Help! My baby quail keep dying!

[Sweet_Flock]

My quail are three and a half weeks old. I keep them in the garage in a 50 gallon wide terrarium with a heat lamp shining from the top towards the middle. They eat chick starter food for chickens, (I couldn't find any for quail). Out of all of the eggs that hatched, only 15% are still alive. Is it a problem with the brooder, a disease, or something else?

Thank you!

 

[Chicken_tiger_catt]

feeding chicken food............ protein/ niacin imbalance?
do they die whenever, or during the night? if they die at random, it could be an illness, or more likely, a nutritional imbalance.
if you go to sleep, and when you wake up a few of the smaller ones are dead, then maybe it is too cold/ they are accidentally smothering each other when trying to conserve heat.

 

[SmiYa0126]

They need game bird feed.

 

[Sweet_Flock]

feeding chicken food............ protein/ niacin imbalance?
do they die whenever, or during the night? if they die at random, it could be an illness, or more likely, a nutritional imbalance.
if you go to sleep, and when you wake up a few of the smaller ones are dead, then maybe it is too cold/ they are accidentally smothering each other when trying to conserve heat.

They were originally only dying at night, but they are dying randomly now. Should I be improving their diet? If so, how? This is our first flock of quail chicks, so I am very inexperienced.

 

[nuthatched]

@Nabiki

 

[Chicken_tiger_catt]

They were originally only dying at night, but they are dying randomly now. Should I be improving their diet? If so, how? This is our first flock of quail chicks, so I am very inexperienced.

Chick Starter is for chickens.
Quails need Gamebird Starter, as it has higher protein and niacin levels.
if you cannot find any, try feeding them 30% protein Turkey Starter.
this is sold at most farm supply stores.

 

[Nabiki]

What is the temperature in the brooder? It sounds like they don't have a warm end and a cool, end, so they may be over heated.

A terrarium does not have good ventilation, so the chicks are also not getting good air.

Chicken starter does not fill the nutritional needs of quail. It is important to have proper nutrition, especially as chicks to ensure proper development and growth.

I suspect that the combination of all of these factors are contributing to the high mortality rate of your chicks.

 

[007Sean]

At three weeks, I would suspect they are getting too hot? or too cold depending on the location of the brooder? What is the temperature at their level in the brooder? Can we get pictures of your set up!

 

[Susan Skylark]

Put a thermometer in various parts of the brooder, overheating and hypothermia are both possibilities, make sure they have a warmer and a cooler area (light on one end). What is the ambient temp in your garage this time of year? My babies stay in the basement as our temps are 30-50 right now and will continue to fall, too cold until feathered at 4-6 weeks. Try to find a game bird, turkey starter, or all flock feed, mine do fine on 21 percent protein. Chewy sells some brands. Do they have access to water? Are they growing and feathering out? Are they active (when they aren’t snoozing), eating drinking panicking? I’d guess nutritional and or environmental issues are your big problem not a disease of some sort, possible but less likely.

 

[Sweet_Flock]

Thank you all so much! I will try all of these things. Yes, they have a few of their feathers by now. They do have access to water.