Cots dropping like flies

[FruitfulFaith]

I started out with 10 hatchlings last weekend and I'm down to five. The first couple were acting funny and I kind of knew they weren't found to make it. But now I've lost several more completely out of the blue. I have had nothing but trouble from the start. They were all mind and healthy and then this morning I found one dead in the water dish (even though they've all been perfectly capable of managing it up until now and we've never had any problems) and them another one randomly gone for no reason few minutes ago.
I know the ins and outs of baby chicks but these quails have me stumped. What are the most common causes of seemingly unexplained deaths in quail babies?

 

[buttonquailtx]

It's possible that something went wrong during incubation and caused weak chicks. Another thing is the nutritional value of the parents' diet. Strong parents lead to strong chicks. Weak parents lead to weak chicks.

Other things that might lead to the chicks dying:

If they get wet from their water, the will lose body heat.
Drafts will quickly lead to chilled chicks.
Use a red light instead of a white light. Red lights have more penetrating heat.

Other things people don't look for are water perimeters. Sometimes water has too many toxins. If for some reason there is too much chlorine or fluoride. It can also contain too much copper from copper pipes and hot water heaters.

And lastly we can't rule out disease. A disease that doesn't affect the parents, can kill chicks.

Sorry I'm not much help. There are so many things that can go wrong, that it's hard to pinpoint the problem.

 

[TwoCrows]

The number one reason babies die is from being over heated or chilled. So at hatch, you should have started them out at 95 degrees. Thermometer placed directly beneath the lamp on the floor. The heat source needs to be placed on one side of the brooder, and the feed and water on the other so that they can escape the heat when they need to. The brooder needs to be not so big that there are drafts, and not so small that there are no cool spots. The temp is lowered by 5 degrees each week for 5 to 6 weeks.

The second reason, many times is the food is too large to eat, or they do not know where to find it. For the first week, you need to lay down paper towels and sprinkle crushed feed on the floor all around the feeder. After a few days they should have figured out where the food is and you can remove the paper towels.

ALWAYS use a chick waterer or put marbles or tiny stones in a base of a regular sized water font. Quail babies are notorious for falling during their first week of life.

Bad feed can kill babies, and bacterial infections can kill babies. Generally these occur from dirty incubators and or brooders.

Describe what the babies look like just before and after death so that maybe we can figure out what is happening.

 

[James the Bald]

Describe what the babies look like just before and after death so that maybe we can figure out what is happening.

Also, can you list the temperature in the brooder? Too hot or not hot enough will do them in.

You refer to them as "hatchling", but didn't list how old they were when you got them. If they are still chicks, they can't manage on their own (without heat) until they are 6 week old or so.
James

 

[FruitfulFaith]

I hatched then myself last saturday. They have a heating pad for heat, same as my chicks did. So they can easily get on it for heat, or move further away if they need to. They were all eating and drinking perfectly fine. They aren't showing any symptoms, they are just suddenly dead - unlike when they get too cold, or aren't eating or drinking properly and they begin to sort of slow down before losing the energy to stand, and so forth. I'm using my basic knowledge of chicken troubleshooting and to be honest, it didn't really fit any obvious problem that I'm familiar with.
I had one baby acting sickly after it had seemed to have gotten lost in the brooder one night, and it was very cold and weak. I gave it a few drops of water and set it directly on the heating pad and after an hour, it was perfectly fine. But none of the others showed any indication that they were on their way out. They were running around, eating, drinking, everything normal - then suddenly one is dead... It is so sudden that when I find them, they have been dead for quite a while. But I check on them constantly.....?

 

[TwoCrows]

Heating pads are just not enough for brooding purposes. Heating pads can keep an adult warm in times of cold, but not babies. At least this is my humble opinion. Babies need to be started at 95 degrees in the brooder, not just on the feet. It needs to penetrate the entire body of the baby. So I am going to say that your babies are dying from being chilled.

 

[beakmaster]

they could be freezing or they might be too hot. I would ditch the heating pad and get a heat lamp like this http://www.walmart.com/ip/Howard-Berger-Co-R609-10-5-inch-Brooder-Lamp-With-Clamp/25265658 and get a red bulb for it. The red bulb keeps them calm or something, not sure. I use a 10 gallon aquarium ( 10 bucks at walmart) as a brooder. Put 2 or 3 layers of paper towels on the bottom of the tank to make cleanup easy, and get a digital thermometer (walmart also has also).
Clamp the light on one side and use the thermometer to know which way to adjust the light. I point mine to the side kinda and not straight down but it depends on the wattage. These bulbs get hot, don't touch them while on. Even a drop of water could burst one of these,be careful. I wish I had a better pic of my setup but you can see the one side the light is shining down on while the other is shaded and cooler. The cooler side gives them an escape from the heat. Put the water on the cool side to keep it from evaporating too quick. If you have any questions, feel free to ask Good luck.