My baby quail keep dying...help

[veggiecanner]

Have you tryed feeding some finely chopped boiled egg?

 

[SavageChick]

I can only share with you what I have learned and experienced with my button quail hatchings, although years ago, I used to raise chickens. Please keep in mind that I am no expert, and I don't know what kind of quail you are raising, but here is my 2 cents worth of advice on caring for [button] quail after hatching....

1. Add a vitamin/mineral supplement to water dish. If your quail eggs were shipped, you may not know the conditions under which the breeding pair were kept. If there is a vitamin/mineral deficiency in the mating pair, any eggs produced will also lack these nutrients to hatch and develop normally. For example, a lack of Riboflavin in a breeding pair can result in chicks with leg/foot deformities. Therefore, supplementing newborn chicks with these nutrients gives them a better chance of surviving if they are lacking a particular vitamin or mineral.

2. Add probiotics to feed or water. I use PB-8, but there are many other probiotics available out there made and marketed specifically for chicks to help rid any overgrowth of bacteria that can cause them illness. Also, watch for droppings that adhere to a chick's backside and collect there into a large mass. This condition is fairly common, and it can cause constipation and illness if left untreated. You can help to eliminate it by giving a chick probiotics (orally) and gently cleaning its bottom with a Q-tip soaked in warm water (this will also help the chick to produce a bowl movement and further rid of any constipation that may be causing it weakness and/or lack of interest in feeding normally.)

3. Watch new chicks closely for signs of overheating. If they appear to be panting, laying flat or on their sides with legs stretched out away from their body for long periods, or scooting off into corners in your brooder, then the heat from your brooder lamp is too intense. On the other hand, if they are piling up on top of one another directly under the lamp, or standing high as though they are lifting their body upwards towards the heat source, then the temperature in your brooder needs to be increased. I really don't go explicitly by temp readings as much as I do how the chicks are behaving.

4. As others have stated, make sure that your starter feed is ground to almost a powder-like consistency. If the pellets are too large, they are unable to eat enough, even if it appears that they are pecking at it. Spread this feed freely all over the brooder so that they can find the food easily by simply pecking at the ground around them, rather than having them search for the food dish. They will eventually be able to recognize the food dish, but it will take them 2-3 days after hatching to do this.

5. More on feeding....you have to show them how to eat. Use your finger to poke around at the bottom of the brooder. In this manner, you are replicating the behavior of a mother hen and teaching the chicks to peck at the ground for their food. Some chicks instinctively know how to forage for feed and peck at the ground right after hatching, but others will literally starve unless you show them how to do this.

6. Observe them to see that they are finding and drinking water while in the brooder. Add bright red marbles or stones to attract them to both the feed and water dishes. If you observe them not drinking enough water - or no water at all - in the brooder, you may need to use a small dropper and dab water on the side of their beak for them to swallow. Again, like the feeding mentioned above, some chicks need to be shown how to eat and drink. It's important to dip a chick's beak into the water dish when you place them into the brooder for the first time -- this insures that the chick gets hydrated, but also teaches them where the water is located.

7. Emergency Fix: Just a warning about this, as some may find this controversial due to the fact that this remedy won't be found in website or book sources. This is information gained from a local friend who has raised pheasants for over 20 years, and I can only offer my experience with this remedy by way of stating that I believe it literally saved two of my own button quail chicks. The following is a remedy for chicks who are weak, star-gazing, walking backwards, and/or near apparent death with convulsions (seizure-like behavior) when all else has been tried....

Mix the following:
- 2 Tablespoons of filtered or distilled room-temperature water
- 2 drops of "Trace Minerals" drops (available from Whole Foods or similar health foods store, sold in a blue bottle)
- A full pinch of granulated sugar
- 2 drops of avian vitamins (or Poly Vi Sol without iron)
Use a dropper to apply to side of bird's beak, and repeat once every 30-45 minutes. I found that my two button quail began to show quick improvement within 45-60 minutes, with this solution providing them with the energy they needed to peck at food and to stand upright, eventually regaining strength to function and feed on their own within a time period of 2-4 hours..

Sorry so long, but hope this helps you somehow. There are some great folks on this board who have raised quail for years. If you can describe more of the symptoms you are noticing, they are pretty quick to get on top of it to provide you with some great advice. So, if you could observe and describe any other symptoms, please add them to your post.

 

[shabbyfarm]

I am also losing a quail or two a day. They are eating chick starter that has been ground up fine,drinking water, running around, i do have a heat lamp in one corner of their box, (but their box is 6 feet long and two feet wide, they can self regulate heat), But when i check in on them one or two will be dead, and there seems to be small amounts of blood on and around their feet and legs.

 

[SavageChick]

Regarding the bloody feet/legs, here is a posting link that may be of help to you...

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/774946/baby-quail-with-bloody-legs-feet#post_11071114

 

[shabbyfarm]

I went from a 250 watt red heat lamp bulb to a 25 watt regular red light bulb and put it down closer to the quail, and quit losing quail at that point. Thanks for the suggestions that the Heat might be to high. Hopefully this will save the last seven quail.

 

[mnhausfrau]

My daughter hatched quail eggs for school. 7 came out...now after day 3, 1 little chick won't eat/drink. Much smaller than the others. We made up the Poly-vi-sol +sugar+trace elements and are trying to syringe it into her...but don't know if we are just prolonging the inevitable. She is peeping quite frequently, little peep, peep,peep. Won't try to open her mouth to feed her. Takes a few steps backward. We thought they were all doing well, but we should have made sure each one was eating and drinking.
Any tips with the syringe?

 

[tx_dane_mom]

Well, at least I'm not the only one :-( I got 14 babies who did great for 2 nights & now they're dropping off steadily. I spent hours with them yesterday making them drink & eat & this morning their are 5 remaining. :-( I just told my daughter it must be genetic & not to count on the rest surviving. Shame.

 

[USAmma]

I am on my first batch of chicks and very new to this. I lost two the first night because I let them run out of food and water. :-( I had no idea they ate that much when they were so tiny. After that they have done very well and they are 1 week old now. Instead of a heat lamp, which is hard to control the temp, I bought a heating pad for a reptile cage. I have it in one corner of the container so they can get on it or get off if they are too hot. I find that they like to go and pile up on top of it.

I bought game bird feed and I knew it was too chunky. I tried different things and found that the blender works great to grind it into a powder. When I was still figuring that out, I had a pack of baby bird formula handy that I use to feed the baby birds that find their way into my hard. The quail really loved that stuff!

I did the whole marbles in the water dish thing. I observed that a couple of them seemed weak so I dipped their beaks in the water and they drank, and after that it was no problem. Maybe they needed to be shown the water. I had no idea that quail had to be taught how to eat and drink.

I am looking forward to getting them outside soon. They stink in the house! I change their cage out 2-3 times a day.

 

[Peterquial]

I raise my quail chicks with one or two foster chicks to show them how to feed. Breeds I use are jap chicks or regular chickens.

 

[Al Jada Farms]

@SavageChick

your suggestions were par excellent , and your modesty was real treat ! Good Job!!!