Dying quail chicks

[sarabeth485]

i totally understand and for me it seems the hatching is the “easy part” i’ve beat my head against the wall trying to figure out the “survival” my PF hatch for example.....I left DH and fam in charge of the brooder for 24 hours to accompany my Dad to a dental appointment and returned to catastrophic losses.....the losses continued following my return and moving them to larger brooder......I ended up with only a handful (approximately 1/3) making it to the aviary......
I had really poor survival rates in the beginning with heat plate alone.....I switched back to heat lamp for a while and have now added heat plate + heat lamp to shed brooder (they move out there around 1 week) my indoor brooder is ceramic reptile bulb

My best guess at this point is that the ambient temp of the house must be much lower than previous hatches and the heat plate just isn’t enough. They are in the finished basement but it is an old house that heats unevenly and we’re having a cold snap. What is the wattage on the reptile bulb you use?

 

[annageckos]

My best guess at this point is that the ambient temp of the house must be much lower than . What is the wattage on the reptile bulb you use?

I have little experience with brooding chicks but lots of experience with reptiles. The wattage of the bulb depends on the temps you want and the temps of the room. So there is no 'one size fits all'. But in my experience reptile bulbs are comparable to regular incandescent bulbs. I never buy reptile bulbs for my reptiles. Unless I need a ceramic bulb(no light, only heat) or a UVB light.
Good luck with your chicks.

 

[Witchy momma]

Do you mean the bedding maybe? Those are pine pellets. Food is in a dish and finely ground.

Or goodness sorry I bet I just thought well she really wantd them to eat lol.

 

[muddy75]

My best guess at this point is that the ambient temp of the house must be much lower than previous hatches and the heat plate just isn’t enough. They are in the finished basement but it is an old house that heats unevenly and we’re having a cold snap. What is the wattage on the reptile bulb you use?

My reptile bulb is 80w ambient temp in living room is 65-78 and thermometer on brooder floor stays around 85....heat lamp in shed is either 125 or 250.....I can’t remember for sure though I think 125 and heat plate is brinsea low on one side and high on the other.....outside temps got below freezing last night just enough to kill half my garden plants but coturnix (18 remaining 1 week old) did just fine

 

[Pennys Mama]

For my new quail hatches I keep the brooder floor temp at 100° for the 1st few days to a week and then lower the temp 5° every week. I use a 250w red heat bulb. I of course have cooler spaces in the brooder for the chicks to move to when needed.

 

[CindyinSD]

250 watts in a 45-50° garage.