my baby quail chicks keep dying

[AGG]

beginning to think im not cut out for this. I have a pair of normal king quails, and pair of tuxedo king quails, and then a pair of Japanese quails in my aviary (along with my zebra finch and diamond doves). They all get a long surprisingly, in cold nights they all sit together to keep warm, the japanese quails are probably more chilled then the king quails, the king quails were attacking the japanese ones at first when they first arrived and they didnt fight back. But I can't seem to keep the babies alive. the king quails are continuously trying to breed but whenever they hatch in the aviary they are killed, I never get to see who. Whenever I move the mother with the eggs into a separate cage she stops sitting on her eggs. I dont know what to do, and i dont know how big a cage needs to be if I am to separate them all, and i dont know if i can even afford buying all these separate cages. Im thinking of giving the quails to a nearby bird breeder because I hate seeing the little guys die. Any advice?

 

[sylviethecochin]

@Hope Hughes @TwoCrows @007Sean know about quail.

Do you have any two-part pens? Maybe encourage the hen to make the nest in one half, and then block that half off from the other hens.

Some pictures of your current setup would be helpful.

 

[Nyla]

You could try taking the babies away and rasing them inside a garage or shed. When they are about 2 months old you could move them back outside.
Where are you located? Is it cold outside?

 

[AGG]

You could try taking the babies away and rasing them inside a garage or shed. When they are about 2 months old you could move them back outside.
Where are you located? Is it cold outside?

im in australia and its currently summer so its usually pretty hot, almost 40 degrees today, would i need a heat lamp to keep them alive?

 

[AGG]

@Hope Hughes @TwoCrows @007Sean know about quail.

Do you have any two-part pens? Maybe encourage the hen to make the nest in one half, and then block that half off from the other hens.

Some pictures of your current setup would be helpful.

i originally had a blockade a made in the middle of the aviary trying to separate the king quails from the Japanese quails but the king quails were squeezing through and flying over.

 

[Nyla]

I always kept room temperature at 90F degrees until 1 month old then no more heat. I only ever moved quails outside at the youngest of 2 months with temps being around 70F.

 

[JaeG]

Are they being killed right after they hatch? It could be one of the male King quail as some will attack their babies. I had one I'd bred myself, he'd been raised by his parents, but he still attacked chicks and killed them.

It could also be your Japanese quail. You'll have to do some close observing to figure out what's going on. In a large space the chicks can get lost which could also be a factor.

One thing you could do would be to put the hen and her newly hatched chicks in a storage tote (with a mesh lid) and let her raise them. They should hatch 16 days from when she starts sitting. She's more than capable of raising them by herself and then you don't have to worry about heat or teaching them to eat or drink.

 

[007Sean]

@JaeG is 100% dead on, I don't have anything to add, except wish you the best in raising some chicks.

 

[BReeder!]

Second JaeG. Let option is to step in and raise them yourself. Incubate the eggs and raise the hatchlings.

 

[CoturnixComplex]

That's very stressful OP! I wouldn't really expect any chicks of either species to survive in the mixed setup you described. I agree that incubation is necessary, or at least pulling the chicks when first born to a separate brooder (can just be a tote as mentioned) with a heat lamp.