Random Quail Deaths. Advice Please

[DAttard]

Hi all - Need advice
I've lost a hen a week for 4 weeks now!
I've quail: half are 9mths old, half are 5 mths old. Mix of ages are dying.

>I've 22 birds, 5 Roos.
> I'm in Canada where's it's not even cold yet. Ranging -5C/12C so far and expect to hit and avg of -5C/-20C in the new year.
>This is my setup, and the bedding is 5" of pine needles, dirt, leaves, stall dry, pine shavings and Timothy hay. Bedding is totally dry. Turn it everyday.
>Covered sandbox, with Timothy hay too.
>Nest boxes have 15W greenhouse heating mats. Straw/hay with pine shavings on top for ease of cleaning.
>Feed in image. Supplement with Mealworms, scratch grain & birdseed. 1/2 c per day.
> Long feeder of always full of oyster shells.
>100% Predator proof, not even the mice are getting in.
>Left side & rear is covered with Poly. Right side is thick black fabric & tarp.
And roof is thick black fabric as shown. Front is open/South facing.
>Supplemental lighting on timer, 14hrs day.

I'm at a loss! Do you think NutriDrench would be beneficial? We do use for our chickens on occasion.


Any advice, feedback is appreciated

 

[Nabiki]

To start with, stop with the treats. Scratch grain & birdseed are essentially junk food. Take it easy on the mealworms as well since they are high in fat. Treats should be no more than 10% of their diet.

The protein level on your feed is adequate for adults, but I don't see lysine or methionine content, which implies to me that they're probably low.

Their shelter looks decent as well. Has their feed gotten wet at all?

 

[DAttard]

To start with, stop with the treats. Scratch grain & birdseed are essentially junk food. Take it easy on the mealworms as well since they are high in fat. Treats should be no more than 10% of their diet.

The protein level on your feed is adequate for adults, but I don't see lysine or methionine content, which implies to me that they're probably low.

Their shelter looks decent as well. Has their feed gotten wet at all?

TY Nabiki, they are dry. I did post mortem on today's hen, and her abdomen was full of loose watery stool. But she was frozen when I found her, and had to thaw her.

All organs, eggs, flesh, fat, etc looked fine.
Could the feces leakage be post mortem? Her vent was clean.

 

[DAttard]

To start with, stop with the treats. Scratch grain & birdseed are essentially junk food. Take it easy on the mealworms as well since they are high in fat. Treats should be no more than 10% of their diet.

The protein level on your feed is adequate for adults, but I don't see lysine or methionine content, which implies to me that they're probably low.

Their shelter looks decent as well. Has their feed gotten wet at all?

Will also add these supplements, Ty

 

[Nabiki]

TY Nabiki, they are dry. I did post mortem on today's hen, and her abdomen was full of loose watery stool. But she was frozen when I found her, and had to thaw her.

All organs, eggs, flesh, fat, etc looked fine.
Could the feces leakage be post mortem? Her vent was clean.

If there was feces outside of her intestines, that would imply sepsis to me. It might happen post mortem if ice ruptured her intestines and then you thawed her. Hard to say.

Any chance of mice or rats getting in? I'm assuming you didn't find any wounds on the bird?

Start by fixing their diet and see how it goes from there.

 

[Susan Skylark]

Another possibility for gut contents in the abdomen is hitting guts with necropsy knife while opening bird. Ice rupturing guts is possible but less likely. If she died of peritonitis look for fibrin: stringy/sticky clumps of gunk, that would definitely point to bacterial belly infection but it’s absence doesn’t mean it wasn’t.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Feed in image. Supplement with Mealworms, scratch grain & birdseed. 1/2 c per day.

All organs, eggs, flesh, fat, etc looked fine.
Could the feces leakage be post mortem? Her vent was clean.

I'm sorry about your Quail.

Yes, since she was frozen, you there may have been leakage post mortem, hard to know.

Does your feed bag have a nutritional ingredient/analysis tag on it? If it does, can you take a photo and post it?

You show an image of your feed from Masterfeeds (reposted below). It's a medicated Turkey Grower 22%. Info I find is unclear on "medication". Since you are in Canada, I would not necessarily assume the feed contains Amprolium.

I'm not saying the medication is the cause of your losses, but the manufacturer recommends that the Medicated Grower is to be fed between the end of the 4th week to the end of the 8th week (for Turkeys), so this is not a feed that I would use as a long term daily ration.

I think it would be better to try to find a Gamebird feed for Quail or switch to at least Non Medicated feed.