HELP! My quail chicks are dying!

[Tampa farmer]

Break down.

 

[thegawd]

the feed store guy is probably thinking about those massive 250 watt infrared bulbs.... probably would kill them if kept in an appropriately sized brooder... i start with a regular 100 watt incandescent bulb, raise it a week later, switch to a 50 watt bulb at 3 weeks or so then remove them from heat once fully feathered. I make heat adjustments by watching the birds themselves and their behavior... so in the heat of summer when it is 100F outside I might shut the lights off.... if the birds are all huddled together than they are cold. if they are spread out amongst the perimeter than they are to hot if they are evenly spread out amongst the brooder, happily eating and drinking than they are perfect.

your birds are definitely to cold...

I breed JUMBO coturnix from james marie farms.

 

[gardenisto]

Get a heat lamp in there. Even a 60 watt incandescent bulb would be good. They sound cold. They will die from cold. Or are unable to digest if too cold. Make sure they have enough room to get away from it if too hot also.

 

[lightchick]

Get a heat lamp in there. Even a 60 watt incandescent bulb would be good. They sound cold. They will die from cold. Or are unable to digest if too cold. Make sure they have enough room to get away from it if too hot also.

x2

 

[kingmt]

I agree. They sound cold.

 

[cutechickstm]

Hi there,

It seems that your baby quail are not getting the nutrition that they need. Usually the chicks use up all the nutritional reserves from the yolk after 3-4 days. So on the 4th day they start dropping due to starvation. I did an experiment where I had two batches of quail, one with a heat lamp and one without. Many from the batch without the heat lamp dropped dead after 4 days. What the white light from the heat lamp helps do is keep the chicks awake longer so they are stimulated to eat more. The chicks can move freely under the light or away from the light so they are able to self-regulate their temperature (Damerow 3).

I suggest getting a heat lamp and a thermometer (ASAP) and place the heat lamp far enough where the thermometer reads 95-100 degrees Fahrenheit. Measure the temperature at the height of the chicks, at least 18 inches. As the chicks get older, gradually decrease 10degrees per week (Ernst 5). I can't recommend exactly how many inches away from the height of the chicks because that would depend on the wattage of the heat lamp.

Lastly, light affects chick growth rate. Even if you dim the light, the light should still be bright enough to see whats going on in the brooder (Damerow 3). Below, I added the references that I used.
I wist you the best!

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Jazmine



Damerow, Gail. "Raising Chicks: Chick Brooder Temperature and Light Requirements." Mother Earth News. Ogden Publications Inc., 1 May 2013. Web.

Ernst, Ralph A. "Raising and Propagating Japanese Quail." UC Davis Depatment of Animal Science. University of California, Davis, 1 Oct. 1978. Web.

 

[Tampa farmer]

What watt bulb should I use?

 

[thegawd]

please read the above posts... I said exactly how I heat my quail chicks and why above...

its not what wattage of bulb should I use but what wattage of bulb provides the right amount of heat... 100F to get them started and going. everyones setup/brooder size and how its built is all different.

I usually start my birds under 100 watt bulbs, raised about 8" from the floor on one side of the brooder. my booders for quail are 2x2 or 2x4 foot closed on 3 sides, front is welded wire from half way up and the top is all welded wire. I keep my chicks on paper towel thats on top of wood shavings until its heavily soiled, about a week, after that straight wood shavings. they go on wire once they leave the brooder. finely ground purina gambird startena 30% protein then purina gambird layena after 7 weeks.

 

[gardenisto]

Tampafarmer. The last post is sound advice. You need to get a bulb in there. Its not about the wattage. The chicks at that age just need to be around 95-100 degrees. If its too warm they stay a little further away from the bulb. Too cold and they will huddle under it and it needs to be stronger or closer. Give us an update.

 

[Tampa farmer]

I'm down to 8 and I'm going to get a bulb today. The last two seem to have died of water. I don't understand how they got all wet. The waterer can't leak can it? All around the waterer is wet though.