Help! Chicks got too cold?!

[SpringhouseFarm]

We got chicks Wednesday of this week & we had a weekend cabin trip planned so my sister who's had chicks before took care of them for us over the wknd. She unfortunately had one die on Friday & I thought maybe it was stress from shipping then when we came to pick them up on Sunday I found another one dead in the brooder. She was shocked because she said they all had been acting alert. We were trying to figure out what could've happened & I was picking them up to inspect them & noticed they were shivering. I realized she keeps her house in the mid 60s & the chicks were probably too cold because I use a brooder plate (in our warm house)! She normally uses a heat lamp for hers which I guess is why she's never had a problem having her chicks in her cold house. We brought them home where we keep our house much warmer. Now several hours later several more seem less active & just want to lay & not stand up. I diluted nutridrench to look like weak tea & used a dropper to put some beside each of their beaks so they each drank some. What else can I do?! I'm pulling an all-nighter to keep a close eye on them, I really don't want to lose anymore! Any advice would be extremely appreciated!

 

[nuthatched]

It could be shipping stress. You can give the some egg yolk. I hope they make it.

 

[Cindy in PA]

Did your sister have the brooder plate in her 60s house or no heat source? If she had the brooder plate, I doubt they were too cold. I use my brooder plate in my coop & have always had several nights down to the mid 30s with no problems. This spring the nights were unusually cold their first week & all six light breed chicks (Anconas) survived. YMMV

 

[SpringhouseFarm]

Did your sister have the brooder plate in her 60s house or no heat source? If she had the brooder plate, I doubt they were too cold. I use my brooder plate in my coop & have always had several nights down to the mid 30s with no problems. This spring the nights were unusually cold their first week & all six light breed chicks (Anconas) survived. YMMV

Yea she had the brooder plate in for them. It's odd because they were shivering at her house & when I brought them home they seemed to slowly stop shivering so that's why we thought they were cold.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Was the plate working properly? Did she put her hand against it to check? Was the plate set at an appropriate height so that all the chicks could fit under it and physically touch it? Heat plates should work just fine in 60F (and ambient 60F is certainly not cold at all), so as long as the plate was warming up properly I'm not sure how they would've gotten chilled.

The Nutri-Drench is a good idea, I'd keep that going in their waterer for a few days to help them over this hurdle. I hope the remaining chicks pull through!

 

[BigBlueHen53]

How many chicks are we talking about? Do they all fit under the brooder plate? Were they using it?

 

[SpringhouseFarm]

There were 17 chicks to start & they all fit under it with room to spare. We checked the temperature of it & it was working properly & they were using it just fine. Perhaps the height was not ideal? I had it that their backs were against it but do you have yours set lower that their backs are touching when they're laying down? I did adjust it then so one end is a lower height than the other so they can choose, although the goofballs enjoy laying ontop now instead lol I haven't lost any since I posted initially, so maybe alot of it had to do with shipping stress.

 

[rosemarythyme]

I haven't lost any since I posted initially, so maybe alot of it had to do with shipping stress.

Entirely possible, unfortunately some chicks just don't make it. You never know how rough of a ride they got on the way there.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Entirely possible, unfortunately some chicks just don't make it. You never know how rough of a ride they got on the way there.

This is true. 100% survival rate is ideal, but unfortunately it is not always the case. This is why many hatcheries often include an extra chick or two with every order. Best wishes for your remaining chicks! May they, er, live long and prosper!