how would you have prevented quail disease?
Any disease of an acute nature can be prevented,one just has to have all the pieces into place. We've been raising chickens for three generations here without any disease/illness in the flocks and we don't live in a magic kingdom, so I'm thinking these methods really work.
First, buy/breed for stock that are naturally hardy and suited to your climate. It's a lovely thing to think of raising rare or exotic breeds or species but often their gene pools are small and they are not being developed for disease resistance but rather for making money or merely preserving the breed at all costs(line breeding, inbreeding, etc.) Stack the deck in your favor by obtaining breeds that are known for long and hardy lives.
Being mindful of stocking rates in pens, coops, and pasture. Any excessive stocking rate, even for short periods of time, will be more likely to harbor/spread/incubate pathogens due to lack of air quality, humidity, concentrated fecal deposits, imbalanced soils, living cheek to jowl with one another, poor drainage in over impacted soils.
Being mindful of the pathogens your area is most known for and working to prevent those diseases...like coccidiosis. Just feeding medicated feeds is not enough. Creating a healthy balance of microorganisms in the bowels that can inhibit the overgrowth of these protozoa is the single most effective preventative for getting it. Their healthy metabolism secretes enzymes that prohibit the reproduction of coccidia. They also colonize the intestinal walls so well that the coccidia cannot get a foothold there at all, so it's exclusion working there also.
I take that one step further and expose new chicks to the coop pathogens by brooding them right on the existing deep litter the adult flock have been using and I also scoop a shovelful of soil from the land into their brooder for them to pick at and consume. Exposing chicks to their environmental pathogens at a younger age can help them form stronger antibodies when their bodies are most able to do so....taking 4-8 wk old chicks out to be exposed to the flock's germs for the first time is a recipe for disaster.
The same goes for the soils in your pasture/runs...any imbalance there is going to promote the overgrowth of coccidia, so one must promote a culture in the soils that can prohibit the overgrowth just like one does in the intestines. You can prevent imbalance in the soils by not overstocking, keeping bare soils covered with a diverse deep litter so that the soils do not get over impacted and then have poor drainage. You want those soils to be loose and loamy under that deep litter so that excess nitrogen can be washed downward to a healthy substrate wherein microorganisms, insects and worm life and feed on it and change it to something else that can maintain a better balance in the soils. It's like a self cleaning oven.
Whenever I see a pockmarked, barren, muddy or dry, slimey in the rain and stinking, fly covered run in a chicken setup I can almost bet those people have their fair share of illness in their flocks...it's a petri dish for all that is bad and not an environment for growing anything beneficial. No matter how much raking, shoveling or spreading of PDZ, these runs will never be a healthy place for birds.
Yearly culling for nonlaying or poor laying performance, poor conditioning, poor feed thrift, poor social skills, etc. Usually those all can be found in the same animals. These are your weakest flock members and they are your disease and parasite vectors. It may seem romantic to keep old chickens and let them retired to Happy Acres on your land, but you are just seeding your flocks with birds that are immunocompromised merely due to their age and physical conditions. Studies have shown that 90% of the flock/herd's parasites are being carried by only 5% of the animals...and those are usually the ones showing that evidenced by their poor laying, poor feed thrift, etc. Culling these animals leaves you with the healthiest specimens, that are less likely to contract disease or worm loads. A good indication of a hen's good health is if she is laying well in the appropriate peak seasons.
Get the birds out into their natural habitat as soon as you can...I do it at 2 wks....no matter the costs. The benefit to their health and immune systems is undeniable...clean soils, natural diets, sunshine, fresh air, exercise...all of these produce a healthier, more vigorous and long lived bird. Whatever fencing or predator solutions you have to put into place will save you money in the long run as you live year after year of healthy birds producing at maximum yield while saving you money on feed, consuming foods and minerals that benefit their immune systems, and managing their own health, parasites and socialization.
Any birds showing acute symptoms of hunkering down, fluffed out feathers, going off their feed, isolating themselves, not wanting to move...give them three days to resolve their issue. If it is not naturally resolved, cull the bird. It may seem harsh but it gives the bird relief from discomfort and could possibly save your flock from exposure to pathogens or increased worm loads. The three day rule is great for those moments when you are in doubt of what to do.
It may all sound complicated but it's a holistic approach to livestock management that has been employed since the beginning of farming, that has kept livestock on the land for centuries before the USDA stuck their noses into farming and ruined it all with their advice for mass production.
