Quail chicks dying one by one - can I do anything?

[countrybumpkin5]

One thing you can do...

When you have large amounts of chicks not make it, its a good sign the nutrition ratios in the feed aren't good. That's what I learned when I had a couple batches of ducklings not make it. (Its similar even if not the same animal.)

How I adapted... the feed from mills and stores isn't adequate nutrition. So you supplement it. Real whole seed is good because you can't tamper with unmilled seed like you can with milled feed product.

Basically they are fluffing milled feed too much with filler garbage.

Now... I'm not encouraging you to go to war or complain or be angry. Its just that agriculture in this country has a lot of issues. You still need feed because you have to have a budget. You have to have affordable feed. But what you can do is have like 80% feed, and then 20% unmilled seed mixes from all kinds of stuff. And if that doesn't work, try 70,30, etc until you get it right. But for me doing unmilled seed WITH the normal feed worked pretty well to solve my issues.

But when there's economic damage, crop troubles, all kinds of problems with farms... the natural tendency is to compensate this with having animal feed take a hit on nutrition as inexpensive fillers are put in. People don't actually try to make this unhealthy though, its just they are trying to save their farms and lots of farms having trouble.

The result is you have to be more aware of how to do a feed mix and mix supplements in.

This is my opinion on why lots of people are having laying hen issues. Plus why some chick batches come out with high mortality rates right now. Its related.

You are correct about feed issues due to crop problems/quality, except that it's not the farm that controls the feed quality it's the actual mills. The farms simply sell their grain to the various mills and those mills grind or ship the grains out to other mills and facilities where various mixes are made. They do have minimum standards they are SUPPOSED to adhere to but to meet those do substitute other items which are often inferior in many ways. And all of the grains can have many different mycotoxins and these are allowed up to a certain amount, just as in human food. Lots of factors come into play when this whole feed issue becomes a real problem for any particular flock or individual birds, again, just as in people. We do not have healthy robust heirloom grains anymore, not in any commercial amount anyway and it does take it's toll over generations, not to mention all of the chemicals used and it's mind boggling if you actually are involved in it to know.
One thing I would always have on hand and use preventatively and as a treatment for any and all things and that's silver. It can get very expensive if you have a lot of animals and are buying it but it's worth considering getting your own generator and making it for pennies. Once you have it on hand you will see just how useful it is and how many conditions you can clear up and how many animals you can save. (Like the one with the black navel problem.)

 

[MrJudeRaw]

Sounds like nutrition from what I have learned through study (read not experience). The thing I do know from experience is that guaranteed analysis on feed is per crumble or pellet unless its a mixed feed like seeds then its per whatever measurement they list as a serving. Blending the feed for any animal is not recommended. Commercial food blenders are expensive and control hot spots and other things that can destroy some nutrients and prevent certain stages of powdering which releases other nutrients and separates others that need to be combined to properly absorb. if you want to make the feed smaller then put it in a bowl and crush it up a bit with the back of a spoon so the bigger chunks are gone but thats it.

If ya'll experience the analysis to be wrong you absolutely need to be reporting that to your local agriculture extensions. That is a SUPER big deal and is not taken lightly.
I am new to Quail but not new to farms & livestock in general

 

[nao57]

You are correct about feed issues due to crop problems/quality, except that it's not the farm that controls the feed quality it's the actual mills. The farms simply sell their grain to the various mills and those mills grind or ship the grains out to other mills and facilities where various mixes are made. They do have minimum standards they are SUPPOSED to adhere to but to meet those do substitute other items which are often inferior in many ways. And all of the grains can have many different mycotoxins and these are allowed up to a certain amount, just as in human food. Lots of factors come into play when this whole feed issue becomes a real problem for any particular flock or individual birds, again, just as in people. We do not have healthy robust heirloom grains anymore, not in any commercial amount anyway and it does take it's toll over generations, not to mention all of the chemicals used and it's mind boggling if you actually are involved in it to know.
One thing I would always have on hand and use preventatively and as a treatment for any and all things and that's silver. It can get very expensive if you have a lot of animals and are buying it but it's worth considering getting your own generator and making it for pennies. Once you have it on hand you will see just how useful it is and how many conditions you can clear up and how many animals you can save. (Like the one with the black navel problem.)

Thank you for speaking up. Your comments helped a bit.

And I really love the farming lifestyle. The idea of working for yourself and having your work be determined by merits instead of paper and who is good with the boss. And what you said makes sense about the mills (and the big Ag companies being the problem and not the farmer). The vast majority of people I know that farm are godfearing and great character. Its also interesting to hear about how they craft and build and have to have so many skill sets.

 

[nao57]

Sounds like nutrition from what I have learned through study (read not experience). The thing I do know from experience is that guaranteed analysis on feed is per crumble or pellet unless its a mixed feed like seeds then its per whatever measurement they list as a serving. Blending the feed for any animal is not recommended. Commercial food blenders are expensive and control hot spots and other things that can destroy some nutrients and prevent certain stages of powdering which releases other nutrients and separates others that need to be combined to properly absorb. if you want to make the feed smaller then put it in a bowl and crush it up a bit with the back of a spoon so the bigger chunks are gone but thats it.

If ya'll experience the analysis to be wrong you absolutely need to be reporting that to your local agriculture extensions. That is a SUPER big deal and is not taken lightly.
I am new to Quail but not new to farms & livestock in general

I guess I said this already. But from my earlier comment, after I fixed the feed with my own supplements I stopped losing ducklings. It was amazing the difference. Egg production went way up also.

One complaint I do have... I wish cities wouldn't be so idiotic about banning backyard activities that don't cause harm, like poultry or rabbits. But that's a side issue.

 

[countrybumpkin5]

I guess I said this already. But from my earlier comment, after I fixed the feed with my own supplements I stopped losing ducklings. It was amazing the difference. Egg production went way up also.

One complaint I do have... I wish cities wouldn't be so idiotic about banning backyard activities that don't cause harm, like poultry or rabbits. But that's a side issue.

And actually their bans are not lawful but most people don't know this nor know the correct way to stop it but it's doable. Like you say, another issue.

 

[Kippers302]

Sounds like nutrition from what I have learned through study (read not experience). The thing I do know from experience is that guaranteed analysis on feed is per crumble or pellet unless its a mixed feed like seeds then its per whatever measurement they list as a serving. Blending the feed for any animal is not recommended. Commercial food blenders are expensive and control hot spots and other things that can destroy some nutrients and prevent certain stages of powdering which releases other nutrients and separates others that need to be combined to properly absorb. if you want to make the feed smaller then put it in a bowl and crush it up a bit with the back of a spoon so the bigger chunks are gone but thats it.

If ya'll experience the analysis to be wrong you absolutely need to be reporting that to your local agriculture extensions. That is a SUPER big deal and is not taken lightly.
I am new to Quail but not new to farms & livestock in general

Thanks for the tip about the blender! Good to know

 

[Kippers302]

Hi all! Just wanted to jump back in this thread to say I now know what was happening to my poor chicks. When I was incubating the eggs, my humidity was too high!!! I didn’t realize how many complications this could cause for the chicks; even after all the research I did prior to hatching eggs, I thought the only thing that the humidity would affect was whether or not they would hatch. So i guess this is just a warning for those who are new to hatching eggs — be careful that your humidity isn’t too high!

 

[MrJudeRaw]

Hi all! Just wanted to jump back in this thread to say I now know what was happening to my poor chicks. When I was incubating the eggs, my humidity was too high!!! I didn’t realize how many complications this could cause for the chicks; even after all the research I did prior to hatching eggs, I thought the only thing that the humidity would affect was whether or not they would hatch. So i guess this is just a warning for those who are new to hatching eggs — be careful that your humidity isn’t too high!

humidity during incubation wouldnt really affect mortality 5 days+ after hatch. might need to keep the drawing board up

 

[Kippers302]

humidity during incubation wouldnt really affect mortality 5 days+ after hatch. might need to keep the drawing board up

thanks for the tip! They died of wry neck which is what made me think it was humidity… but good to know it might not have been that

 

[Nabiki]

thanks for the tip! They died of wry neck which is what made me think it was humidity… but good to know it might not have been that

Wry neck usually isn't fatal. They can live pretty normal lives with wry neck. It can be caused by hatching issues, but could also be genetic.