Dead quail?

[Kiki]

I'm curious as to how you know that they are for sure females.

 

[Elbent]

The first thing I would look for would be a stuck egg.

What color are they?

I switch my quail to a layer type chicken crumble feed at about 5 or 6 weeks of age because they need the calcium in it to lay eggs.

They are all brown, they look like this but this is an old pic in an old setup. They have access to oyster shell crumbles for calcium. What does a stuck egg indicate?

 

[Elbent]

I'm curious as to how you know that they are for sure females.

Because I got them from a breeder who said they are all female. They also look like female coturnix quail that I’ve seen pictures of.

 

[Nabiki]

If they have calcium on the side, that's good. At their age, though, you probably want to chanettheir feed to something closer to 20% protein. They need less as adults than they do while they're growing.

A stuck egg would imply that she died from being egg bound. This can happen for several reasons, but lack of calcium is one.

If her eyes were pecked, that could have been part of the cause of death. When quail attack each other, the eyes are usually the target. They can kill each other. It is less common for hens to commit that level of violence, but it does happen.

Quail on quail violence usually happens in stressful environments, such as not enough space, food, water, or any other thing that makes them unhappy.

 

[Elbent]

If they have calcium on the side, that's good. At their age, though, you probably want to chanettheir feed to something closer to 20% protein. They need less as adults than they do while they're growing.

A stuck egg would imply that she died from being egg bound. This can happen for several reasons, but lack of calcium is one.

If her eyes were pecked, that could have been part of the cause of death. When quail attack each other, the eyes are usually the target. They can kill each other. It is less common for hens to commit that level of violence, but it does happen.

Quail on quail violence usually happens in stressful environments, such as not enough space, food, water, or any other thing that makes them unhappy.

Wouldn’t she have wounds if the other hens attacked her? They seemed happy for the most part. I am so upset.

 

[Kiki]

Wouldn’t she have wounds if the other hens attacked her? They seemed happy for the most part. I am so upset.

No, not necessarily...the eyes could be the only thing they pecked.
I asked about the color/sex because it is very common for people to say they are selling hens when they aren't really.
The two I can see do look female.

 

[Nabiki]

Wouldn’t she have wounds if the other hens attacked her? They seemed happy for the most part. I am so upset.

You mentioned that her eyes were pecked. It's possible that they were starting to pick on her and she flushed into the wood of the hutch.

Without a necropsy, we may never know.

 

[muddy75]

I would also check the crop for an impaction……I had losses due to oyster shell pieces being too large

 

[007Sean]

Without performing a necropsy, it's really hard to say what was the cause of death!

High protein feed can cause 'fatty liver' disease and other reproductive issues....but that usually takes longer than 3 to 4 months to develop! As @Nabiki , stated, a lower protein feed would be better than the high protein feed, and if only females, a feed higher in calcium would be beneficial for them, too!

The eye pecking most likely occurred after death, if there was no swelling, or blood present.