Bobwhite quail dying

[vonkettle]

I am new with having quail. I hatched them out and got 43 of them out of 66 so I was surprised of the outcome of how many actually hatched. However they have been outside for weeks now however I was cleaning out the pen today and noticed one still in the box. My fiancé has found some before. It was in a ball like form. I thought it was dead I grabbed him and he didn't move any part of his body except for his neck. He opened one eye and his neck kinda twisted like in movement I laid him down and he moved his neck some more and his eyes closed. I left him there to see if he would move and he wouldn't unless I picked him up. Than he would move his neck again in a weird twisting way. One eye open again and than stay still again. So this is not the first time apparently this has happened it has happened to 3 of my chickens in the course of 2 years so I figured maybe something just happened to them and I know animals die. However it does concern me and I wanted to know if there is something actually wrong with my flock..?

Please help!

 

[jsdobson]

How old are they?

 

[SeptemberQuail]

I'm a little confused as to what the first few sentences are talking about.
Are you saying that they were hatched, and kept in a pen outside for a few weeks, and then in a box?

Are these guys 6 weeks yet or older?

Was that chick stuck in its egg? I had a chick that was stuck in its egg as the membrane had dried out, and so I had to break away the shell to let it free. It stayed in a ball-shape for an hour or so before finally starting to walk and wobble.

Sorry if I'm misunderstanding anything.

 

[vonkettle]

they are about 13 weeks old now I hatched them out myself here on the farm. they were in a brooder box for a while until they got to big now they are outside in a huge rabbit coop. I found him inside the nesting area hunched up. when I took him out he twisted his neck but no movement anywhere else just stayed on its side afterwards

 

[jsdobson]

At that age two thing come to mind aggression or disease since you only losing one every
now and then I would look at stress first . Whey are fully mature at 16 weeks could have males establishing donimance even though if not breeding season. Watch them close to see if any are harassing the others. Make sure they arrant running out food. When you feed they should be food still in feeder you should just be toping it off this keeps dominate birds from hoging up the food hope I helped good luck. Typing from phone sorry about punctuation

 

[TwoCrows]

Bobwhites need a lot of room. 2 square feet per bird before they are 1 year old and 4 square feet per bird as adults. Young bobs are VERY suseptable to temperature changes and can die from chilling or over heating. They are slow to mature and need to be on a good diet of gamebird food only at the age they are now. Never let their water run low and always keep feed available. They are also very skittish and will easily flush and hit the ceiling. Sounds like this is what is possibly happening. To keep them calm and feeling secure, cut a few branches from a tree out side or even use fake foliage, but prop some branches up in the corners, giving them a natural jungle like feeling in the pen. Bobs do not do well being exposed in cages and need to feel protected. They are less likely to flush up and hit their heads on the ceiling. It is possible this is what is happening in your pen. Good luck with your Bobs!