Bee Creek Quail
In the Brooder
- Apr 16, 2024
- 10
- 22
- 32
Hello -
I am transferring 7 wk old bobwhites from their brooder into their grow out & breeder cages. I noticed 4-5 (of 39) have lost feathers above their tail on their back. See attached picture. I thought this might be due to aggression (out grew their brooder), but the bob's are doing this themselves. They groom and seemingly pluck these out that I've observed. I don't see any sign of insects (mites) or concerns from that perspective, but I haven't closely inspected them either. I have just noticed no damaged skin nor others pecking at this and small feathers appear to be growing back. Glad to see no blood or damage in these areas other than the missing feathers. Also, hard to see when they cover their wings over this area.
About 3 weeks ago, I started introducing a large container with a scoop of diatomaceous earth, course sand, & a sprinkling of poultry permethrin dust. They go wild over this. I only leave this inside for a day or so as it's like a nuclear blast goes off and everything is dusty all around this (another reason I started keeping them outside vs in my garage now). Nothing's left in the container anyway. It's really hot here in TX and I have fans and total shade every day for them. And they now have a lot more space from the brooder in their new homes. Hoping this helps. But I didn't know if this is normal for quail in summer to self regulate their temperature or something else. Also, is a dust bath really helpful/good? I know it helps in nature with pruning and bug repellant, but also didn't know if this contributes to their heat gain? Harder for them to cool down? @Nabiki mentioned using a frozen water bottle and place inside, but now that they are all separated, I may try that and just rotate the frozen bottles and see if they enjoy that. Don't have space in the freezer for that many frozen bottles, so they'll have to share.
Is the feather loss on their backs of concern? Thanks!
I am transferring 7 wk old bobwhites from their brooder into their grow out & breeder cages. I noticed 4-5 (of 39) have lost feathers above their tail on their back. See attached picture. I thought this might be due to aggression (out grew their brooder), but the bob's are doing this themselves. They groom and seemingly pluck these out that I've observed. I don't see any sign of insects (mites) or concerns from that perspective, but I haven't closely inspected them either. I have just noticed no damaged skin nor others pecking at this and small feathers appear to be growing back. Glad to see no blood or damage in these areas other than the missing feathers. Also, hard to see when they cover their wings over this area.
About 3 weeks ago, I started introducing a large container with a scoop of diatomaceous earth, course sand, & a sprinkling of poultry permethrin dust. They go wild over this. I only leave this inside for a day or so as it's like a nuclear blast goes off and everything is dusty all around this (another reason I started keeping them outside vs in my garage now). Nothing's left in the container anyway. It's really hot here in TX and I have fans and total shade every day for them. And they now have a lot more space from the brooder in their new homes. Hoping this helps. But I didn't know if this is normal for quail in summer to self regulate their temperature or something else. Also, is a dust bath really helpful/good? I know it helps in nature with pruning and bug repellant, but also didn't know if this contributes to their heat gain? Harder for them to cool down? @Nabiki mentioned using a frozen water bottle and place inside, but now that they are all separated, I may try that and just rotate the frozen bottles and see if they enjoy that. Don't have space in the freezer for that many frozen bottles, so they'll have to share.
Is the feather loss on their backs of concern? Thanks!
