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can anyone help me???? i have hatched out at least 150 bobwhite quail chicks and 50 mexican speckled quail and 25 snowflakes in last 6 months i now have 25 chicks chicks total now. it seems as tho the first 3 days after hatching is my downfall. these little guys seem to thrive the 1st 24 hours , the next 3 days is when it all falls apart. i have them in a homemade brooder w a 125watt redlight. i dunk them in water when i put them in there to be sure they get thier first drink and there aware of where the water is and also make thier food available to them immediatelty. it seems as though if they survive the first 3 days there home free. i just hatched out 35 bobwhites from my first time layer birds last thursday, and i now have 10 left. im lost and ready to give up an addicting hobby that i have fallen in luv w.

A chick can live off it's yolk sac for the first 3 days...so they don't need any feed to survive during that time. My guess is there is something with the feed that the birds don't like, hence they are not eating like they should. They end up starving after they absorb their yolk sac. I would first check the feed for ingrediants that may be intolerable to young game birds. I would then make sure their are no distillers grains in the feed. Distillers grains can cause a big problem with game birds, especially at day old.