Giving up...

[Athiena14]

I'm sorry you've had such trouble. Your situation sounds unusually difficult. Quail are typically hardy birds, quick to grow and heal. Death isn't random. What type of quail are you raising?

There could be a lot of things contributing to the death rate; bad egg source/parentage, wrong feed type, too-small cage, disease, heat, predators like you mentioned, etc. That chicks would kill each other makes me think they were missing protein, or too cramped. If the quail have no shelter in their cage (a hutch, a box, something to hide under) they may be dying of exposure.

In the pic you posted, I see your'e using chicken wire. I highly recommend switching over to hardware cloth, the 1/2 inch kind, something that raccoons and cats can't get their paws through.

Okay, yea this was my second coop. My first had smaller holes and a raccoon tore completely into it, but it used a week spot in the fencing. I'm about to just move them into the barn if I try again where it's more safe

 

[Athiena14]

The coop is about 8 foot by 3 foot by 4 foot at highest point

 

[Broodygranny]

The guy I got my most recent batch of eggs from said an oldtimer who had been raising them forever told him to put sugar in the water the first day. He said he had a better survival rate after that. I am going to try it and see.he had lots of quail, so.....?

 

[Athiena14]

I'll have to try

 

[Broodygranny]

Cm gamebird farm and hatchery has a website with some good tips on helping them find feed and water. It said that many chicks die because they never find the feed and water. I just found the website, because I was looking into how much sugar to put in the water. Your post reminded me to look that up. My eggs are due in a little less than two weeks.

 

[Erkenstein]

Sorry to hear about your troubles. I gave up on quail a couple of years ago too due to different issues but am back in it. Some challenges that quail face:

• nutritionally deficient parent birds that produce weak chicks
• improper/excessive "assisting" during hatch
  
• cold brooder/chilling/drafts that lead to illness before feathering out
• smothering (usually related to a cold brooder)
  
• chicks getting wet/drowning from improper waterer
• inadequate nutrition/immune system development
• inability to eat and drink properly
• unsanitary environment leading to disease and stress
• exposure to the elements (usually heatstroke)
  
• predators
• aggression within the flock
• unexplained dropping dead (heart attacks or boinking possibilities)

I use Chickstart powder for hatchlings rather than sugar as suggested above. It does contain sugar, which gets them drinking more, but it also includes probiotics and vitamins/minerals. On the first day, they need to be shown where the water is, and once a few catch on they all get it.

I grind feed (30% protein) for the first week. Some members will disagree with me and say that the birds will find the little pieces in the mix and do fine; I prefer to make it easy for them and there is no reason in my opinion not to.

After the first week, I add a sandbox to the brooder and then begin hanging up leafy greens for them to peck at. Besides the sandbox being great fun, they need the sand in their gizzards before they can deal with anything other than feed.

Other than the issue with chicken wire on your tractor, which others have already pointed out, you need a wire skirt for a foot or so around the edge to keep predators from digging in; I use chicken wire for that and put some pieces of wood on top of the skirt as well.