Chicks Crushed In Brooder

[Fur-N-Fowl]

Hello Everyone


Not a very happy enjoyable post here but I thought I'd post it to see if others have experienced this too.

So, I've always kept mixed ages in my brooder with absolutely no issues. I've even kept 3 week olds with day olds with no problems at all.

Recently I decided to upgrade my brooder and I have a larger sized one now ready for when my eggs hatched.

So, out popped the first batch off all whites. There was 8 of them and also 1 Coturnix Quail chick.

I put them in the brooder, no issues at all.

Then, one week later, my next batch hatched. I waited till they were 3/4 days old then I put them in the brooder with the now 1 week old whites and 1 Quail.

First few days, no issues. Everyone was eating and drinking fine.

A few days pass and I go in to check on them. One of the youngest chicks was crushed on the bottom of the brooder under all of its older siblings.

I thought it was a one off but gave things a little re-arrange in the brooder just to be on the safe side.

Then, 2 days later another 2 of the youngest chicks had their heads crushed flat onto the bottom of the brooder.

I've been away from home this weekend so a family member took photos to show me.

Apparently my older batch of whites have had a super fast growth spurt, they're bigger than usual for that age and very 'hyper'.

I'm confused at how the quail, being the smallest of the whole lot, never got squashed.

Anyways, my family member put a tub inside the brooder to seperate them till I get home so there should be no more crushing incidents.

As you can see, the Quail is even smaller than the smallest/youngest Silkie chicks but has managed to escape being flattened...

The photos in the spoiler are of two of the chicks that didn't make it so please don't look at them if it will upset you.
They are there so people can see what I'm talking about.

Spoiler: Crushed Chicks...

It seems that when I had my smaller brooder, this never happened. However, this batch of the oldest white chicks have grown much quicker than usual.

I find it strange how they've grown so quick compared to all the other chicks I've ever hatched. Maybe their larger size and more active behaviour was the cause of this happening.

Please note that my Silkies do not have the common vaulted skull defect. My chicks skulls are like any other breed so this is not a case of blaming it on vaulted skulls.

I'm sad I've lost them but I'm hoping it is avoided from now on with a few simple tweaks to my brooder!​

 

[CluckNDoodle]

I'm so sorry you lost chicks!
Could it be possible that there was an unseen issue with that hatch in particular causing the chicks to pass away and you only saw the aftermath of them being trampled after passing? I can't think of a more delicate way to ask that, sorry.

 

[Fur-N-Fowl]

I'm so sorry you lost chicks!
Could it be possible that there was an unseen issue with that hatch in particular causing the chicks to pass away and you only saw the aftermath of them being trampled after passing? I can't think of a more delicate way to ask that, sorry.

Don't worry it's alright but Thankyou

I originally thought that myself, I mean, it's the first thing that comes to mind.

However, I know all the chicks are healthy and free from illness/disease. They're all eating and drinking and being the normal little poop machines they are.

No physical signs of anything either, no pasty butt, all a healthy weight and acting like happy little chicks.

The first white one I found dead was lying squashed under two of the larger chicks. The others later found in a pretty similar situation. Their heads squashed.

My Silkies don't have vaulted skulls so they are not dying because of that common breed trait.

I believe if it was genetic, I would have experienced it beforehand since I've hatched many of their full siblings with no issue. However, the white and partridges are only half related anyways.

It does seem to be happening when they all settled down to go to sleep. Maybe the little ones tried to get under the bigger ones thinking it's their mother and ended up being suffocated and crushed.

Ah poor chicks

 

[aart]

Bummer!
'Piling' is usually due to inadequate heat area/distribution.

 

[Fur-N-Fowl]

Bummer!
'Piling' is usually due to inadequate heat area/distribution.

Indeed it is...

They don't usually all pile in one area, they tend to be just roaming around and resting in different areas. It's just the smaller ones must have been squashing themselves under the bigger ones for some reason I had saw them occasionally doing it but never thought it'd end up them being suffocated and squashed. I guess the chicks don't have that motherly sitting instinct though so probably would have just sat straight on their heads.

The smaller ones were broody hatched whereas my older ones were incubator hatched.

Maybe the youngest looked up to the bigger ones as being their mother, hence why they went under them. I'm really not sure!

 

[CluckNDoodle]

Don't worry it's alright but Thankyou

I originally thought that myself, I mean, it's the first thing that comes to mind.

However, I know all the chicks are healthy and free from illness/disease. They're all eating and drinking and being the normal little poop machines they are.

No physical signs of anything either, no pasty butt, all a healthy weight and acting like happy little chicks.

The first white one I found dead was lying squashed under two of the larger chicks. The others later found in a pretty similar situation. Their heads squashed.

My Silkies don't have vaulted skulls so they are not dying because of that common breed trait.

I believe if it was genetic, I would have experienced it beforehand since I've hatched many of their full siblings with no issue. However, the white and partridges are only half related anyways.

It does seem to be happening when they all settled down to go to sleep. Maybe the little ones tried to get under the bigger ones thinking it's their mother and ended up being suffocated and crushed.

Ah poor chicks

I'm so sorry! That makes sense, I mix ages from hatch up to 2-3 weeks as well and the littles definitely try to borrow under the big ones. I've had some allow it and others that I ended up separating until the youngest were more sure-footed.
Maybe if you have more chicks than you typically do together it could increase the likelihood of them getting "over cuddled" in the little chick pile at night too. I use a heat plate and I set it at an angle so that the youngest can always get to the back area where the older chicks can't get as easily. It has worked well for me but I suppose we're always taking chances when mixing chicks of different ages. I hope the rest of your brooding goes smoothly and you don't have any further losses!

 

[Fur-N-Fowl]

I'm so sorry! That makes sense, I mix ages from hatch up to 2-3 weeks as well and the littles definitely try to borrow under the big ones. I've had some allow it and others that I ended up separating until the youngest were more sure-footed.
Maybe if you have more chicks than you typically do together it could increase the likelihood of them getting "over cuddled" in the little chick pile at night too. I use a heat plate and I set it at an angle so that the youngest can always get to the back area where the older chicks can't get as easily. It has worked well for me but I suppose we're always taking chances when mixing chicks of different ages. I hope the rest of your brooding goes smoothly and you don't have any further losses!

Thankyou, I sure hope so too!

I was thinking of getting a brooder plate to try with my next batch and see what I think. If I do I may put it on a slant like you said you do just incase!

Hopefully now that they are separated, things will go smoothly again. Maybe just this time was my time for bad luck, sometimes bad things happen I guess.

Plus, I think the majority of the older batch of whites are males

 

[glassdragonfly]

That's a heart breaker,so sorry.

 

[Fur-N-Fowl]

That's a heart breaker,so sorry.

It is, fingers crossed it doesn't happen again

 

[aart]

Indeed it is...

They don't usually all pile in one area, they tend to be just roaming around and resting in different areas. It's just the smaller ones must have been squashing themselves under the bigger ones for some reason I had saw them occasionally doing it but never thought it'd end up them being suffocated and squashed. I guess the chicks don't have that motherly sitting instinct though so probably would have just sat straight on their heads.

The smaller ones were broody hatched whereas my older ones were incubator hatched.

Maybe the youngest looked up to the bigger ones as being their mother, hence why they went under them. I'm really not sure!

I think you may have answered your own question.
How old were the younger chicks when you removed them from mama?
You might need multiple different heat sources if you want to keep different aged chicks together.