Quail chicks dying????

[shahchicks4299]

Their is some hot and cold spots in the brooder and we also know that the food is good due to us using the same food for our previous quail chicks but I just don't understand what is happening!? The quails are able to go to colder spots and move around freely and regularly come out to eat drink and also just be mischievous. Fortunately no other chicks have died today! Could this be a one off or could this happen again??

 

[DK newbie]

Unless you find the cause of the problem, it could happen again. Good thing none died today. Have you used the brooder before?

 

[mustang56]

I don't know why , but more so than chicks, the quail seem to be very sensitive to temperature...
the first week, we kept the temperature at 95 degrees.... with one side of the brooder cooler...

We have used the Brinsea brooder, but for some reason it never seemed to get warm enough
for these guys.... the quail.......so we went back to using the heat lamp...
they would just fall over and look like they were dying.... and we would pick them up and rub
them softly to warm them up....
we couldn't figure out what was going on....
once we set up the heat lamp and got it stable at the 95 degrees, they all seem to great....

 

[RainForestBird]

I've also noticed a strange neurological phenomenon with quail chicks. Some of them are born with curled feet, those live for a couple of days in separate boxes that I set up so that they can straighten themselves up and eat/drink. Sometimes the feet correct themselves and I add them to the other chicks. This last time, I had 3 healthy ones, one with a slightly curled foot and another one that had two curled feet. Of the two healthy ones, one of them started listing to the side and resting with its legs stretched out and its eyes closed. When it walked it would drag its foot, its like it was slowly being paralyzed. It would struggle to right itself. They all seem to do this, they end up on their backs with their legs flailing and can't right themselves, I spend hours watching them and righting them only to see them struggling when I leave the room Finally, when the weather changed, went from 80's and humid to 60 and rainy, the listing chick suddenly started walking normally and the curled foot chick's foot straightened. They are zipping around their brooder like little bees. Walking normally and no funny sleeping positions or ending up on their backs or sides struggling. I keep a thermometer in the brooder, and the temp has ranged from 93 on the hot days to 90 on the cooler days. I'm sure it has something to do with the weather and the humidity. They go from a very humid incubator to a drier climate and its bound to affect them. My building is well insulated. I was cracking a window, but when it started raining and getting chilly I shut it. I don't have air conditioning, but when I shut the window, the humidity climbed. Maybe they need cooler more humid conditions? I usually give them a dish towel to curl up with like they were in the nest with their mum. They don't seem to like curling up with each other like my chickens do.