Bob whites with bloody noses.

[Fivehollers]

We are having a problem with our Bob's getting bloody noses and then the others peck them to death. It is just awful they peck right through the beak and into the skull and of course do not stop there. I found one last night before they go to him and washed his beak off and put him in isolation I have not checked yet this morning to see if he is alright but we are losing a lot of birds to this.

Also, we have two or three birds that won't open their eyes. They too end up dieing because they can't see to eat. I have these in isolation also.

Any help would be appreciated. :shock:

Lori

[quailacres]

Hi Lori,

Sorry to hear about this problem. Once cannibalism gets started it can be difficult to stop. There are a quite a number of things that could be involved here and without seeing your set up and knowing all of what you're doing, it isn't possible to give any meaningful advice. I can say that a couple things that can cause or contribute to a problem like this are overcrowding and a diet that is inadequate in some way. If you can describe the brooding set up and what you're feeding them, etc., perhaps I or other forum members could provide some suggestions

[quailacres]

What is the heat source and, if you are using lamps or lights, what type and color are they?

[Fivehollers]

These are the older birds that are in the flight pens. We have all of our pens off the ground, due to the assorted wild life around here this set up seems to be the best at keeping critters out of the pens. We feed the younger birds purina flight conditioner and I supplement with fresh veggies and stuff that they can peck on. The older birds are on Purina Maintenance and grains (millet, Milo, Thistle, corn etc) they also get chick weed, dandilion, carrots and other green stuff. We have been putting a litter box in the pens with sand and dirt in it so they can "bathe" they make their happy sound when we do this. The older birds are about 3 years with the youngest of the birds that are outside in the flight pens being about 7 weeks old. the space we have given the birds is about 1.5 to 2 sqare feet per bird.  They have plenty of space I have been trying different feeders lately because the small round feeders do not seem to be helping with the problem since they have to crowd around to eat.  We did loose the two who couldn't open their eyes. I was going to thump them anyway...don't like having the sickness around and the bird that has the bloody beak is doing alright. I have been washing it everyday and checking the rest of the birds for the same thing. I am going to make up a couple of gallons of antibiotic and give it to ALL of the birds tonight and for a couple of days to see if that makes a difference. Other than that I do not know what to do.

Thanks for your reply tho. I hope this information helps.

Lori