Care of quail chicks

The hatch weight of quail chicks is 6-7 g. They can be brooded either on deep litter or in battery brooders. However, brooding the quail chicks in cages up to end of 3 weeks of age reduces initial mortality considerably.

The floor space suggested is 75 cm2/chick under the hover and 75 cm2/chick as run space. The brooder temperature recommended is 37oC at the beginning and this should be reduced at 2.7oC per week until the chicks are 4 weeks of age, by which time the quails would have grown their feathers very well. During brooding, water should be given in shallow dishes filled with marbles or pebbles to prevent quail chicks from drowning. The marbles or pebbles can be removed when the chicks are about 2 weeks of age.

The feeder space and water space recommendations are 2 and 1 linear cm per quail chick respectively. Quail chicks can be fed with a mash containing 27% protein and 2750 K cal / kg of ME up to end of 3 weeks of age and a mash containing 24% protein and 2750 K cal/kg of ME from 4th week of age. Maximum care has to bestow during the first two weeks of life of quail chicks.