Quail questions for quail people

[tamara1021]

I hatched quail (Japanese) and am on my second week after hatch...I have them medicated chick feed to start out (from the advice of a quail breeder) they were fine but after day three I started finding them dead....I lost ten of them out of 34...I quickly changed then to game bird starter and changed vitamin water to plain water...no more casualties since I did this...does medicated feed cause death in quail?
They are all healthy right now except one...the one acts normal and eats and drinks but he isn't growing like the others (the others are twice as big!
Any help you can give to answer my questions would be appreciated!!!
Thanks so much!!

 

[7L Farm]

I've never used chick starter for Quail but I do use it on my chickens when they hatch. I feed my quail GBS from start to finish. Usually, I add some chick saver to my newly hatched quail.

 

[TwoCrows]

Not feeding gamebird food is not going to kill them in this amount of time. It might cause them to grow slow, not develop mentally or physically, but not kill them.

Medicated feed does not cause death. I am guessing that because you lost 10 of them starting on day 3, they either died from chilling in drafts or became over heated.

One out of 34 that is growing slowly...this is not out of the norm. This chick could have a weak constitution, have some virus, or something internal going on. Many times these slow growers reach adulthood in just a good of shape as the others and eventually catch up in growth. He may have gotten chilled early on and slowed something down in his system

 

[tamara1021]

It was ten total (lost at different times of the say on day three) temp was 95 (digital thermometer) we saw they kind of picked at their backsides and then chirped with no chirps coming out..maybe those were sick with a virus or something?

 

[Mtn Margie]

It was ten total (lost at different times of the say on day three) temp was 95 (digital thermometer) we saw they kind of picked at their backsides and then chirped with no chirps coming out..maybe those were sick with a virus or something?

(lost at different times of the say on day three) ? Clarifying? You lost them all at different times of the day, all lost on day three?

 

[tamara1021]

All lost at different times on day three...found three at morning...another two in afternoon ..and this went on...finally after I changed food that evening the dying stopped

 

[cmtigger]

I've always fed gamebird starter to my coturnix for their entire life. Some chicks just fail to thrive, but sounds like something did go wrong- it is hard to say at this point- virus, pasting up, a draft.... Just out of curiousity which medicated started did you use, and what was the medication in it?

 

[tamara1021]

Called medicated chick starter (for chickens) pasting could have happened due to the fact we saw them picking at their hind ends...few were late hatches (which maybe there was something wrong) not sure...just trying to prevent it from happening again...so far all the remaining chicks look fantastic!!

 

[7L Farm]

Its hard to say what really happened unless you were actually observing the situation. I've never fed mine medicated feed just GBS. Not saying this was the cause. There's just too many things that can go wrong. Too much heat, not enough heat & the list goes on. Good luck!!

 

[SavageChick]

[updated below] I'm certainly not an expert, as I have only begun raising button quail myself. Yet, I did a lot of reading, asking questions with our local bird owners, and looked at a number of forum threads regarding hatching and raising quail before starting. One of the things I noticed was how often it was noted not to use "medicated" game bird starter feed for button quail (also, not to use chicken starter.) If I can find the thread links, I will post them after this. There was a woman, and I think it may have even been on this site, who stated that when she gave her quail the medicated food, they started acting sick. She then switched back to non-medicated and they improved. We were also told at our local feed store not to use medicated starter for button quail, as their systems cannot metabolize this the same as chickens or larger quail. I'm so sorry for your loss. I will look for some of those threads for you and post their links...

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Edited (added links) Here are some of the document links I wanted to share with you. I've added the full-spectrum lighting link because a couple of local quail owners here also mentioned the importance of using a full-spectrum blue bulb for heat and light in place of an infrared....

1. The importance of full-spectrum lighting to keep birds healthy:
http://www.squidoo.com/the-importance-of-lighting-of-bird-breeder-stock

2. Maybe they are not eating as much as they appear to be? My button wasn't eating well until
I figured out the crumbles were still too large. If your button is lifting its neck (looks like it is
trying to swallow) this might be a sign. Once I ground it down to a powder, feeding
improved significantly. There is also a recipe for high-protein chick starter in this link:
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080105112019AAzFf07

3. Another interesting link on chick starter (non-medicated/medicated):
http://featheredobsessions.com/Feed_Requirements.html

A few things that have helped me so far that came from suggestions in these threads...

- Look for pasty droppings that cling to their backside. This can block them up, rendering them unable to feed or poo properly. Someone suggested to me that I use either probiotics or yogurt for this. I use probiotics, and it has worked to clear this up quickly.

- Check your thermometer and test it by comparison with another to make sure it is not off by a few degrees. Watch how your chicks are acting under the lamp. If they are breathing heavy and kind of lethargic, it may be too warm at the 95 degree reading. Yet, they may not know to move to a cooler spot. I actually don't keep my brooder quite this warm (more closer to 90 degrees during the first week.)

- Electrolytes (sugar water mixed in with vitamins.) You may notice several posters recommend Poly Vi Sol (no iron) for their chicks. It can help if there is vitamin deficiency involved, and/or to help give them the energy they need to get them to eat if they have been too weak.

Wish I could be of more help, but again, this is only what I have learned so far from other button owners. Good luck to you, and I hope you are able to save the rest of your babies.