Baby Coturnix(Japanese) Quail Dies Mysteriously

[YourSoJelly]

Hello! I just joined the site! We are raising Coturnix Chicks(or that's what they are supposed to be) for my science class. Anyways, one died in my hands today and I was very cuious as to why he died. He was born not 1 hour ago and it worries me. He was due tomorrow so he would be a day premature. We have had 7 chicks hatched and 3 have died. One drowned in his water bowl, another got stuck under the heating lamp when it fell, and the last one was sick. I was not there for the drowning or over heating so please do not be angry with me. His poop was greenish white and gooey. He was very tired and lethargic and only had a few drops of water and no food. His stomach/intestine area was VERY bloated and his poop wasnt coming out all the way. I believe he was impacted. I know for poultry its different but with guinea pigs they get impacted and cannot excrete poop. That what i believe was wrong with him. Sorry if spelling is off, I am in school now trying to get the answer. Thanks guys!

 

[freeflyin]

Not an expert, but I know that they are supposed to stay in the incubator until they are completely dry. Not sure if they dry in 1 hour. If he was out of the incubator then, he may have gotten too chilled. They don't need to eat for a little while after hatching, not sure if that would cause his belly to be distended like that. Again, not sure about this, but when I think of newborn babies, their poop is very sticky and strangely colored. If he hadn't eaten anything his body is just getting rid of the things that were in his intestines during development. Just my first thoughts. Hopefully someone with more experience replies soon, too.

Also, you may want to add bright marbles to the water to prevent drowning, which would be in the brooder, not the incubator. (Like I said before, they need to dry off before put in the brooder). The brooder needs to be kept warm, too; baby quail are, from what I've hear, very susceptible their first few days of life. You could also add wire mesh, 1/4" galvanized hardware cloth, to put around the heating element to keep them away from it. Do you have more eggs that are hatching?

 

[freeflyin]

Also, what kind of quail do you have? This place has a wealth of information that can help you out by searching for previous threads. =]

 

[freeflyin]

Sorry, just re read it and they are coturnix. =]

 

[YourSoJelly]

The chicks will finally be leaving our classroom today, thank God. Where they will be going is to a very good, well educated owner.

 

[SeptemberQuail]

Quail MUST be left in the incubator for at least 12 - 24 hours to dry off. They are also very fragile when they just hatch and shouldn't be picked up or handled because they'll be all squirmy and scared, as well as they need their bones to harden up a little more. Plus they would be exhausted from hatching...

They also do not need to eat for at least another 2 days after hatching because they have absorbed the yolk from the egg which will give them enough energy to survive for a few days without food (hence why people leave them in the incubator to dry off).

Hehe, when my quail's hatched I was staring at them through the incubator, one pooped out this white-greenish poop and the others tried to peck at it, thinking it was food. It was very cute.

But I hope this experience didn't turn you away from quail, quail are such gorgeous creatures, and with a little more care, they can be very friendly as well. When my chicks were still growing up, I would tap lightly ontop of the roof of the brooder where they could see and they would all come running up and stare at me expecting treats.

 

[YourSoJelly]

No. This hasnt turned me off at all. I am going to try To get chickens though simply because they have larger eggs for breakfast and mom likes her eggs!

 

[James the Bald]

No. This hasnt turned me off at all. I am going to try To get chickens though simply because they have larger eggs for breakfast and mom likes her eggs!

Well, funny you should mention "eggs". Don't you want your mom to eat "healthy eggs"? click on this link to see some healthy reasons to be eating quail eggs. The first 2 paragraphs really spell it out.

 

[YourSoJelly]

Maybe I will pursuade mom to get moth quail and chicken!

 

[dc3085]

Chick mortality is normal, and can be caused by a lot of factors but 90% of the time it was the incubators fault. Temperature and humidity fluctuations as well as eggs not being turned frequently enough are just a few causes. However if you removed the chick from the incubator wet, I hate to say this but it died of hypothermia. I don't take them out of the bator for at least 6 hours but it depends on the chick sometimes i wait as much as 24. first couple days poop will be green and white. The butt end of a baby quail usually looks sort of blackish at first and kind of gross on lighter colored chicks. Marbles in the water font is a MUST for any quail babies, not just for drowning but for hypothermia as well. they should have to seek the water with their beaks between the marbles.