Baby quail questions

[tamara1021]

I hatched quail (Japanese) and am on my second week after hatch...I have them medicated chick feed to start out (from the advice of a quail breeder) they were fine but after day three I started finding them dead....I lost ten of them out of 34...I quickly changed then to game bird starter and changed vitamin water to plain water...no more casualties since I did this...does medicated feed cause death in quail?
They are all healthy right now except one...the one acts normal and eats and drinks but he isn't growing like the others (the others are twice as big!
Any help you can give to answer my questions would be appreciated!!!
Thanks so much!!

 

[howfunkyisurchicken]

I NEVER, NEVER feed my gamebirds or waterfowl medicated feed (and after some problems with my chicks keeling over, they don't get it anymore either). The amprollium (medication) in the feed works by blocking thiamine (vitamin B1) uptake, which the cocci protozoa thrives on. Thiamine is an essential nutrient, and as you've found out, a deficiency can have a fatal outcome. Less severe side effects include irritability, confusion and weight loss.
You could try giving the off chick some B1, but I honestly think as long as its eating the gamebird feed it'll bounce back.
And really, if poultry aren't being exposed to cocci in the soil, there's no need for medicated feed anyway. My chicks are exposed to the soil and are not fed the medicated starter and I've never had an issue with cocci. If you look up thiamine on Wikipedia, there is a specific section that talks about deficiency in poultry. It probably wouldn't hurt to print that off and show it to the breeder. Good luck, I hope your quail are feeling better soon!

 

[tamara1021]

Thank you! Yes when I contacted him he said that the feed probably was not to blame...so glad I switched it up --