Question about Food

[SportDog]

I have 500 quail that are going to be 4 weeks old this Wed.
They have done great and I had only lost about 10 in the first 3.5 weeks.
Ran outta the Turkey Starter Mix i was using yesterday and couldnt get more.
I had two bags of Turkey grower from last year that have been sitting in  acovered barn since last October.
So I grabbed it, it had not been wet and looked and smelled fine.
Put some in last night. This mornign I had 22 dead birds.

My question is do you think it may have spoiled in some way, it definitly does not smell that way.
SHould i try to crush it into smaller grains possibly?

Any help would be appreciated as I am at a lose and cannot get more Starter until tomorrow, Not sure if i should pull the food for today and just wait or leave it.

Thanks
SD

[kingwolf]

i would say that there is possibly something wrong with the food and i wouldn't risk feeding it again, if you can hold out today on food i would because i wouldn't want to risk losing that many or more birds again 

[Little Bear Game Farm]

It could also be the switch messed up their tummies.  Usually you try to ween birds on to new food and not just switch over suddenly, when you have the luxury of the old food on hand. 

[SportDog]

Thanks for the feedback, i was thinking it must be the food but just couldnt convince myself since it looked and smelled fine. 
thanks again guys!
SD

[DarrenS]

I agree with kingwolf. One possibility could be mold toxins developed in the feed over the winter. Sometimes look and smell can be deceiving with old feed.

[CharlieHorse]

Unless there was some sort of other change in their enviroment, such as, a dip in temperature that caused piling, I would definitely suspect the feed to have something wrong with it. A sudden depletion or insufficient protein levels can cause cannabalism, but I don't believe that they would react to it overnight to the extent that you describe (22 dead).

[SportDog]

Well changed out the food, havent lost another, Lesson learned..thanks guys