Help needed. My Quail are dying.

[Stellar]

Just the inside.

 

[Mrs MIA]

Quote:
I had to laugh, because contrary to popular belief, we Alaskans don't live in igloos or year-round snow!

Funny how even with all the communication/visual technology we still cling to those misconceptions! It would be awesome if you could share photos of not only your birds, but maybe the surrounding area...
I hope you don't lose any more babies...

 

[Buttercup Chillin]

Ok, I didn't think you had a pet lion hanging around. But we just don't know what your able to get. For instance I give my birds the Enfamil Poly-Vi-Sol w/o iron, and you could probably get some kind of infant vitamins, but maybe not that brand.

By the way, after our discussion last night I went in and gave my Vanilla baby just a pinch of the Nutrional Yeast (also found at health food stores). He went right for it. I didn't say before, but when he hatched he still had shakey legs after going to the brooder. I knew the vitamin water would fix that in a few days. But we talked about changing Feed Brands and problems and the Yeast and I wanted to see. He really went for it and he is steady on his feet this morning.

I think I am going to add a few pinches to the brooder feed each day for this hatch. Not much just a little for a little extra boost, especially if I see a problem with legs.

Neb - hope its just the feed and you can get some with more protein for them. More expensive but it makes life so much easier.

 

[Wifezilla]

we don't live in mud huts and have pet lions

Shucks!

 

[joe125]

I'm not sure how a simple suggestion that a brand of feed here in the US. may not be available half a world away translates into mud huts and pet lions, but I don't always get everyone's sense of humor.

I was only trying to help, but will curtail that in the future.

 

[neb]

Don't worry, I was just joking

.... Please Continue giving advice joe.

Another one died today

There are 9 left.

I gave them some hard boiled egg and they gobbled it up.
The one that died was looking very healthy and then I checked on them this morning and his legs were week and he could not stand.
His/her legs where almost stiff. I have looked around and there are some feed stores that I will try and go to.
I have not got a reply from the guy who sold me the eggs yet, but I will let you know what he suggests.

Thanks Guys

 

[Buttercup Chillin]

His legs were stiff while he was alive??? Get them on Vitamins or the Nutrional or Brewers yeast. As well as new Gamebird feed. ASAP.

Don't count on the guy that sold them to you for much help. Looks like he might need some help in breeding them. You had a hard time finding some birds if I remember right. Is this a sign of inbreeding folks??????

I'm to new, I have no clue yet what to look for in the inbreeding problems for any of the Coturnix.

joe123, I was sure he was jabbing me about all the stuff I wondered if he could get there. I was pretty sure he was in the middle of a savannah way in the outback. No wait that's Australia.

Well, I want to see a Mud Hut with a Lion out back. I was pretty sure you were trying to raise these Coturnix for tidbits for your pet cat. I know you told us otherwise way back when, but I for one did not quite believe you.

You must have a picture around somewhere, hey you need an Avatar Neb. Actually, I need a new one too.

 

[Mrs MIA]

Well, the last part was funny... Losing a baby is never funny. I hope you figure out what's doing it...

 

[Buttercup Chillin]

Ya, I tried to make an igloo when I was a kid. I was like 5 it turned out to be more of a small tunnel. We could use one of those pictures though, throw it in when you do a hatch. Just to make sure we are paying attention. But we here in the south would prefer to see it in the summer when its 100 degrees plus outside. Maybe it would cool us off.

See we can yak all we want now, cause NEB's sleeping, I'm pretty sure.

I sure hope high protein is the answer and they stop keeling over on him. I am sure I would have a hard time dealing with that.

Wonder what the weather is like now in South Africa? But I doubt it would be a factor.

 

[warmfuzzyfeeling]

I've only been raising quail for a few months, but I have a theory that the longer a chick remains in the egg, the more bone and joint problems it will have. Could this be why your late hatch resulted in straddle legs and poor constitution, I wonder? So far in my experience, the chicks that hatch on day one are healthy, but the stragglers that hatch the next day have curled feet, crooked toes, etc. In one case, I had to peel the shells off of some coturnix chicks that had pipped 48 hours prior. Most of these chicks were already dead, but I found a few survivors with very stiff necks and curled up feet. They hobbled around as best they could and the joint problems improved after a few days. They grew more slowly and took longer to feather in though. As adults, they appear normal except that they are less than half the size of the birds that hatched on time.

I believe that the accepted theory is that chicks with joint problems have trouble hatching, but I keep wondering if the cause and effect aren't actually the other way around?

Sorry, I know this doesn't help. My own Texas A&M coturnix egg hatch (55 incubated, 6 surviving) was a dissapointment, so I think the thing to do is just try again with another batch of eggs if possible.