This is crazy...birds dying for no good reason...

[cranberry]

I've reached the end of my tether. I started off with 8 baby king quail 3 weeks ago and now I have 2 left and one of those looks like going any minute. I can't blame the weather as it's been superb here in Adelaide the last 2 weeks. Every couple of days I enter the aviary to find another dead chick on the floor. What the????

I'm at a loss to find an answer to this mystery. They have fresh water, fresh seed, live food in the form of ear wigs that I find and throw in for them. The only thing I can think of is that the cold floor at night does not agree with them. It is a paved floor with no covering. I have put a box in there for them to use but they don't seem to like it. The other thing is that I started using F-VITE in the seed a few months ago for added nutrition. Surely they are not reacting to this?

Anyone have any clues.

Signed

Very frustrated bird keeper...

[Diane]

Not meaning to be rude or insensitive, just looking for ANY possible cause

the F/vite.......its not out of date is it?
the aviary.....recently sprayed?
neighbours or you......spraying weeds?
Any industrial area that could release anything airborne?

[GregH]

I too have never been able to raise quail chics but I'm sure there is a reason - just one I haven't discovered. I've been told that it all comes down to hygiene and commercially growers all use preventative anti-biotics (usually tetracyclines) in the feed. There is a Web-site, Raising Quail http://feeds.feedburner.com/raising-quail-articles, that has lifted general information from Mississippi State University, which may help in general terms. If you've still got the bodies in good condition perhaps you could get necroscopies done to see if they have any symptoms of bacterial or yeast infections. Gut & crop contents would also show if they had adequate feed.

[cranberry]

Not meaning to be rude or insensitive, just looking for ANY possible cause

the F/vite.......its not out of date is it?
the aviary.....recently sprayed?
neighbours or you......spraying weeds?
Any industrial area that could release anything airborne?

The F-Vite I will have to check. The aviary was sprayed with a household disinfectant a few weeks ago but surely that would not be the cause of chicks dying now. There has been no spraying in the area and I don't live in an industrial area.

[triplea]

As bluebutterfly213 said not being rude, Just asking.

How old is "baby"?
Do you have any adult female quails in with them?
I have had some other hens attack another hens babies. Jealous perhaps I'm not sure.
Could be they are too young to look after themselves just yet?
We have had some fairly cool nights in Adelaide.
The paved floor will "suck the warmth" out of anything sitting on it.
I have a dirt floor with plenty of leaf mulch covering .
I am relatively new to birds and have had quails for around 12 months
Have raised 6 clutches without any special feed supplements apart from scattered seed on the ground.

Not too sure what is happening for you.

Don't give up.

Anthony

[gomer]

The little fellas can be hard to raise.The cold pavers sound like a possible cause.I used to have a problem with chicks walking out the aviary,through 12mm x 12mm wire.And then getting lost and if making it back dying from lack of food or cold?
They also say the fathers can kill the chicks,Although i never experianced that myself.Some people remove the father after the chicks are born.

[triplea]

You are correct gomer.
The young can reach sexual maturity around 5 to 6 weeks of age. ( just read that again. I didn't mean to sound like a know it all)
I have had a father male attack his young son bang on six weeks old.
I keep a general close eye on this.

[finchbreeder]

I have had quail in the bottoms of my aviarys for about 20 yrs now.
And have good and bad results over that time.
Drowning in waterbowls or hatching in very hot weather has been my biggest problems, but I suspect not yours. Sorted out the water bowls now.
The only thing you have mentioned that is different to my setup is the floors.
Mine are natural dirt, with handfuls of grass for nesting. And of course I live in a warmer climate.
Re cocks killing their sons, I do keep a watch as my Dads start chasing the boys to the least desirable corner of the aviary as a warning when they decide its time they left home.
But a lot of that is the personality of your birds, cause I know people whos cocks attack their sons before the breeder can even sex them. Buy from someone whos quail are gents.
And in my smallest aviary mom and dad still have a grown up daughter with them. So like I say personallity. Had one nasty girl who literally browbeat her husbands to death, after the second time she was moved on.
LML

[Mickp]

maybe if they have been bred in the same group over a period of time they could be weaker geneticly.

[cranberry]

Both parents are perfect. Neither have ever displayed any aggression towards the chicks. The cock bird even allows the chicks to roost underneath him and he also shared egg incubation duties with the hen. The last clutch produced 3 healthy chicks from 4 eggs. This time she laid 12, 8 hatched, 4 were dead in the shell and now 2 are left. I think the cold floor is doing them no good at all. I might transfer them to the zebra finch aviary that has pet bedding (clean hay) on the floor.