Baby quail brooder setup

[Ray987]

Hello everyone, first time raising baby quails and I need help please I was wondering if my brooder looks good enough, I have 2 100watts bulbs on all day to keep the temps up (keeping it 34-37c) but I'm not sure if humidity is too low it's around 35-40% does it need to be higher? If so how to I increase humidity? One or two dead every 12h or so I'm not sure if they're just bad ones that failed to thrive or my brooder has something wrong going, I'm feeling them chick starter powder and Sugar water (they're 2-3 days old)

 

[Jener8or]

I think your temp is okay. They don't need extra humidity.

Are you feeding them a gamebird starter feed? They need a gamebird starter feed and not just chick starter.

What kind of bedding substrate are you using? I wouldn't use soil or dirt from outside yet. I would change that out and use paper towels or puppy pads. Once they get some chick grit, you can use something sterile like kiln dried pine shavings, but they need the chick grit to help them digest it in case they eat any.

Good luck with the rest of your quail!

 

[Ray987]

We don't have gamebird feed in the entire country sadly, chick starter is the best I could offer them and quails here are raised on nothing but chick starter
Yep I'm using dirt from outside, finding clean pine shavings is mission impossible as well hence why i went with dirt
No clean sand either unless i wash the shavings and dry it up I guess? That's some hard work lol

 

[Jener8or]

You can buy gamebird starter online. Chewy carries it and they have $49+ free shipping.

I know chicks in the wild are raised on dirt, but the mortality is probably fairly high. I would get rid of the dirt for new chicks and replace it with what I suggested above or something else, even shredded paper. I just think that there is a chance of fungus, spores and bacteria being in the dirt that their immune systems aren't ready to handle yet.

 

[Ray987]

You can buy gamebird starter online. Chewy carries it and they have $49+ free shipping.

I know chicks in the wild are raised on dirt, but the mortality is probably fairly high. I would get rid of the dirt for new chicks and replace it with what I suggested above or something else, even shredded paper. I just think that there is a chance of fungus, spores and bacteria being in the dirt that their immune systems aren't ready to handle yet.

I'm located in Syria we don't have online shopping, I'll change the bedding probably use papers as it's the only clean option available

 

[Ray987]

You can buy gamebird starter online. Chewy carries it and they have $49+ free shipping.

I know chicks in the wild are raised on dirt, but the mortality is probably fairly high. I would get rid of the dirt for new chicks and replace it with what I suggested above or something else, even shredded paper. I just think that there is a chance of fungus, spores and bacteria being in the dirt that their immune systems aren't ready to handle yet.

How's this looking? I placed the papers on top of the soil, is that a bad idea? Should i remove soil completely?

Also The ones that are dying are gasping for air and there's some colorless mucous when I opened their peak hope this helps telling why they're dying, Lost 1 this morning

Appreciate your help

 

[Jener8or]

It looks good! I would honestly, though, try to remove the dirt completely. Chicks often gasp for breath as they die, but it could be caused by Aspergillosis (a fungal infection), so I would try to get the birds away from the dirt while you remove it, then put them back in. If it's too hard to remove the dirt, maybe put as many layers of paper on top as possible, so there's less of a chance of disturbed spores getting to the chicks.

If the paper seems too slippery, maybe adding shredded paper to the top will help them get some grip. I hope all the rest of your chicks make it!

 

[Ray987]

It looks good! I would honestly, though, try to remove the dirt completely. Chicks often gasp for breath as they die, but it could be caused by Aspergillosis (a fungal infection), so I would try to get the birds away from the dirt while you remove it, then put them back in. If it's too hard to remove the dirt, maybe put as many layers of paper on top as possible, so there's less of a chance of disturbed spores getting to the chicks.

If the paper seems too slippery, maybe adding shredded paper to the top will help them get some grip. I hope all the rest of your chicks make it!

I've fully removed the dirt right after posting that pic, added a blanket and shredded paper on top, it got dirty real quick they pooping a lot, still got a couple deaths, any tips on what I should do next to make sure they all survive?

 

[Ray987]

It looks good! I would honestly, though, try to remove the dirt completely. Chicks often gasp for breath as they die, but it could be caused by Aspergillosis (a fungal infection), so I would try to get the birds away from the dirt while you remove it, then put them back in. If it's too hard to remove the dirt, maybe put as many layers of paper on top as possible, so there's less of a chance of disturbed spores getting to the chicks.

If the paper seems too slippery, maybe adding shredded paper to the top will help them get some grip. I hope all the rest of your chicks make it!

@Jener8or Sorry to bother you but more are dying, I just had one shaking hard and gasping and choking on mucous
You think the dirt caused that? I started giving them anti fungal this morning and I'm changing the sheets as soon as they get filled with poop

Is there any chance that the feed is causing this? I feed the same feed to my chickens, I have over 100 chicks age range from 1 week to 6 months so I assume if it's the feed causing this then it would've killed my chicks too? Especially the new lil ones

 

[Jener8or]

To my knowledge, you've done everything you can do to help them. I hope you can hatch some more and not have as many deaths. If they were already exposed to a fungus of some sort, esp. Aspergillus, I don't think there is much you can do.

If the feed smells fresh and isn't beyond the expiration date, it probably isn't the feed. I'm sorry I can't do more to help!