Why would 15 healthy chicks just die?

[bruceha2000]

Although at 2am she got the chicken zoomies and was doing laps around her box. Team no sleep for the win.

24 hour light will do that.

 

[Aunt Angus]

I'm so glad she's doing well!

 

[McChooky]

I have always followed instructions for new chicks (95)I don't replace chickens like some people and don't raise a lot of chicks. I have gone years and years without raising any and turn around and raise as high as 100. My order of 10 chicks came in weak and cold and refused both water and food this year.First chicks I've had in decades.I had a brooder ready in the coop and set it at 95 but it took 4 hrs for them to stop screaming and settle down.I brought them in the house and put them in a wooden box in my bedroom beside the computer and had to put a wood lid on top to keep the cats and dogs out.It was horrible.
I was afraid to keep them in the brooder outside in the coop since they didn't arrive in good condition. I pampered those little things in my bedroom for about 10 days then I put them out in the brooder. I didn't lose a one. It was touch and go at first but every day they got better.I'm sure these chicks would have died had most people gotten them because noone has the time to mess with chicks 24 /7.We all have jobs and kids and other things that are pressing but I'm retired now so it didn't matter. A friend who split the order with me was afraid to pick his up and waited2 days to make sure they was going to live. I used Purely Poultry so I'll never know where mine came from. They're all alive and well and now lay 4-6 eggs a day.Did I mention I LOVE chickens and have since the day I was born?LOL

 

[McChooky]

The chicks had fully enclosed run attached to their coop 4 x 6 .They also had a large area underneath their coop to get out of the cold and wind ( 5 x 6) They didn't go outside until they started feathering out.They watched me work on an extension to their run and love their 8 x 16 pallet run.Its also fully enclosed but it does have a butterfly bush inside.Since I just made it this year I've got chicken wire around it so my chickens won't kill it before its roots are established good.They don't eat the leaves but they rip them out LOl The 3rd photo was taken before the hardware cloth was attached to the roof.I raise chickens simply because they're perfect .I love animals and gardening and make compost out of their bedding and use their poo for fertilizer.(Last year I made a green house) As you can see in (pic#4) the corner of the green house is only a few feet from the extension(which made it pain to build)My chicks watched me build their extension from their run and have no fear of power tools lol Don't be afraid to let your chicks grow up in an outdoor brooder or use the coop as one but always keep them inside the house the first week 95 and 90 so you can keep an eye on them. I know it might make a few of you angry if I say this but you shouldn't let children handle baby chicks except very briefly when newly hatched .The less the better. I'll let it go at that so I don't offend anyone.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

inside the house the first week 95 and 90 so you can keep an eye on them. I

So Week One, in the house, 95 degrees; Week Two, in the house, 90 degrees, right? Then Week Three, outside in the outdoor brooder, what were your temps that week, and did you provide any heat at all that week? (I guess I could go back and read the whole thread and find out, but .... easier to just ask, lol).

 

[chickenpal147]

So Week One, in the house, 95 degrees; Week Two, in the house, 90 degrees, right? Then Week Three, outside in the outdoor brooder, what were your temps that week, and did you provide any heat at all that week? (I guess I could go back and read the whole thread and find out, but .... easier to just ask, lol).

Yes that is correct. But from my experience with my setup keeping the temp with those rules it cooked my chicks almost every single time at over 100 degrees, but don’t worry I adjusted the temp lower before anything could happen. So I ran some tests and closely monitored my babies and found that 80 works as a good temp for me. I should also mention that the room I keep them in is in the high 70s. I keep all of my chicks at 80 now. My lone survivor chicken nugget is at a temp of 80 right now and isn’t even using her lamp she is actually sitting on top of a pair of folded socks that I gave her so that she wouldn’t be lonely as I won’t have any other chicks for her to be with for a few weeks.

 

[chickenpal147]

I have found a farm that is selling hatching eggs of the breed I want and for cheaper than what the hatchery wants for a small order of the chicks. While I know shipping hatching eggs is risky I’ve had decent hatches in the past with shipped eggs. I figured hatching them out my self and trying to raise them would be a little easer on my heart strings then trying to raise chicks from this hatchery and possibly having them all die again.

 

[JustBabyMargo]

I have found a farm that is selling hatching eggs of the breed I want and for cheaper than what the hatchery wants for a small order of the chicks. While I know shipping hatching eggs is risky I’ve had decent hatches in the past with shipped eggs. I figured hatching them out my self and trying to raise them would be a little easer on my heart strings then trying to raise chicks from this hatchery and possibly having them all die again.

Go for it! That sounds much better than this horrible experience!

 

[NatJ]

I figured hatching them out my self and trying to raise them would be a little easer on my heart strings then trying to raise chicks from this hatchery and possibly having them all die again.

I hope the shipped eggs work out well for you!

(But if you hatch chicks yourself and start to raise them, and they all die, then you will have ruled out some possible causes, like anything to do with the hatchery, or with shipping them after hatching.)

 

[BigBlueHen53]

I wish you well. Please keep us informed. I'm so sorry this happened to you!