quail keep dieing in the brooder?

[shelleyd2008]

I think most of the people on this forum sell eggs on ebay, nothing wrong with getting ebay eggs (I'm friend-2-fowl

)

 

[pascopol]

Quote:
Bunch of nonsense

1.Shavings are not "fine" I quit using them when bunch of my birds choked to death.

2. Paper towels are fine, but I keep my birds on newspaper (cheaper) and I have no problems with spraddled eggs since I treat newspaper sheets against being "slippery" so they get all traction they need.

3. 5 degrees decrease a week is a nonsense also. Most brooding problems are caused by overheating.

Let them pick their comfort zone, have the brooder big enough with cooler and warmer areas so they can pick what they need.

Lately I had 3 week old Bobwhites and 2 week old Guineas out without heat outdoors with 60-65 nights here in Tampa Bay Fl. They are all healthy and doing great.

How does it sound to "recommended" 5 degrees decrease weekly from a 100F ?

I never fry my birds in my brooder. They never die in my brooder, and they never have "pasted buts" (signs of stress possibly caused by overheating)

When a broody hen takes her few days old chicks out on a chilly spring day they do not hget "5 degree decrease each week" yet they live and grow being exposed to low temps, when they get cold, they go under broody. That's why you should have colder and warmer areas in your brooder, not arbitrary 100 degrees or whatever.

I believe this "5 degree a week" mantra comes from commercial practice when they are brooding thousands of chicks in a building, there is no way to vary the temperature, so they have to come with some kind of "formula".

But this 5 degree less a week does more harm than good in brooding chicks in home conditions.

 

[Stellar]

It's colder in some areas, this is just a rule of thumb, what I learned and stuck with because it helped me. Some people may not follow it but I do. Just because you don't agree with it doesn't mean it is nonsense. For button quail that is the recommended temperature and also with Coturnix.

If you are afraid to use pine chips you can use pelleted bedding like Yesterday's news. That works like a charm.

 

[JJMR794]

All My Broods Start On Bath Towels For The 1st Week (depending On Speces) Once Their Joints Are Set And Spraddle Leg Is No Longer A Problem They Get Switched To Newspaper. Of The Thousands Of Chicks Brooded Each Year Here I May 3 Spraddle Legs And Once In A While A Leg Deformity Which Has Nothing To Do With Surface But Rather Is A Congenital Or Environment Deformity. I Do Not Brood By Temperature, But Rather Watch The Lil Fuzzy Themometers In The Brooders (chicks Themselves)

The Bath Towels Are Cleaned And Reused, The Newspaper Is Free- Ya Gotta Like That

 

[tuesdays chicks]

mine have the heat lamp and have a choice to be in the hot spot or away from it but this is my 1st time and I'm not expert but yea, mine go under the light 1 minute then out again its gotten cold out and I haven't got my heat on so the house is cooler so they are spending more time under light now and they are almost fully feathered out already.

 

[_Randall_]

I follow JJMR's tactics with towels (bath towels that is). I built my brooder 2-1/2 ft. X 5 ft. It has 1/2" hardware wire flooring, and the towels completely cover the wire for the first 6-7 days. These are old towels, and get changed on day 3 and 5 (when the poop starts to really collect), and they get removed by day 7............ taken to the commercial washer at the local laundry mat, and reused later. The 1/2" wire works perfect (for Bobs) when they're a week old. I'm about to build 2 more just like it.

I have a 250 watt red heat lamp facing down through the top on one end of the brooder with a digital thermostat wired into the circuit. I start the hatchlings out with the thermostat set at 98º. I decrease it by 1º every day until they're ready to go outside in Nature's temps. Yes, if they're cold, they will take advantage of the heat..............if they are comfortable or a little warm they will favor away from the heat. I think the key to brooders is to have the heat source at one end so they have the option for comfort. They're not little dummies........they figure stuff out fairly quick. (Any little feathered creature that is taken out of a hatcher 3 or 4 hours after pecking his way into this big ol' world, put in a brooder, and is eating commercial food off of a toweled floor in a matter of 10 minutes is destined for survival!!)

So, as far as being able to somewhat take the "over / under temperature" cause of death in a brooder out of the equation, design the brooder where they have the best of both worlds..........cause, remember.......they don't have control of the thermostat, but you do.

 

[Robo]

I agree with Randall. They should be able to regulate their own heat. I have a rag with a slot cut in it so they can come in and out of the light. There is what I call a neutral zone where they can be in the light, but it is not as intense because it is shining through the slit in the towel. That is what works for me. I keep mine on aspen bedding for the first 2 weeks, andthen they go to their grow out pen in the shed. After 2-3 weeks in the shed I move their pen outside until they are put in the breeder pen or sent to the freezer camp.

 

[Buttercup Chillin]

I raise the Jumbo Browns and the Manchurian Golds. This is my in house brooder for their first week, these chicks are a few days old. To start them I have a 75w or 100w light on a tie hanging over the brooder. I use the rubber mats with holes in them over shavings. I do use paper towel over that in the middle of the brooder where their food is (for the first few days is ground finer and in lids not the feeder) and under the water. Under the light on the other end is just rubber matting with a little spilled food scattered. This tub sets inside the bathtub so I use shavings to keep the bottom warmer especially in the winter. I adjust the temp to 95 degrees before the first chick goes in and I raise the light a little (lowering temp by 1 degree every day. More if they are to hot). Seems every hatch and each color I have hatched is different. Right now I have Golds, Browns and Whites. Whites are separated as they want it warmer than the Browns.

Manchurian Golds - carry the lethal genetics. You will loose them, during the various stages of the hatch and after. I expect to loose weak babies the first 3 days up to a week. (Why I keep them inside for a week). If you loose them after the first week than there is another problem. In your case, they are weak due to problems with incubation/hatching. Try again, you'll get it down pat for your situation. But if you want to raise Golds, don't expect 100% hatches and expect to loose babies.

Oh, I also closed and covered the air/heat vent in the ceiling with plastic. I used to take it down and put it up. But I hatch so much now, it stays put. It was creating a draft. Its been covered for 3 years now, guess I should take it down and clean it at least.

Randall: I was reading along, all you people that use towels....Washateria, Ahhhhhh.
I just cleaned a bunch of mats from the inside brooders and the big grow out pen. I couldn't imagine putting those nasty things in my washer and dryer. Thinking about getting an old wringer bucket.

 

[chickbird]

Quote:
don't mean anything, but i don,t think towels with chicken poop should be placed in any washer that humans use. it just does not seem to be fair to unsuspecting custoimers that use those washers......sorry.....

 

[JJMR794]

Poo Towels + Laundromat= Bad Randall!

Actually That Is Kinda Rude...lol

I Have An Anchient Old Washing Machine Out In The Barn That I Use Only For Poo Towels And Things Of That Nature So I Dont Have To Use Mine Or Go To A Laundromat And Ambush City Folk With Poo Covered Bath Towels