Help! Quail dying and now bald!?

[Floof]

I bought 15 quail at wilco 2 weeks ago and they've had nothing but trouble. They had been marked down to $1 each and they were 2-3 weeks old when I purchased them. When I brought them home I moved them into an old rabbit cage/hutch outdoors and they seemed okay. Within 2 days one of them died. Then the next day another one died. Then 2 days later another. I went out and checked on them frequently, 4 or 5 times a day and just watched them trying to figure out what the heck was going on. I noticed that the ones dying sat down a lot and seemed weak before dying. Then I found one that was weak and had swollen eyes. I brought her inside and she died that evening. The ones remaining are still active and eating and drinking but they are starting to lose the feathers on their heads. They look like little fat bald guys I've raised quail before and never had this kind of issues. Help! What can I do??

 

[Nabiki]

Swollen eyes? Any sinus issues?

What are you feeding them? Do you have pictures of your setup?

 

[Floof]

I called them swollen eyes but it really sort of looked like she had no eyes? It was weird. I just figured they swelled closed but they weren't puffy no sinus issues. They are getting 30% protein Purina feed.

 

[Nabiki]

How many males to females? Too many males or overcrowding will cause the baldness, but not the lethargy and death.

@007Sean knows diseases prettywell.

You might consider sending one of the corpses to your local necropsy lab foranalysis. They're not too expensive to run some basic tests.

 

[007Sean]

Do you have pics of the quail and their enclosure? Sounds to me like 'classic overcrowding. What is the outdoor temperature where you are located? If they are getting bullied too much to eat or drink, it could be the reason(s) for the deaths.

 

[Floof]

Do you have pics of the quail and their enclosure? Sounds to me like 'classic overcrowding. What is the outdoor temperature where you are located? If they are getting bullied too much to eat or drink, it could be the reason(s) for the deaths.

 

[Floof]

So do you think I've got some sort of disease on my hands? I don't see anyone bullying and I don't think it's mounting behavior since they're only like 4 or 5 weeks old but I'd like to be wrong about it being a disease. I would hate to think wilco would sell sick birds

 

[Nabiki]

The baldness doesn't look like plucking to me, and I don't see any wounds. I would guess disease, but a vet or necropsy would tell you for sure.

 

[Floof]

Is there something I can put in their water? A broad spectrum antibiotic?

 

[007Sean]

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I don't belive it is any disease...bullying, feather plucking. That hutch is too small for that many quail....even at 1sq.ft...it's still too small. Might check for mites.