Coturnix dying -Help

[crazycritters]

We bought about 30 quail about 3 weeks ago. They are in groups of 3-4 in new cages that are 10 inches tall. They are in a small building, but we keep the door open all day, window cracked all the time and light on at night. No signs of stress, fighting, or illness. Eating and drinking well.
We have bwen finding a quail dead about every 1-3 days. What could be going on? They do get well water but so do all the rest of our birds and animals. They are fed nonmedicated gamebird feed.
What am I doing wrong?

 

[YaroshHomestead]

I am having a similar problem. My coturnix quail are about 3 months old. They have been producing an egg a day since they were 7 weeks old. I started with 24 chicks.

We lost our first bird when they were a month old. Then about a week ago I came home to a dead female inside the coop. An hour later I had another female that looked paralyzed and had clear liquid coming out its beak and died within a few minutes. This morning we found a male dead in the coop.


Their coop has about 17 square feet of alfalfa bedded inside area with timed full spectrum light. They also have an aviary with 10 square feet sandbox for bathing and 20 square feet of dirt and grass for digging and sun bathing.

Any ideas?

 

[TwoCrows]

We bought about 30 quail about 3 weeks ago. They are in groups of 3-4 in new cages that are 10 inches tall. They are in a small building, but we keep the door open all day, window cracked all the time and light on at night. No signs of stress, fighting, or illness. Eating and drinking well.
We have bwen finding a quail dead about every 1-3 days. What could be going on? They do get well water but so do all the rest of our birds and animals. They are fed nonmedicated gamebird feed.
What am I doing wrong?

How old are they? They do need to be kept 1 male to 5 to 7 females. Any less females and the males will mate them to death. Do not keep males together either.

You need to turn of the light at night. 24 hours of daylight will kill them. Make sure there is enough air coming thru this window. Birds need a ton of oxygen.

Do they have a place to dust bathe? Have you checked them over for mites, lice or fleas? Are they missing feathers?

How does the poop look....runny, dry, green, brown, red or black?

Do you know if they have been wormed recently? Are they really thin? (the breast bone protruding sharply)

What exactly do they look like when you find them dead and do they have any other symptoms like runny noses, swollen faces, poop stuck to the vent, anything that might send up a red flag?

Oh and welcome to BYC and the quail forums!

 

[crazycritters]

I don't know how old they are. The person we bought them from said they are last years hatch. We don't have a dust bath for them but I haven't seen any signs of bugs, I could be wrong. They are fat and active. Some are missing the feathers on their back. They were when we got them. The ones missing feathers aren't always the ones that die. The poop of some is a little runny and brown the rest look normal. The dead ones don't look abnormal at all. They aren't laying very many eggs.
We did hatch 2 babies yesterday that can't stand. They just flail around and end up on their backs.

 

[Quailsong]

Missing feathers on the back? It's possible they're being raped bred to death. Try to get them a bigger pen if possible, 10 inches tall just seems way too short to me. Also add an area to dust bathe in, it's not just for mites but emotional health as well. More hide-aways too if you don't have any, quail like to hide to feel safe.

Use some Apple Cider Vinegar (ACV) with "mother" in their water (1tsp/1gal), make sure they're getting enough protein as well. Keep that light off at night too, the possible heat from that and the constant light is enough to kill them.