Help! with sick CA quail

[absn2010]

Hi,

This is the first time that I have hatched this type of quail (well any quail) and they are all dying, one by one. I ordered 12 eggs, 6 were fertile and 5 hatched. At the same time I hatched 5 Serama chicken eggs, 1 silky egg, and about 6 Cotournix quail (added 5 days later).

At first we had all of the babies together. Everything seemed fine (except for some with splay legs) though the quail would run over each other. We separated out the big cotournix and chickens from the CA quail because we thought that might be the issue. They all seemed fine the first day and slowly they are all becoming lethargic and going downhill for about 36 hours before they die. We now have only 2 left.

I am feeding 28% non-medicated gamebird food, ground very fine. I have added some ground cat food to see if that will help in case the issue is that they aren't eating enough. They are drinking water that's been through my Brita pitcher. I have now added another dish with the food and water mixed. They have a red light heat lamp.The tank is glass so I lined the bottom with paper towels to avoid slipping.

The only oddity that I have seen with them (other than the lethargy) is that they seem to start moving more to one side than the other they will tilt their heads and follow the tilt. It is not a constant thing, it's intermittent.I don't know if it's related.

Also, the tank was last used with baby chickens (using Koop Clean as bedding) but it was washed out thoroughly before we placed the newly hatched chicks in.

There are no problems with the chickens or the cotournix quails that are in the same tank, eating the same food, drinking the same water (I have them divided with a piece of cardboard.


HELP!

 

[TwoCrows]

I am so sorry you are having troubles. there is a few things it could be. What is the temp under the lamp on the floor? CA's need to be started at 97 degrees and lowed by 5 each week there after. They run a bit colder then Coturnix.

Glass incubators can over heat every easily. I prefer not to use glass.

Have you actually shown them where the water and food is? For some reason, California's are very hard to get started eating and drinking. They are hard to keep alive until you get past this stage. Most quail babies can be a bit slow to get started, but CA's seem to be the worst. So you need to dip their beaks in the water when you first put them in the brooder from the incubator and do this several times again that first day. You need to tap at sprinkled feed on the floor with your finger. Keep tapping and do this throughout that first day and even into the second day. Once you can get them eating and drinking, they are past this stage of dying after hatch.

Oh and don't cover your brooder with anything but a screen or wire to allow for good heat and oxygen exchange.

Keep us posted!

 

[dc3085]

Ca quail need probiotics for digestion. In the wild they eat their parents feces to obtain probiotics. There are usually a few avian probiotic products at feed stores, in a pinch probiotic capsules for people work too.

 

[absn2010]

Thanks everyone... Sadly they have now all passed away. The temp was about 90-95 but i think they weren't eating their food rather their own feces. We are really sad about the whole thing. I've hatched chickens, geese, coturnix with no issues. We will give it another go armed with new info since these are my husbands favorite bird.

 

[TwoCrows]

I am so sorry you lost them all. 90 is way too cold for Californias. They need at least 95 if not 97 degrees. They run colder than Coturnix or Chicken chicks.

As for eating the feces, all birds do this for the probiotics. And it is good for them to do this if you don't add probiotics to the feed. However probiotics are not a digestive enzyme. Good bacteria doesn't break down food. It does help keeping the intestines and body healthy from pathogens, increases absorption of nutrients and beefs up the immune system.

If chicks are dying within the first 2 or 3 days, it stems from either, bad stock, an incubator that was not fumigated, chicks are chilling, over heating, not eating or drinking, or some genetic issue from the parent birds.

Californias are KNOWN for not wanting to eat or drink at hatch. They are still not far enough removed from the wild and without their parents caring for them, they just don't get it.