In this blog we are going to help with taking care of your chicks once they have hatched by lowering chick fatality. An average fatality % for chicks per hatch is 5- 10% depending on your level of knowledge and experience. A few losses are unavoidable however these tips should help minimize losses. The first 5-7 days are the most crucial, once you get past that time frame you are off to the races and will be getting eggs and producing your own meat in no time!!!!!

***TIP** Print out tip sheets such as this blog or hatching guide and put in a folder in your coturnix area so that it can be a reference guide when you need it.

THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW!!!!!

1. HEAT IS VITAL!!!! Coturnix chicks are a third of the size as chicken chicks so they are much more heat dependent. You can control the heat by the following….. Day 1 the temperature should be 99 degrees Fahrenheit and drops a half a degree every day after that. Make sure you are keeping an eye on the chicks so that they can let you know what they need. If they are huddled up around the heat source… they are too cold. If they seem to be trying to get away from the heat source and are on the outside edges of your brooder then they are too hot…… if they are very active and spaced evenly then that means they are just right. This is a crucial part of the fatality issue. If we can control this you are well on your way!
2. FEED AND WATER…. We have a few feed videos on our YouTube channel Myshire Farm that shows and discusses what type we use, and when we use it, but what the important thing to know is from day 1 until week 10 we recommend a high protein chick starter/ grower. Ideally a gamebird crumble is available, however anything that is 25-30% protein with a 1.5% calcium crumble is recommended. You could use a turkey grower if that is what is available in your area as long as it is within those parameters. When you place your waterer in the brooder make sure that it is 5- 7 inches away from the heat source so they are willing to travel to the water source. If you put it too far away they might not be willing to leave heat source and risk getting too cold and therefore die of dehydration. On the other hand, if you place the waterer too close to the heat source they will sleep in water dishes…then fatality could be overwhelming. Wet chicks are a recipe for disaster. As a precaution we also reccomend using pebbles or rocks to place in waterer so that it stays shallow so that they can not drown. The rule on this one is…. KEEP IT SIMPLE!!!
3. DON’T OVERCROWD – We recommend 6 quail per square foot when they are chicks. This will give them plenty of room to move around and keep them happy and healthy. You will be surprised how fast Coturnix quail grow so be careful to keep an eye on them. The BIGGEST sign of overcrowding is missing feathers on the back. If you start seeing this, then they are too hot usually due to overcrowding or the heat lamp being too high of wattage. Always be watching….
4. IT IS TIME TO MOVE THEM!!!! We discussed 6 quail per square feet to keep them happy and healthy, now we are going to discuss when to move them out the brooder to keep them beautiful. All this is determined on your climate, but the main rule of thumb is 3 weeks old. At 3 weeks they are fully feathered and no longer need a heat source. That is when we recommend moving them and changing the square feet from 6 quail per sq ft to 3-4 quail per square foot. This will allow them to have more room to explore and not get on each other’s nerves. If they are going outside, or you are in a cold climate, you might need to leave them in a brooder for an extra week, which is fine. As this point they should not need a specific heat source anymore and we still recommend that the square feet ratio changes to give them more room. REMEMBER happy quail are productive quail.
5. KEEEP IT CLEAN!!!!! If you are using bedding. We reccomend you use pine shavings. That always worked best for us, but we recommend cleaning it out and adding new at least every 10 days. Frequent cleanings will eliminate poop balls on the feet as they are very messy. Poop balls can be very destructive if not dealt with immediately, can result in loss of toes. If you use a wire floor, we recommend you use automotive blue paper towels so that they can grip and this will decrease or eliminate splay leg. (Regular paper towels or newspaper are too slick) We recommend keeping the paper towels down for 10 days and then they will be big enough to be on 1/2×1/2 wire. Before putting quail into a brooder and after they are moved out of the brooder we suggest washing it down with a solution of 1/2 listorine and 1/2 water, or regular dish soap. There is NO reason to use any chemicals such as bleach for anything when it comes to quail. There lungs are much much smaller than ours so very little can be determinatal to them. Make sure it is clean and sanitary and they will be happy and healthy.