button quail chicks keep hatching and dying...HELP PLEASE

[300hj]

after about 21 days my button quail eggs start to hatch. they come out nearly featherless and for the most part can't stand up. after about a day, they go into like a "coma" and die! please can anyone tell me what i am doing wrong because this isn't going too well for me.

P.S. and also, could anyone tell me if i should help my chicks hatch and why it takes up to 3 days before they come out fully. (could it maybe be the humidity?)

thanks

 

[joe125]

DON'T BUST THEM OUT! Sorry for shouting.....Maybe not.

Well, late hatches are usually due to low incubator temps, and low incubator temps are usually due to bad thermometers. Humidity may be an issue as well. If you don't have an accurate temp., then it is imposable to even guess the humidity level. Any wrong mix of the two can create undesired results. The fact that it takes them so long to hatch may be an issue as well.

What do you do with the chicks after they hatch and dry out fuzzy?

 

[mhwc56]

Quote:
Sorry for your troubles ...

99.5*-100* temperature .55-65% humidity during lockdown. SIXTEEN days for a hatch( give or take a couple days but NOT 21.)..........21 means you have waaaaaay too low a temp on the eggs . Being nearly featherless i suspect is also due to too low temps and so they're not properly developing.
what are you using for an incubator and thermometer?
O and Joe is right, helping them out of the eggs is not a good idea.Generally if they can't make it out on their own then there is a health problem to start with...unless your humidity's too low and they're stuck in the egg due to that.....

 

[Stellar]

If it takes 3 days for your button to hatch, it's a goner ;( and featherless? Even the fallows have feathering but sparse. hmmm, this is definitely an incubator mishap and you can keep the buttons under a heat lamp and provide them with ample water and feed. 21 days is way to long

 

[300hj]

well i use a hova bator model 1602N...about 16 inchesx16 inches. and in order to make sure the temperature stays at about 100 F i have two thermometers in it. my chick that just hatched seems to be doing better today (i just hope its not misleading). thank you for all your help! i'm doing my best to implement them.

and after they dry, i move them into a 8inchx16inchx10inch aquarium with a 40 watt bulb. since not many hatch i figured this was big enough

Also...do you know of any other types of food i can feed my chicks besides game bird crumble? because i live in hawaii, i haven't found any pet or farm supply stores that sell any amounts of it. Also...it will be costly to ship it in...is some boiled egg enough? thank you very much for all your help

 

[chrishel]

If you are in Honolulu, have you tried City Feed? I used to get feed from there. Maybe they can order it for you?

That is also where I used to get my coturnix before they had their fire and the owner vowed to give up on keeping live animals as they all perished in the fire. Then again, that was years and lifetimes ago!

I also want to say the feed store in Waimanalo carries Purina products, so they could order Startena for you.

If you are on an outer island, sorry, I can't help. But I can definitely sympathize on the availability and shipping issues.

 

[300hj]

city feed is the one on beretania right? and can you give me the address or the name of the store in waimanalo because i can't find it on the internet. thanks

 

[Stellar]

Anything 24% or higher will suffice for cbbq. You can get an unmedicated chickstarter and add egg to it (egg yolk) to help with protein. I would also get some poli vi sol without iron from the grocery store in the infant section and put a few drops in the water. This may perk up any weaker babies. Hoping it works out! You seem to do everything right post hatch. I am a bit worried about the incubation process however. Hoping the best!

 

[chrishel]

Here's the info on City Feed. Call first, because, it was years ago when I got the feed from there.

http://www.yelp.com/biz/city-feed-honolulu-2

For the store in Waimanalo, I don't even know the name. It's on the main road (there's only one road in and out from Hawaii Kai to Kaneohe). Going from Hawaii Kai, you go past Waimanalo town and the post office, go past the elementary school (it gets really dark because the monkey pods trees are now shading the road), on the right will be a small shopping mall with some tourist stores. The feed store is on the left next to the grocery store. The grocery store is set back, the feed store is on nearer to the road. It has a big Purina checkerboard sign on it.

The best thing is maybe to go on the Purina site and find out who deals Purina products on Oahu.

Again, please call first. I'm going off of memory and I haven't lived full time in Hawaii for, ugh 15 years now (I feel old!). Born and raised there, but left for college and ended up marrying a haole from the mainland. We get to go back every year though!

For buttons, 50 lbs of feed will last you forever. And with the Hawaii weather, it will probably go bad or get buggy before you get through it. I have an airtight container designed for dog food that I keep my feed in. I recommend it. I got it at Petco. Pricey, but as I said, it's worth it. It holds almost 45 lbs of feed.
http://www.petco.com/product/9799/Gamma-Vittles-Vault-Stackables.aspx?CoreCat=OnSiteSearch. I've seen something similar at Costco.

Here you go!

http://wildlife.purinamills.com/DealerLocator/default.aspx?SearchType=Z&ZipCode=96816&Radius=25

City Feed is first and Waimanalo is a little further down, but there looks like there's more closer to town. Waimanalo has a lot of horses and other livestock, so the stuff they carry is going to be different from the Honolulu stores.

 

[shelleyd2008]

Get another thermometer, even though you have 2. If they are taking 21 days to hatch they are taking too long.


The 1602 doesn't have a fan, right? If it is still-air (no fan) you should keep the temp around 101.5 degrees.