No. There was a group of 5 that were right next to/on top of each other, but the rest were pretty scattered.

So, if it was Tractor Supply's bad chicks, (not saying it wasn't), it should be easy to find out if they had a 40% morality rate in the chicks you didn't bring home, right?

I prefer mail order over farm store for several reasons. Straight from the hatchery you know breed/breeding, exact age, less exposure to unknown humans, less exposure to stress and if alive when delivered do well. I only buy from farm store if chicks are getting old and com with a discount. The TSC store near me couldn't name the hatchery the birds came from. When I did buy some from a farm store the laying pullets had some giant meat type roosters mixed in with them that wasn't apparent right away.
Have you ever watched other people letting their kids pick up and play with those feed store chicks? Then drop them two feet back into the tub?

i like to let a broody hen do the work for me.hope ya make out o.k..i did buy 3 turkeys the other day,miss hearin them on the farm.

That would suggest they were cold. When they're cold they all lay basically on top of each other. One heat lamp in the corner probably isn't enough for that many chicks. They ALL need to be able to get where it's around 95 degrees. Check the temp around the box before getting more chicks.
It would be my guess that the chicks you bought were fine. As ADC mentioned, if the chicks were sick TSC would have had a lot of death loss that night as well. Ask and see.

I don't believe it had anything to do with being cold. The brooder box is only so big, your bound to have some in a group. I've raised chicks in this same setup for the last 5 years and never had a problem.
Also, if it was due to cold, I would think that I would still be losing birds since I haven't changed the heating.

Did you contact TSC?

Cold was my thought as well, based solely on the picture. One heat lamp, that high up in the corner, outdoors in an unheated coop in MI.... looks cold to me. Mine would be a lot lower this time of year outside, even in MS.

I sell many thousands of chicks a year. Most chick mortality that I have seen, or have heard back from people about, comes from issues pulling the yolk sack in through the navel, to much heat, to little heat, getting wet, piling up from being wet or cold, eating bedding and stress from being handled.

Typically if a chick lives past 72 hours, I can raise it to maturity.

Some young hens always die when they start laying, from injuries passing the egg. Very old hens also sometimes die from egg laying injuries too.

Keith

Just couldn't take the loss to Texas Tech. I feel for those chics.