Why would 15 healthy chicks just die?

[Wyorp Rock]

Sounds fishy to me, not sure what would kill them after a week though. I'm sorry you suffered this one time let alone two!


Switch to a Mama Heating Pad setup. The whole "95°F for the first week, 90°F for a week, etc" is bull shit. Have you ever seen a hen heat their surroundings to 95°F?? We naively followed that rule with our first 12 chicks in 2012 in a bathtub. I had the heat lamp on a remote reading reptile thermostat. That room was UNBEARABLE! They were moved out to the barn horse stall coop at just under 4 weeks.

What they NEED is a heat source they can go to when they get cold. A hen is best because she moves around with them. MHP is second best. I'm on batch #6 of chicks now and the last 5 have started with MHP in a big cardboard box for the first day and night. If I had a broody hen they were moved out to the coop the next night. One more night inside if no broody and then moved out to the coop with the MHP. All of the chicks saw temps down in the 50's and 60's at night, they just hung under the hen or MHP when they got cold. They never see anything close to 90°F ambient their first month.

I have them on paper towels on newspaper when in the cardboard box, regular shavings in the brooder area of the coop, same shavings as the rest of the floor.

These chicks are 4 days old in the brooder area of the coop, temp out in the barn that day according to a Google search was high 70°F, low 60°F. Notice that they aren't even under the hen
View attachment 2842261

10 days old, movable heat source High that day 75°F, overnight low 45°F.
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I too recommend a mama heating pad (MHP) if you don't have a broody Hen. Works very well. I've brooded week old chicks outside with nighttime temps in the 20s with just a MHP. Of course they were in a protected brooder/coop, but they were running around like a bunch of nuts in there LOL
A GOOD Broody Hen is, imho, the BEST way to brood chicks. Amazing to watch and actually easier (for me) LOL I don't have to fiddle with setting up the MHP, don't have to use electricity - just provide "fuel" (fresh feed/water) for Mama and chicks

 

[NatJ]

The whole "95°F for the first week, 90°F for a week, etc" is bull shit.

It's not total nonsense, just incomplete.

When I use a heat lamp, I use it in a large space (like 4 by 6 feet, with the heat lamp near one corner.) I make the space directly under the heat lamp be 95 degrees. But that means the other end of the pen is more than 5 feet from the heat lamp, so it's much cooler. So they have ACCESS to a place at 95 degrees, but they do not spend their entire time at that temperature. My way of using a heat lamp has several things in common with the mamma heating pad idea, but on a larger scale

I consider that heat lamps are a bad choice for brooding a few chicks in a small space, or in any plastic container with tall sides. But I do like them for larger numbers of chicks in larger pens, with appropriate care to avoid fires.

 

[JustBabyMargo]

It's not complete nonsense, just incomplete.

When I use a heat lamp, I use it in a large space (like 4 by 6 feet, with the heat lamp near one corner.) I make the space directly under the heat lamp be 95 degrees. But that means the other end of the pen is more than 5 feet from the heat lamp, so it's much cooler. So they have ACCESS to a place at 95 degrees, but they do not spend their entire time at that temperature. My way of using a heat lamp has several things in common with the mamma heating pad idea, but on a larger scale

I consider that heat lamps are a bad choice for brooding a few chicks in a small space, or in any plastic container with tall sides. But I do like them for larger numbers of chicks in larger pens, with appropriate care to avoid fires.

I normally do stock tanks but I have done a container for my polishes (they were tiny) because my stock tank was being used. They got moved out to a giant cage (with a heat lamp early though).
Sleepy turkeys at 4 in the morning-

 

[chickenpal147]

A little update on the little chick, she is doing fantastic. Although at 2am she got the chicken zoomies and was doing laps around her box. Team no sleep for the win. I have also given her the name of Chicken Nugget, nugget for short.

 

[JustBabyMargo]

A little update on the little chick, she is doing fantastic. Although at 2am she got the chicken zoomies and was doing laps around her box. Team no sleep for the win. I have also given her the name of Chicken Nugget, nugget for short.

Yay so happy!! Eek! Have you heard that the name Nugget is cursed?? Every chicken with that name dies early (I’ve heard from like 10+ people)!

 

[Ceakmama]

Yay so happy!! Eek! Have you heard that the name Nugget is cursed?? Every chicken with that name dies early (I’ve heard from like 10+ people)!

A neighbor's chicken named Nugget was camped out in our yard for a month. She got out of their yard and roughed it in our woods until we finally caught her and sent her home. That Nugget was a survivor of the wilderness, so maybe her little Nugget will be a survivor too! Maybe Nugget is also a name for exceptional chickens.

 

[chickenpal147]

Yay so happy!! Eek! Have you heard that the name Nugget is cursed?? Every chicken with that name dies early (I’ve heard from like 10+ people)!

That’s what I call my all of my little baby’s that my hens raise nothing has happened to them and they are going on almost 2 years old now. I better go find some wood to go knock on.

 

[JustBabyMargo]

That’s what I call my all of my little baby’s that my hens raise nothing has happened to them and they are going on almost 2 years old now. I better go find some wood to go knock on.

Oh so you have been lucky! Well I wish you all the best with your chicken raising journey and hope you get it all figured out!

 

[50-45-1]

Was the plastic tote a new one or an old one that you had successfully raised chicks in before,?
All plastic outputs chemical fumes. Add a heat source and that can amplify it.
I use a large cardboard box with vent slots cut in, a heat lamp with a 75 watt household bulb. Right under the bulb it is warm. At the other end of the box where it is cooler are where the water and food are. Paper towel for the first 3 days, then pine shavings after that. Chicks go outside at 2 weeks. I have been brooding this way for 40 years, no problems. Box is free, throw away when done.

 

[chickenpal147]

Was the plastic tote a new one or an old one that you had successfully raised chicks in before,?
All plastic outputs chemical fumes. Add a heat source and that can amplify it.
I use a large cardboard box with vent slots cut in, a heat lamp with a 75 watt household bulb. Right under the bulb it is warm. At the other end of the box where it is cooler are where the water and food are. Paper towel for the first 3 days, then pine shavings after that. Chicks go outside at 2 weeks. I have been brooding this way for 40 years, no problems. Box is free, throw away when done.

This container is one that I’ve used for years successfully. The way I’m doing it now is the same I’ve done for years and never really lost any chickens. I don’t ever really use a heat lamp either. Where I live the temps during the summer are in the 90s so I usually raise them on the deck with the fan turned on when it gets to hot, and the heat lamp only if the temps at night are a little to cold for my liking. I try not to have chicks this time of year unless I have a broody, but this was the only time when they had the breed that I have been wanting.