Quail are dying one by one each day

[BoutrosBoutrosGalusGalus]

I dont think you want to feed them medicated, I believe they eat more than a chicken chick would and thus can OD.

 

[jbobs]

I don't personally believe that the difference in what they eat is enough to have an affect on the medication they take in. The standard concentration of amprolium is 0.0125% in most medicated starters, which is 0.125 g per kg of feed. The LD50 for amprolium in lab mice (ie the dose required to kill 50% of test animals) is 6.17 g/kg of body weight according to the MSDS. Concentrations for treating broilers go as high as 0.025%. Unfortunately there isn't much literature on quail out there, but I would be thinking that a quail would have to eat way more medicated feed than is physically possible before it started having any issues with toxicity.

Medicated vs. non-medicated, which is better etc. is an ongoing debate that everyone has their own thoughts on - some people swear by it, some people won't touch it.

I know every once in a while, back when I was hatching craptons of quail, I would get a batch that was just poor-doers. Never did find out why. 99% of the time I would lose one here and there but that's it. Then one day i would lose 75% of them for no reason that i could see at all. Then the batches for the next year would all be fine.

 

[TwoCrows]

That cage has one heck of a draft going being mesh on the sides. This in itself will kill your quail. You say they are dying at night. Sounds like a temp/draft problem to me. You said you thought they were hot so you changed out the bulb. You need to keep a thermometer in the brooder so you know exactly what temp it truly is and close up those sides. There is going to be a ton of draft action at night with the heat from the brooder lamp. And if the temp is not what you think it is, they are going to die.

I am not a fan of medicated feed, however many folks use it. I don't believe the feed has anything to do with it, at least at their age.

Make sure they are on gamebird starter or a turkey starter and not chicken chick starter.

 

[TwoCrows]

And just because the temp is 90 directly under the lamp, with the mesh side, it could be 55 at the sides. Close up the sides and put in a thermometer.

 

[BoutrosBoutrosGalusGalus]

Medicated chick starter kills ducks which is why it raised a flag with me.

 

[TwoCrows]

Ducks are different. You can't feed medicated feed to ducklings. But you can feed it to quail.

 

[quailgal]

I wonder if the logs beneath the heat lamp are interfering too much with their ability to get closer or further away from the heat source as needed?

 

[jbobs]

Yeah the mesh sides were the first thing I noticed too. I would cover them up with some cardboard and either take the logs out or move them more towards the outside of the brooder so the birds can get under the lamp easier. I'm not a fan of wire bottomed brooders either, not unless I actually have an illness like coccidiosis going on, I just think they are too drafty. I would only use one if it was in a temperature controlled room too - I think a garage being concrete would be quite chilly. You can even block off half of that brooder to keep the heat in a more enclosed space, if you only have 5 chicks left.

For the next time you hatch chicks, I would start them out in a brooder that has a solid floor for the first week or so, as this is when they are most sensitive to cold stress and drafts. Keep the sides closed up until the birds are ready to be outdoors.

I think also that your feed is chick starter which is probably 20 or 22% protien - for quail they do better on a higher protien starter like turkey starter or game bird starter which is 26-30%. I don't think this is your issue either but good to note for next time.

Good luck!

 

[nychickenman55]

thanks for the input. I think I will use some kind of insert to block off the draft and maybe move the logs. I think the logs though absorb heat from the lamp, they seem to get up on the logs and get inside where it was warmer. The food is medicated and if you see is is medicated for Coccicail prevention. I do have some more eggs coming so I will give it a go with the new tips on the next batch.

nychickenman55

 

[jbobs]

All feeds that are labeled as medicated are treated with amprolium for coccidia - but they don't nessesarily prevent it 100%, just keep it at a low enough infection rate so that the birds natural immune system can deal with it. There are dozens of different species of coccidia and amprol is not effective against them all, just the more common ones. It definetly helps keep infection to a minimum but isn't a cure or and end-all preventative.