Coturnix Quail sick

[Halcomb6]

I had recently received some chicks from someone and they have died off. I only have 5 out of 20 left. The week old chicks are laying down and spreading out almost like their dead. They just seem to be VERY lazy. I give them vitamins in their water, have crushed their food. Good clean conditions and plenty of warmth. I've raised Coturnix for a while not but I've never ran by this. Even some of my 4 week old birds have been acting strange. I had 2 today that wanted to lay on their side and it seems like the life in them has been sucked out. I seperated them and they later died. Do these chicks have something wrong with them? Inbred perhaps? Or a bird disease that spread to my older birds?

 

[DK newbie]

You are certain their feed has enough protein and the temp is okay? If so, then I'd think they have a disease.

 

[Halcomb6]

I give them chick starter and grow. It's 20% protein, highest we have around here. And I have a heat lamp on them, same temp as all my other hatches had. What should I do to solve this problem?

 

[badwhiskey]

You need 26-30% protein at this young age..fresh water daily...give them some chick starter and electrolytes

 

[DK newbie]

Yeah, I really don't think that's enough protein for chicks. For now, you can try to save them by feeding hard boiled eggs. They have lots of protein, vitamins, minerals and stuff. Have you reared other batches of coturnix quail with that feed? If so, perhaps they do have a disease, but possibly the low protein percentage made them more susceptible.. Dunno.

 

[Halcomb6]

Yes I have raised hundreds of quail on this feed. This hatch is the first I've had trouble from.

 

[paneubert]

Yes I have raised hundreds of quail on this feed. This hatch is the first I've had trouble from.

Common opinion around here (and in many scholarly research articles) is that they need higher protein since they are a game bird. Glad you had success in the past with your 20% protein level, but you are having problems now. You seem to be asking for help, but then not really being willing to consider the answers people are giving you. Raise their protein with some hard boiled eggs just as an experiment and see what happens. If they get better, great! Who cares if it was the protein level or just some random other coincidence? That is the only "obvious" issue (depending on if you subscribe to the need for high protein or not) that I can see with your setup.