Gun Dog Forum

Hey fellas, in an experiment with raising some quail I picked up 100 day old tibetians online and when they got here more than half were dead. I'm pretty sure this isn't the norm, but just curious what the normal mortality rate actually is? Dont they usually put a few heat pads in there to keep them warm?

It has been a long time since I raised any ,so I can't give a number but that is too high. Contact breeder he should offer an adjustment. I usually had most of my loses in the first 3 or 4 days.

Yeah, think they got to cold on the ride out. I put the rest in the brooder and gave them a little shugar water and most have perked up I still lost about 10 more but all in all after they got a drink and a little food they seem to be fine I have the temp in there at ~93ish

Should be around 15-25% with shipping if I remember correctly by speaking with my uncle who raises bobwhites. How did you have them shipped? Were they shipped overnight, UPS, FEDEX/USPS? Makes a difference if they were on the road for a few days or if they were shipped by air overnight. Could be do to rough handling by the carrier, were they insured and labeled fragile? Just a thought.

I talked to the game farm this morning and I think they are going to send out another batch so We'll see how round two goes!

This spring when I ordered 100 bobwhite, they sent 102 and only 2 were dead when they came. And yes, they came with handwarmers in the crate to keep them warm. Do expect the shipping to take its toll though. Over the next few days I lost 8-10 more. After the first week, you should be more or less in the clear.
Good luck with the next round

I got 1250 day old chicks in June. They came from Iowa and had 2 dead.

Where the heck is Shidler? I have never heard of it.

We are east of Ponca City. Just a few miles from Kaw Lake.

the first time i had day old quail i lost about 2/3 it was trial and error for a whil but i got to were i could keep about 85% alive

I have an old friend I went to college with from Ponca that teaches Ag over in the area somewhere. Ty Larue.

What you really should do is to only buy birds from a breeder that you can pick them up from. I wouldnt ever recommend shipping day old chicks. They come out looking for a place to die and your only giving them a coffin. It is also less expensive when you dont have them shipped. You can find folks close to you at www.mynaga.com

Unlike day old chickens- quail do not have that 24 hour window where the yolk from the egg continues to feed them...we get quail out of the incubator within a few hours of being born whereas baby chicks can stay in the incubator for up to 24 hours to dry, etc.

I'd do as someone else suggested and buy locally so you can pick up. When we have a large batch incubated/hatched for us we drive 40 minutes to pick them up when they are a day old. We make sure they stay warm on the trip home even if it makes us a bit uncomfortable in the car and then as soon as we get home they go into the brooder. We dip their beaks in the water and spread some food on the floor of the brooder as well as being in the feeder for them to get them started. They are not real bright so we've found these two things to be necessary most of the time with new chicks. If we are just doing a small batch we incubate/hatch ourselves and get them out of the incubator as soon as they are dried off.

Also we grind their feed in a coffee grinder for the first week or so since crumbles and gamebird starter are a bit big for newborn quail. Also having a chick waterer or marbles in your water so they can't drown is a smart move. We have the narrow-lipped waterers for the brooder but if you can't find them put marbles in there for the first week. You'd be surprised at how quick they can drown themselves.

Craigs list is a pretty good place to check for quail at least here in Ohio it seems to be. Also ebay for eggs if you can find someone to incubate/hatch them for you. Kristi