two week old bobwhites found dead

[Woodey2]

HI!

I came home yesterday after being gone all day to find 1 of my week old chicks dead. Everything looked fine in the cage all the others looked good. I came home from church just now to find another one dead. I noticed on the right foot of each a bloody spot.

In the cage with them are: 3 two week old bobwhites and now 2 one week old bobwhites.

Should I separate the two ages???? This is the first time I have hatched and raised quail. I just set 12 more eggs yesterday, so if this is a problem I want to get it worked out soon.

 

[Woodey2]

Was just watching them. The older ones are picking the feet of the younger ones... Would that really kill them????

 

[DK newbie]

I suppose they die from cold, hunger or thirst - the pecking might be keeping them away from the heat, feed and water, either because the small ones try to stay away from the places where the big ones are or because they get to a point where they can no longer use the injured foot and thus can't get around. I've seen button quail adults do the same to their chicks. I suspect it's related to too little protein in the feed for the buttons, but as bobwhites are more aggressive in general I guess if might be a space issue, a boredom issue or simply a matter of the big ones disliking the little ones..

 

[albinosilver]

You should definitely keep the 2 ages separate. Bobwhites don't really tolerate newcomers well. I keep my bobwhites on straw with twigs and leaves which helps with the pecking issue.

 

[Woodey2]

Watching them again I have one that is picking everyone's feet... He's going into the smaller cage if he is not careful. You can see that I have added a smaller cage area for the little ones. I guess I will need to get another cage. Hubby is going to like this... LOL