HELP! Quail dropping like flies!

[PoultryPoetry]

We moved our 13 bobwhite quail chicks into their "wire-bottomed apartment" in our chickenhouse a week or so ago. They were doing wonderfully until this morning when we found two dead. This afternoon three more were dead. Some of the remaining have ruffled feathers, and one is on it's side kicking around in circles. Whatever they have contracted must of came from our adult chickens housed beneath them. Any thoughts of what they have?

 

[TheRealTimShady]

Probably coryza I think it is called.you need to move all your quail away as soon a possible before they all die. Separate the ones that show signs of any disease.

It is well know on this forum that chickens and quail do not mic well mainly of this disease,

Keep them away and good luck

 

[MobyQuail]

Sorry for you. good luck.

Chickens have been domesticated and are able to live in less than pristine conditions. IMHO- Many backyard flocks carry Mycoplasm.

BobWhite quail have not been domesticated as long, they are the "natives" to your chickens. kinda like the incas and spaniards.

things we have seen/heard here- MG, choryza, tapeworm, worms.

but, also, what are you feeding them? could also be feed related, chickens may be more tolerant of less than pristine feed...

we have also seen issues with moldy food, chickens do ok, quail do not. I just tossed a whole 50# bag because I found a few moldy clumps at the top of the bag, no chances here.

of the dead quail, do they feel light? or healthy but sudden death? or has it been lingering- they may have all their feathers but be just skeleton underneath?

 

[TwoCrows]

You can not mix chickens and quail, ever. The results will be disasterous. There are many diseases that chickens will give to quail and they are not pretty. So you need to move those quail out of the chicken area. And, if you have pens for your quail and can walk in, you need to have a different pair of shoes for chickens and quail so you are not dragging in disease on the bottoms of your feet.

 

[JJMR794]

Quote:
WHAT IT IS MAY BE VERY DIFFICULT TO DIAGNOSE WITHOUT EXAMINING THE BIRDS... BUT I DO KNOW THE SOURCE. OTHER POULTRY AND GAMEBIRDS DO NOT MIX. WE'VE COVERED THIS IN MANY STRINGS/ THREADS HERE (SPEAKING OF WHICH WHERE ARE ALL THE USUAL NAY SAYERS? ) -- BUT I SEE FROM YOUR STATUS YOU'RE FAIRLY NEW HERE. LIKELY TOO NEW TO HAVE BEEN SPARED FROM THESE COVERINGS THAT HAVE BEEN POSTED BEFORE. MISFORTUNATE FOR YOUR CASE... SORRY

SORRRY ABOUT YOUR LOSS. IF IT IS A CONTAGEOUS ILLNESS (MOST LIKELY IN YOUR CASE) SUCH AS MYCOPLASMA (COMMONLY CALLED CORYZA THO THE ACTUAL INFECTIOUS DISEASE IS DIFFERENT, CORYZA IS CHICKEN SPECIFIC. MYCOPLASMA IS AVIAN WIDE = BOTH EXHIBIT THE SAME SIGNS AND ELICIT THE SAME UNSAVORY RESULTS). THE RESULTS ARE QUITE BAD. IF ANY SURVIVE THEY WILL SEROCONVERT FOR THE ILLNESS AND BECOME CARRIERS-- RENDERING THEM A CONTAGEOUS AND USELESS ANIMAL... PLACING ANY NEW BIRDS WITH THE GROUP WILL ONLY RESULT IN NEW OUTBREAKS OF THE ILLNESS AND MORE BIRDS LOST. KEEPING THE OLD BIRDS THAT SURVIVE ON HAND IS RATHER LIKE GIVING A DRUNKEN MONKEY A LOADED ASSAULT RIFLE--- JUST A MATTER OF TIME BEFORE SOMETHING REALLY BAD HAPPENS AS YOU WILL BE KEEPING A LIVE INFECTIOUS DISEASE SOURCE ON HAND TO READILY SPREAD TO ANY BIRDS YOU MAY HAVE. BEST CASE SCENARIO IS ALL FALL PREY TO THIS ILLNESS AND PASS SAVING YOU THE TROUBLE OF EUTHENIZING ANY SURVIVORS.

CAN YOU POST ANY SPECIFIC SIGNS OR SYMPTOMS OF THIS ILLNESS? ANYTHING YOU NOTICE? IT MAY BE HELPFUL IN DIFFERENTIATING THE POSSIBLE DISEASES

 

[CapricornFarm]

Could it be those buffalo gnats?

 

[PoultryPoetry]

Thank you all for the info. I hate that I didn't do my research before putting the little guys in the chicken house in the first place. We are going to try again, but build the quail a home of their own far from the chickens.

 

[PoultryPoetry]

Flock Master, we didn't notice any signs of illness beforehand. Yesterday after we found dead birds, we noticed the others had ruffled feathers and were droopy. We feed them fresh, clean 24% chick feed and they were eating and drinking normally up until the day before we found any dead. If any of these survive, do you suggest we cull them?

Could the same disease cause decreased egg production in our chickens and death in a newly introduced rooster?

 

[Stellar]

I would send in your feed to get analyzed. If your chickens or rooster was sick it can easily spread to the bobs but something seems odd about the feed IMO. Could the feed have mold in it by chance? That can make all sick.

 

[FeatheredObsessions]

You mentioned chicks. Moving them from hot to cold could kill them. I have not witnessed it in bobs but Button quail that have been exposed to drafts and cold will have ruffled feathers. If they were not feathered out enough and went from a warm brooder to an open wirefloored cage outside it could have been a huge drop for them???

We'd probably need a little more info