3 week old dead quail and odd behavior.

[Laylahege]

I have 12 quail who will be 3 weeks tomorrow. I've lost 2 in the last week, the second being this morning. The first was very small, I assumed it was trampled, but the second seemed healthy. I switched them to a cage instead of the plastic tote and did a full bedding, food and water change. I'm noticing this weird behavior where they will shake their head and back up.
Is this normal? I don't want to lose them. I have the heat lamp at a height that gives them an 80 degree surface temp below and they now have more room. These are my first quail and I've heard they can be fickle...
Any advice will be helpful.
I'll post a yt link with a video of one of them doing the weird backup thing.

 

[horror_trashcan]

I could be very wrong but to me it just looks like his butt told him where the warm was and he followed it.

 

[Laylahege]

I could be very wrong but to me it just looks like his butt told him where the warm was and he followed it.

I sure hope so. I mean, mine does that sometimes too lol!

 

[Nabiki]

What are you feeding them?
Do they have a warm end and a cool end of their enclosure so they can choose a comfortable temperature?

 

[Laylahege]

What are you feeding them?
Do they have a warm end and a cool end of their enclosure so they can choose a comfortable temperature?

Game bird starter crumbles (30%)
Yes, the cage is much larger, the heat lamp is at one end. The container they were in was smaller (normal plastic tote size) and was black. Even the cool end was warm. I'm hoping it was just heat or lack of ventilation.

 

[Nabiki]

The small one was probably failure to thrive. The other one may also have been, but it's harder to say.

It sounds like the move was needed. Keep us posted, and hopefully the rest will thrive.

 

[Susan Skylark]

They look pretty happy/healthy to me! Sometimes critters (including us!) are born with something amiss and there’s nothing you can do about it. I had a wry neck do that backing thing, healthy besides the defect, just his preferred means of getting where he wanted to go. They are growing feathers, getting bigger, active, so no obvious signs of disease. Fluffed up, eyes shut, hunched, goopy eyes, diarrhea, lethargic are all bad signs. I’m not sure I’d classify quail as delicate, save for their size and the fact that birds (prey animals) hide signs of illness as long as they can so you don’t know they are sick until they are dead. When you consider their egg laying capabilities, their ability to handle-20-105F, and their size, these little guys are amazing!

 

[Laylahege]

They look pretty happy/healthy to me! Sometimes critters (including us!) are born with something amiss and there’s nothing you can do about it. I had a wry neck do that backing thing, healthy besides the defect, just his preferred means of getting where he wanted to go. They are growing feathers, getting bigger, active, so no obvious signs of disease. Fluffed up, eyes shut, hunched, goopy eyes, diarrhea, lethargic are all bad signs. I’m not sure I’d classify quail as delicate, save for their size and the fact that birds (prey animals) hide signs of illness as long as they can so you don’t know they are sick until they are dead. When you consider their egg laying capabilities, their ability to handle-20-105F, and their size, these little guys are amazing!

Thank you, this was very reassuring. I'm so used to chickens, the tiny little quail are so new to me!

 

[CliftonQuail]

I'm not sure if you're in the state of Georgia or the country. In Georgia, USA, with them being 3 weeks old, unless you're keeping them outside, they probably don't need the heat lamp anymore. Georgia the country, it's probably a bit colder so may still need the heat.

 

[Laylahege]

I'm not sure if you're in the state of Georgia or the country. In Georgia, USA, with them being 3 weeks old, unless you're keeping them outside, they probably don't need the heat lamp anymore. Georgia the country, it's probably a bit colder so may still need the heat.

I'm in the state. We just went through a cold snap (low of 25) but it's up to 50 now. What temp do you recommend for them at this age?