Jumbo Quail chicks suddenly dying at 2 weeks old

[GD91]

I've moved the 3 healthy babies into another brooder, but is there really much point?

They had already been moved once (which made no difference) & I only have one heatlamp which is in the contaminated brooder with the sick chick. The others I've given a hot water bottle, a clean brooder & fresh dishes.

 

[gander007]

Here try this as from time to time I do, do this boil up some egg's
and peal them and mash with a fork in a bowl real good and feed
this to them with some sugar in the water and see if it brings the
little guys around ........ I know it works my Grandpa showed me
this little trick back in the early 60's but it might still work .......


gander007

 

[gander007]

I've moved the 3 healthy babies into another brooder, but is there really much point?

They had already been moved once (which made no difference) & I only have one heatlamp which is in the contaminated brooder with the sick chick. The others I've given a hot water bottle, a clean brooder & fresh dishes.

When you say fresh dishes you mean different or clean because the dishes should
be cleaned every time you fill them ??????

gander007

 

[GD91]

When you say fresh dishes you mean different or clean because the dishes should
be cleaned every time you fill them ??????

gander007

I mean clean & different

its an old dish, but its been cleaned.

I went to a zoological college, but these are far harder than a bunch of meerkats or cabybara, that's for sure.

So I'm covered on the basics of animal keeping, but sadly I didn't study much avian there, for some reason they never did much of that. What we did do was birds of prey, chickens & parrots etc, not gamebirds.

And even what we did do, that was very little, I got the impression not many people actually knew anything much about the birds there.

I'm starting to wonder if I should just cull the chick that's ill, the brooder I've made can hold the others temporarily, but without a heatlamp, its not going to do them overnight. I've looked & I can't find anything I can safely use as a heat source.

But I'll have to give the hutch & feeders a really thorough cleaning

& even then if I miss anything then I'm back to square one.

The ill chick is still eating & drinking etc, its just acting "off".

Otherwise I can just let them be, do what I can & if I lose them all then try again in warmer weather in a few months time.

Realistically I don't have a brooder suitable for chicks this age except what they are in. I have a brinsea eco incubator to put really sick chicks in, but the other incubator is full of chicken eggs. The brinsea eco is far to small to put any still active chick in & you can't fit any food & water in.

 

[gander007]

I understand as collages and Universities go they teach towards
where the money is and I did not intent to infuriate you with the
clean dish question but thank you for the response ......

Quail are as you have read very touchy this I do believe we can
agree .....

So are you going to try the egg's and water with sugar to see if
this will make the difference ???????


gander007

 

[GD91]

I understand as collages and Universities go they teach towards
where the money is and I did not intent to infuriate you with the
clean dish question but thank you for the response ......

Quail are as you have read very touchy this I do believe we can
agree .....

So are you going to try the egg's and water with sugar to see if
this will make the difference ???????


gander007

You did not infuriate me at all

you were just giving good advice. And yes I am doing it now, I will let you know if it helped, thankyou.

 

[TwoCrows]

If you are definitely following all that is being said by myself and Gander, and you are sure that your brooder is set up in the proper order, than they are dying from something else. Whether it be a bacterial or viral infection or again, possibly cocci.

A bacterial infection would spread like wildfire thru the brooder that is for sure. But you really need to be SURE your brooder is set up right. Do not cover the lid of the brooder with anything but a screen or wire for good oxygen and heat exchange. No drafts, the thermometer is directly beneath the the heat source on the floor. It is reading correctly and at 2 weeks old, they should be in the low 90's or upper 80's.. There are cool spots for them to hang out on the edges.

Culling this chick will not help anything at this point. If he has something, he has given it to all the rest of them.

All this being said, if you are SURE you have it right, you could try some antibacterial meds on them. And if they do have cocci, antibacterial meds won't cure that, but would help with the infections from any ulcerations in the GI tract. This might arrest the deaths.

But babies die very easily at this stage from chilling or over heating. Literally thousands of posts of baby quail dying in the brooder and 99% of them are from drafts or over heating.

 

[GD91]

Yep, you are right. I know its a something bacterial for sure now, if it was the brooder the deaths should have stopped because I've done everything to combat both drafts & overheating. Well I haven't culled the chick, it was just a consideration because I've read on here about others doing it to prevent the spread of illness. I know there are many considerations to take into account when managing a group of animals.

I've put the sugar in the water, I'm just waiting on the egg yolk now.

The sick chick isn't going downhill really fast like the others, it seems to be hanging on there.

The other chicks lost interest in pecking the floor etc about a day before they died.

 

[GD91]

I've just caught the sick chick having a poo, it was like water, but light brown. Diarrhea?

He's drinking a lot.

I've put the egg yolk in & they are all going berserk over it

 

[gander007]

Alright it sounds like you are doing everything you can and it is a good thing you went with the jumbo Quail as I do not believe
some of the smaller Quail would be so hardy as to hatch and survive a winter .......

You are doing all your reading and asking all the right questions and trying very hard and have the correct brooding equipment
now that is a far cry above most people who think raising Quail is like raising any other bird as it is difficult for the seasoned
hatcher and raiser so good job so far ........


gander007