2 died...normal?

[thecityman]

Hi. I'm fairly new to quail and certainly have never hatched out as many as I did this time....I just had 42 born on Monday! I only had 48 cortunix eggs, so 42 births was an astounding success rate to me. Anyway, when I got up this morning there were 2 that were dead. I have them in a brooder box with a bulb for heat, though they have plenty of room to go to the other end of the box if they get to warm. One of the dead ones was abou12 inches from the bulb. The other one was literally laying in the water dispenser, though its head wasn't in the water. I feel confident it didn't drown, because I have one of those really small mason jar water dispensers and the part where the water is never gets more than like 1/10th of an inch..barely enough for them to drink from.

Anyway, my main question is this: Is it fairly normal to loose a few quail soon after birth? 2 out of 42 doesnt seem that bad to me. On the other hand, I've never lost a chick before, so I'm just curious. If you all don't think its fairly normal to loose a couple chicks out of 42, then do you have any ideas? I have no other quail right not, so diseases seems unlikely. I'm just afraid this is going to continue! Thanks.

 

[jessaw1981]

yea I think that it is pretty normal. Just make sure they can get out if the heat. My father was sure they could but they needed more room. Now they are fine.

 

[Denninmi]

Yes, I think it's fairly normal for it to happen. I would just double check the waterer -- I fill mine with small marbles, so that they have to drink between the gaps. It's a pain because I have to top it off every other hour, and then clean it out twice a day, but they can drown in an amazingly small depth of water.

But, more likely, there was just something wrong with them. 42 out of 48 eggs is an incredible success rate, and losing a few is just going to happen.

I have lost a few out of every hatch, too. Usually just one or two.

The only thing I can suggest is to use an electrolyte solution the first week, with bird vitamins. I keep mine on tetracycline for the first two weeks as well. I know that probably NOT a good practice due to antibiotic resistance, and I know commercial farmers are getting away from using so many antibiotics, but it's kind of like an insurance policy against problems.

Most likely there was something wrong with the ones that died that wasn't externally apparent.

 

[thecityman]

Thanks folks...you made me feel a little better. I know my hatch rate is nothing short of miraculus, and believe it or not these things were mailed to me AND got lost in the mail and took 4 days to get here. I was sure they'd be ruined, and instead, I got 42 out of 48. (though now I'm at 40). Its also worth noting that 5 of the 6 that did not hatch came incredibly close....they were all FULLY FORMED and had even absorbed all of the yolk into their bellies....they looked 100% fully prpared. I love me bator! (just a standard styrafoam Hova-bator)

Denninmi....see what I've become! ha. I'm already trying to figure out what I'm going hatch next AND I still have 9 bobwhites that are due Sat. Its crazy!

 

[aprophet]

it would not surprise me if you lost another 3-4, they it kina depends on how large your brooder is corts get big quick the little ones sometimes get trampled by the large ones I separate my large and small one sometime in the first week it does not seem like I lose as many these days

 

[shelleyd2008]

It is totally normal to lose a few, no matter what you do. The one that was in the waterer though, it didn't have to drown to die from it. Getting wet makes them get cold a lot quicker, so it probably died from hypothermia. This is why everyone stresses so much that you either have a waterer base that they can't get into (quail base) or that you put something in the base so they can't get into it (like marbles).

 

[JJMR794]

Quote:
AMEN!