My baby quail keep dying...help

[rebellove79]

We hatched 15 baby quail 3 days ago and one by one they are dying. We have them in a brooder with a red heat lamp..water and turkey starter. Inside in our bathroom. No predators at all. Please help..what are we doing wrong....

 

[Plain_View_Farm]

What is the temperature of the brooder you have them in???????
If your using a red heat lamp it is quite possible it is too high.
They should be at a temperature of no higher than 95 degrees and still have room to move to
a cooler spot in the brooder if they choose.

David

 

[rarebreedeggs4u]

I agree with David. If you are using a heat lamp, the temps are probably far too high. A quick and easy temp check (for me) is to put your hand on the floor of the brooder directly under the lamp. It should feel warm (higher than body temp), but not HOT. If I have babies inside during the summer, I'm using a 40 watt white bulb about 14" above the floor of the brooder and it's plenty. Of course, our mudroom goes 70-90 degrees this time of year.

 

[Plain_View_Farm]

Yup this time of hear I start out with a 60 w bulb the first week. The second week a 40 w and depending if their buttons I drop down then to a 25 w
If your using a 250 w Heat Lamp, that is most likely way too hot unless it is a few feet above them in a LARGE brooder.

David

 

[rhymn001]

You didn't mention whether or not your chicks are drinking water. This may be a possibility that they are dehydrated.

As soon as our chicks are born and out of the incubator (4-5 hrs) they get their little beaks dipped in their waterer.

Dehydration will kill them quicker than anything.

Hope your luck turns around.

 

[Dogfish]

Did you grind up the feed a bit to make it smaller and easier to eat?

 

[JJMR794]

Dehydration Kills In 24 Hrs Or So....

What Your Likely Experiencing Is The Die Off From Chicks Not Eating. Quail As Babies Arent The Brightest Crayons In The Box... They Will Instinctively Seek Water And Drink, But They Have To Learn To Eat.

 

[aprophet]

Quote:
somtimes a shiny coin set on top of the food then use your index finger to "peck" the coin it triggers something in them sometimes it takes a little while to trigger this whatever it is peck ,peck ,peck LOL

 

[Quail's Hollar Farm]

If the babies hatched with an 'unbilical' cord they will not survive more that a week after hatching. I'm not sure why, but it's an old farmer's information.

 

[shesaredroan]

I've been raising chickens for 10 years, buying my chicks from the feed store. This spring I got a Hova-Bator to start hatching my own eggs or purchased eggs. With the Bator, the company I bought from, included bobwhite quail eggs. The Bator came in the mail and about 2 weeks later the eggs arrived. They said they'd send 30, but they sent 35, nice people. Last Sunday they hatched....30 of the 35. Since I am a newbie to quail raising I researched BYC. I learned I needed to put marbles or stones in the waterer, which I never needed to do for my chicks. I also learned that I needed to grind up the food, (a little too late for the 5 babies I lost before I read that info). A chemist friend gave me a small mortar & pestle which works beautifully. I use a 60 watt bulb, setting it low over the new babies, raising it as they get older. Had a friend who used a heat bulb and ended up setting her barn on fire, ACK!. Also, 10 years ago I was taught to take the chicken bitties and dip their little beaks into the water, so I did this with my bitty quail. You don't have to do it to all of them, if a few get the idea, they will teach the others how to drink. The shiny coin in the food, mentioned earlier, sounds like a good thing. Good luck to you, we are learning about quail together. Isn't BYC a wonderful resource!