- Thread starter
- #21
scyllarus
Songster
Ugh. So, bigger update: the holidays have been actual hell in caring for quail chicks and our losses have been pretty bad, probably 50% or so. My husband and I were also sick for the past few days - turns out chicks don't seem to be able to take care of themselves for more than 6-8 hours. I'm not sure why - we find them dead under the heater, so I presume they might have dehydrated despite water and food being available. I've taken to putting food and water in smaller containers under the heater, which seems to help, but we haven't been able to keep it up with being sick. It's also been frustrating since we've managed to have a godawful staggered hatch, so we've been too busy/sick to make and keep up with two brooders. Lessons learned - we were working on grow out pens and such, but life really got in the way.
I've also finally been able to do some research on what my hen Cream is suffering from. I presume the whole flock is carrying something like mycoplasma :/ I'm not entirely sure what to do at this point. On one hand - these are backyard birds, and I've seen numbers suggesting a majority of backyard flocks are infected. On the other - do I feel reasonable about giving or selling the eggs and birds from this flock? I don't know. The meat and eggs should be fine, and tbh I'm inclined just to treat as needed since most animals are carriers for something or another.
I've also finally been able to do some research on what my hen Cream is suffering from. I presume the whole flock is carrying something like mycoplasma :/ I'm not entirely sure what to do at this point. On one hand - these are backyard birds, and I've seen numbers suggesting a majority of backyard flocks are infected. On the other - do I feel reasonable about giving or selling the eggs and birds from this flock? I don't know. The meat and eggs should be fine, and tbh I'm inclined just to treat as needed since most animals are carriers for something or another.