too for an extra boost.

We added a 2x4 raised roosting bar in the brooder this week and my chicks really love to sleep under it, so I agree with the other poster who said maybe they need some relief from the light to get some more rest. Also draping a cloth over the top of our brooder to protect from draft raised the temp FAST, so I'd be careful with that too. I was shocked how quick it could go up.

 

[Greendecember]

I'm sorry to hear you got a bad order of babies.
The 2 local feed stores I get my chicks from order from Ideal Poultry in Texas. We are in Oklahoma so they don't have as far to go. The chicks I got in September also came from Ideal via the feed store. I only lost 1 chick in the September batch. It was a beak injury that likely happened after I got them.
This season we got 35 chicks from Ideal via the feed store. I have lost 2 and I think a 3rd is on her way out

I also have 11 in a separate broader because they keep having pasty bottom. I didn't have a pasty problem at all in September. I'm hoping it is just a quantity thing. I got more so the ratio of ill chicks will be higher but I am still not happy about loosing anyone!

 

[daydreamer92]

You're not alone, 50% loss approaching here too, but from diff. Hatchery.

I am having a lot of trouble with bantams I got from McMurray. The large chicks are doing ok, but we ordered 25 Seabright and Mille Fleur bantams and have lost nine so far in one day and several look "iffy" to make that 48 hour guarantee. At the same time, the order for the feed store came in, from McMurray (saw boxes at the post office) and so I picked up some Rhode Island Reds and Easter Eggers. They are doing fine.

Chicks aren't huddling for warmth or evacuating the heat for a cooler spot. It seems overly warm in there if I measure it, but if I keep raising the lamp, they huddle up and peep. They DO have plenty of room to find cooler spots and they aren't. Water and food are nearby.

They seemed to be finding the water and some were after the food already. In general, they seem listless. I've been trying to very carefully ensure everyone is drinking in case they ARE warm and dehydrating. The ones who were alive yesterday, with the exception of one who couldn't walk, were all drinking and exploring.


I ordered a handful of bantams from McMurray with my other order of big chicks; almost all the bantams didn't make it past the first three days, but only one "big chick" died. Are bantams just this hard to get past those first critical days?

 

[Greendecember]

Quote:
The Bantams I got seem to be the strongest of the flock. The one "bantam" I lost was super small but actually in with the regular leghorn order that came in and colored the same. The other one I lost was a Black sex link pullet. The one I think is on her way out is also a black sex link.

The Gals at the feed store said that they had a few more DOA than usual. Odd things happening too like ones they were sure were dead started chirping later in the box. It is the same ladies on the chick bins every year and they seem to be pretty up on whats what. That makes me think something more is going on with this recent hatch.

That said, I'm still new to all this. Perhaps chicks hatched out in late summer / early fall are just hardier than these early spring chicks?