Dying Quail Hens

[LucBorgia]

Hello all!

My father has recently had several quail hens die unexpectantly. and we were wondering what the cause might be.  The hens were doing fine one day, and were dead the next, without any signs of infection.  The males are fine, don't look sick and infected, and aren't dying.

I deal with finches more than quail, and I know that lack of calcium can cause egg binding, which can kill a bird.  I was wondering if the same was true for quail.  We haven't noticed any problems with soft shelled eggs or anything like that, but since it seems to only be effecting the females, egg binding was the first thing that popped into my head.

Our little bunch eats regular quail food.  I would think that would give the girls enough calcuim, but maybe not.  How can we supplement the calcium in our birds' diet?  I have liquid calcium supplements that I give to my finches.  Can we give that to quail as well?

Thanks for reading!

~Madame Borgia

[RedOakGamebirds]

Egg binding is true for quail as well.  What type of feed are you using protein and calcium wise.  Too much protein will cause burnout as well but you should see it in the males too.  We have our own feed mixed separately for regular Bobwhite and coturnix.  We started having our Coturnix die from burnout frequently until we switched feed.  The original feed had 6 percent more crude protein.  Once we switched them we didnt have any more losses.  Also how old are your birds?  


Larry

[LucBorgia]

Thanks for the reply, Larry!

Our birds are about a year old.  They eat food with 28% protein.  I'm not sure how much calcium is in there.  Dad couldn't remember when I talked to him as the bag of food was out in the garage!  :)  

Good news is, we haven't had any more hens to die.  But I'm still worried that they might not be getting enough calcium.  Is there a way to give quail calcium supplements?  I use a product called Calciboost for my finches.  It's a liquid that I put in their water. I know one can give that to cage birds like canaries, parrots etc...but I'm not sure about quail.

~Madame Borgia

[RedOakGamebirds]

There are several good calcium supplements you can give either through feed or water.  Crushed oyster shell is good too.  Not sure what type quail you have but 28 percent is way too high for birds that are a year old.  Coturnix we had problems with 24 percent until we dropped it down to about 16-18 percent.  Also be sure your giving them a good layer feed.  Usually theres enough calcium in there to supplement them.


Larry

[ssbuman]

http://www.poultryhelp.com/  try this for some info on maladies of poultry and gamebirds as well.