I need to know if I need to do anything with baby chicks. A week ago I received 15 chickens and two days later 9 more. Until tonight all seemed great. I received one exotic chic that was smallest and found it dead. No past butt and had been doing fine until sometime after morning water change and feed. Only unusual thing that happen is that I have one mean chicken I've been keeping separate and it flew the coop and joined the others. I pulled it out and while others were huddled in corner nothing seemed amiss. Three hours later found TJ Jr. dead. Others are alive but seem kind of quiet so need to make sure I'm doing all I can. Daily info: Fresh water with probiotics and electrolytes at least 2x's Unrestricted medicated chic feed Chic crumbles Was @ 90 degrees just went to 85 Okay go....
It is normal for chicks to be quiet sometimes and active others. If they have plenty of space to move out of the heat, you are providing water and food that is clean all the time, checking their butts for pasty butt then it could have just been a weak chick that was not going to make it from the beginning. If they are significantly smaller they sometimes do get trampled by bigger chicks. Put a mirror in with the loner to make it feel more comfortable, or pick the biggest meanest of the bunch and try it in with the bully, they don't do well by themselves. Overheating of chicks is usually far more dangerous to them than being too cold so make sure they have plenty of cooler spot to retreat to if they feel too warm.
