Need help

[TherryChicken]

I have newly hatched Tennessee red bobwhite chicks, only 1 and 2 days old, and I found one dead with what looked like a detiorated beak and others have blood coming from the nose with others having the whole top beak bloody. What's going on? What can I do? They have electrolytes in their water and am giving them flock raiser feed. Can anyone help me? Thanks!

 

[TwoCrows]

They are either too crowded in, too hot or both. Bobwhites are highly suseptible to cannibalism in the brooder if one of both of these is the situation.

So, start your heat at 97 degrees and ONLY use an infra red bulb as the heat and light. White light makes Bobs go bad. Place the heat off to one side of the brooder with the thermometer on the floor directly beneath the heat source. The food and water off on the other side so they have to leave the heat to get to the goods. You want cooler spots on the other side of the brooder. If bobs can not cool off a bit, they are going to kill each other. And that is exactly what they are doing. Going after each others beaks.

Give them at least 1/2 square foot per chick. Do not cover the lid with anything but a screen or wire so you have good heat and oxygen exchange. At 3 weeks, up the square footage to 1 square foot per bird.

Lay down paper towels and sprinkle crushed feed all around the floor near the brooder so they can find the feed. Dip their beaks in the water on the first day. Use chick waterers or put marbles or tiny stones in a regular water font so they don't drown. You can remove the paper towels once they figure out where the feed is kept, in a few days.

Lower the temp by 5 degrees each week for 6 weeks. If at any time, the bobs start in on each other again, lower the temp 2 or 3 degrees right then and there, and work it down from there. Cool them off it they get cranky.

Good luck and keep us posted!

 

[TherryChicken]

Oh wow! I'm stunned! I didn't know that, still new with quail. I don't have a red light, will an eco glower work for them? The eco glower will take up about a little less then half the brooder.

 

[TwoCrows]

Sorry, I was gone for a while. You can try it and see. But keep all these rules in mind. Bobs are very touchy, unlike other quail or poultry. If the "glow" doesn't settle them down and you have added more room, temp is good, you may need to go ahead and get an infra-red bulb. Not a red bulb, but infra-red. Infra-red is a wavelength of light. They are not disturbed by it as they are with other light lengths.

Keep us posted!

 

[TherryChicken]

Great thank you!

 

[TwoCrows]

Great thank you!

You say you are new to quail....do you know what you are getting into with Tennessee Reds?? LOL They can be pretty aggressive quail. They are kept in pairs ONLY during breeding season and you will need to keep these pairs separated during this time or they can kill each other. Tennessee's are the most aggressive of the Bobs. Not all Tenn.'s are that bad, but some can be. Now during the off season of fall thru winter, you can keep them all together.

They won't be breeding till next summer. (They will be mature at 6 months) The first year of Bob breeding, they may not be too awful bad and you might get away with keeping some of them together. Depends on the personalities you have there. But keep this in mind for next summer as you may need to get building more pens!

They need at LEAST 4 square feet PER bird. They are large and hyper and will turn on their mates if too cramped in. (you have already seen what they do to each other as babies.) So build accordingly.

Good luck and keep us posted!

 

[TherryChicken]

Oh wow lol.. horrible birds,but so beautiful! Yeah I actually have 2 people wanting these babies so, wonkt be keeping them. I am going into doing coturnix quail

 

[TwoCrows]

Yeah, they are very pretty birds. They look so innocent. But they have the devil inside them. LOL

 

[TherryChicken]

Deff wont be doing bobwhites again