HELP! My quail chicks are dying!

[Tampa farmer]

Okay thanks. They don't seem to be hanging out under it now that I lowered it. They seem to be hanging on the side where the waterer is. Some go to the other side where the feeder is.

 

[kingmt]

Like I said in & out. Of they look like they are trying to stay away from it then they are to hot.

Sine quail will try to snuggle against the bulb if it is to close. They fry your little brain.

 

[Tampa farmer]

Another one died. It just wouldn't move it was shaking a lot . I put its beak in the water but it wouldn't drink. Then I put it down and it could barely move. It couldn't even walk. This is my first time raising quail. I bought these quail as chicks so could it be something that happened in the incubator or is it the way I was brooding them.

 

[kingmt]

Probably brooding but it is posable that you got them sick.

 

[gardenisto]

I would say brooder. A new chick can't go as long as yours did without a heat source and be expected to do well. Shaking is either cold or fear from handling, being away from comfortable environment. If shakign is a concern you want to know more about their are plenty of threads on BYC about it. I might avoid handling(stressing) them at all until you know they were warm. How are they today? Do you know the temperature in their yet?

 

[Tampa farmer]

The ones remaining are doing just fine. They all seem happy, I put sugar in their water and that seemed to help a lot. Thanks for that idea. I am about to get the thermometer. I would guess the temperature would be around 90 right now.

 

[gardenisto]

Great, Im glad things are doing better. Ideally for their age 95-100 would be a good range for the temp under the bulb. Also, I am glad the sugar helped, just be careful not to over do it. Its just a quick pick me up to restore some lost energy from having been cold and using energy to stay warm. Ideally, you don't use sugar long term. When they get adjusted to a stable temperature they should feed and drink just fine.

 

[Tampa farmer]

Okay thanks. How many quail do you have?

 

[gardenisto]

Only a handful right now. Mostly keep chickens. Need to get another line of coturnix blood to improve genetics of what I've got now.

 

[thegawd]

I sure hope things are working out for you now. I have about 100 James Marie Farms Jumbos and Texas A & Ms (recently legally imported into Canada to Perry Schofield, WOOHOO!) and half a dozen California Valley Quail myself. Iv had quail for about 3 years now... everyone always makes mistakes in the beginning so dont worry to much about it as long as ya learn from your experiences its ok...

take care