Quail chicks dying one by one - can I do anything?

[Kippers302]

Hi, My first covey of coturnix quail chicks hatched five days ago… they’ve seemed fine (except the maybe-albino one I’ve asked about in another thread, which actually is doing alright) until today but now they seem to be dying off one by one. Based on info I’ve read here I believe the first died of omphalitis/mushy navel (it had the black scab and a soft spot on the navel), the second died of wry neck (it had been walking fine just an hour or so earlier but I came back to see its neck twisted upwards), and the third of a ruptured air sac (it had a lump on its neck that I was able to get some air out of, and was panting and couldn’t stand). I’ve added some vitamin E to their food and put Nutri-Drench in their water, so I’m hoping for the best with the remaining six. But those three seemed to take a turn for the worst so suddenly. Is there anything else I can be doing to help them?? Have I been doing something wrong? Sorry if this is a rambling post and thanks for any advice.

 

[CliftonQuail]

Feeding them starter game feed that I’ve ground up in the blender. The brooder is being kept in a small room & heated with a heat lamp, and yes it has a cool side. They seem to be using both sides fairly equally. The water is in bottles with small cup attachments that fill up and are cleaned multiple times daily. Thanks for your reply!

I've seen mixed signals on grinding feed. I feed crumbles and have never ground it any finer. I've had the rare unexplained death in the brooder, but never 3 in one day.

 

[Nabiki]

It sounds like your setup is fine and that you're having a run of bad luck. Keep us posted on how the rest are doing and maybe we can try to do a bit more troubleshooting.

 

[Kippers302]

Hi all! Just wanted to jump back in this thread to say I now know what was happening to my poor chicks. When I was incubating the eggs, my humidity was too high!!! I didn’t realize how many complications this could cause for the chicks; even after all the research I did prior to hatching eggs, I thought the only thing that the humidity would affect was whether or not they would hatch. So i guess this is just a warning for those who are new to hatching eggs — be careful that your humidity isn’t too high!

 

[MrJudeRaw]

Hi all! Just wanted to jump back in this thread to say I now know what was happening to my poor chicks. When I was incubating the eggs, my humidity was too high!!! I didn’t realize how many complications this could cause for the chicks; even after all the research I did prior to hatching eggs, I thought the only thing that the humidity would affect was whether or not they would hatch. So i guess this is just a warning for those who are new to hatching eggs — be careful that your humidity isn’t too high!

humidity during incubation wouldnt really affect mortality 5 days+ after hatch. might need to keep the drawing board up

 

[Kippers302]

What are you feeding them?
What are the temps in your brooder? Does it have a warm side and a cool side?
How are you providing them with water?

Feeding them starter game feed that I’ve ground up in the blender. The brooder is being kept in a small room & heated with a heat lamp, and yes it has a cool side. They seem to be using both sides fairly equally. The water is in bottles with small cup attachments that fill up and are cleaned multiple times daily. Thanks for your reply!

 

[Kippers302]

It sounds like your setup is fine and that you're having a run of bad luck. Keep us posted on how the rest are doing and maybe we can try to do a bit more troubleshooting.

Will do, really appreciate it.

 

[MrJudeRaw]

Sounds like nutrition from what I have learned through study (read not experience). The thing I do know from experience is that guaranteed analysis on feed is per crumble or pellet unless its a mixed feed like seeds then its per whatever measurement they list as a serving. Blending the feed for any animal is not recommended. Commercial food blenders are expensive and control hot spots and other things that can destroy some nutrients and prevent certain stages of powdering which releases other nutrients and separates others that need to be combined to properly absorb. if you want to make the feed smaller then put it in a bowl and crush it up a bit with the back of a spoon so the bigger chunks are gone but thats it.

If ya'll experience the analysis to be wrong you absolutely need to be reporting that to your local agriculture extensions. That is a SUPER big deal and is not taken lightly.
I am new to Quail but not new to farms & livestock in general

 

[Nabiki]

thanks for the tip! They died of wry neck which is what made me think it was humidity… but good to know it might not have been that

Wry neck usually isn't fatal. They can live pretty normal lives with wry neck. It can be caused by hatching issues, but could also be genetic.

 

[MrJudeRaw]

I have my doubts on the validity of that. It may be the case for really large operations, but if you are only grinding a cup or two at a time, the birds are going to get everything in there.

Growing up on a fairly high production farm that raised all sorts of different animals I can say this with confidence.
Guaranteed analysis and feed regulations say very firmly not to alter the feed in any way or it is no longer guaranteed. This is because degradation begins immediately. Additionally while it seems like they would eat it all they do not. They leave plenty on the floor or the bottom of the feeder.
When using a non commercial blending equipment you are separating and destroying product in ways that creates nutritional layers. Some also gets burnt or blown into the air if you are actually using a blender. All of these factors may not seem like much to us but a .002 difference in % to a creature that is 10,000% smaller than us is astronomical.

Small scale definitely changes things but thats not because its just a cup or 2. its because you have a much smaller sample size than a commercial operation.