Bobwhite Quail Chicks Bleeding From Nostrils

[MGG]

I am at a loss. I noticed this in a few of my not-even-week old quail chicks just the other day. They had blood crusted to their nostrils. At first I thought pecking was the issue and raised the lamp a bit, but after careful observation, they are not being picked on.
Yesterday I cleaned off their beaks, and blood seems to be coming out again.
I have lost every single chick that has had this issue now. Out of 19 chicks I'm down to 13. I lost one a day for the last few days, then yesterday I lost 2, and today I lost 3. I always find them right near the end, and most of them have died in my hands. It's heartbreaking and I don't understand what's happening. They're in a clean brooder, all feed/water dishes were washed and sterilized before using them, the box was cleaned, the feed is new and has been fed to some of my other birds with no issues, and the bedding is puppy pads. Which they have not been rough on so I know they aren't eating those.
The parents all seem very healthy, they came from an NPIP certified breeder if that makes any difference.
Some of the pairs are related but this is the first generation of chicks from related birds so I doubt that there would be much issue from that.
If anyone has any ideas, please help. I have a few more of their siblings hatching right now and I don't want them to have the same fate.
I've also been alternating putting nutri-drench and poultry cell in their water.
Here's a couple pics of one of mine right before he died that night.

And their brooder.

@Kiki @azygous

 

[ShrekDawg]

Are the puppy pads scented? Maybe some sort of respiratory issue from that if so??? Although that wouldn’t cause bleeding I wouldn’t think... but it’s the only thing I can think of cause you seem to be doing everything else right... is it at all possible they are getting into some sort of poison? Or maybe hitting their heads somewhere? Though the latter seems unlikely due to the sheer numbers. ButI am at a loss and hope you figure it out!!

 

[MGG]

Are the puppy pads scented? Maybe some sort of respiratory issue from that if so??? Although that wouldn’t cause bleeding I wouldn’t think... but it’s the only thing I can think of cause you seem to be doing everything else right... is it at all possible they are getting into some sort of poison? Or maybe hitting their heads somewhere? Though the latter seems unlikely due to the sheer numbers. ButI am at a loss and hope you figure it out!!

Well, they're actually, er, not technically puppy pads. Though I have gotten in the habit of calling them that I guess. They're these.

They are so much cheaper so I just get them instead. I've used them for years and never had an issue before.
I don't think poison is possible, that was one of my guesses too. But they've been inside the house in this box exclusively, and haven't been exposed to anything other than feed, water, and each other. I only used dawn dish soap to clean their box, and I washed that O it really well too. Their waterer and feeder were cleaned with dawn dish soap, and then rinsed thoroughly. They then had boiling water poured over them and sat in boiling water for several minutes. After that I air-dried them, filled them, and put them in the box.

 

[ShrekDawg]

Well, they're actually, er, not technically puppy pads. Though I have gotten in the habit of calling them that I guess. They're these.
View attachment 2722031

They are so much cheaper so I just get them instead. I've used them for years and never had an issue before.
I don't think poison is possible, that was one of my guesses too. But they've been inside the house in this box exclusively, and haven't been exposed to anything other than feed, water, and each other. I only used dawn dish soap to clean their box, and I washed that O it really well too. Their waterer and feeder were cleaned with dawn dish soap, and then rinsed thoroughly. They then had boiling water poured over them and sat in boiling water for several minutes. After that I air-dried them, filled them, and put them in the box.

Whoops! Sorry! Didn’t mean to expose ya

Anyway, the fact it says it neutralizes odors makes me think it might be scented? But then again if you’ve used them before with no issue, I wouldn’t think that would be it? But could maybe try putting something different in and seeing if it helps?

Could something have fallen in?

This is such a mystery!

 

[azygous]

Quail chicks are just too adorable for words.

Vitamin K deficiency may cause this. It can't hurt to lace their drinking water with it.

One other alternative is an avian respiratory virus that causes this. Or perhaps a genetic issue causing the bleeding.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I am at a loss. I noticed this in a few of my not-even-week old quail chicks just the other day. They had blood crusted to their nostrils. At first I thought pecking was the issue and raised the lamp a bit, but after careful observation, they are not being picked on.
Yesterday I cleaned off their beaks, and blood seems to be coming out again.
I have lost every single chick that has had this issue now. Out of 19 chicks I'm down to 13. I lost one a day for the last few days, then yesterday I lost 2, and today I lost 3. I always find them right near the end, and most of them have died in my hands. It's heartbreaking and I don't understand what's happening. They're in a clean brooder, all feed/water dishes were washed and sterilized before using them, the box was cleaned, the feed is new and has been fed to some of my other birds with no issues, and the bedding is puppy pads. Which they have not been rough on so I know they aren't eating those.
The parents all seem very healthy, they came from an NPIP certified breeder if that makes any difference.
Some of the pairs are related but this is the first generation of chicks from related birds so I doubt that there would be much issue from that.
If anyone has any ideas, please help. I have a few more of their siblings hatching right now and I don't want them to have the same fate.
I've also been alternating putting nutri-drench and poultry cell in their water.
Here's a couple pics of one of mine right before he died that night.
View attachment 2722018View attachment 2722019
And their brooder.
View attachment 2722020

@Kiki @azygous

I don't know much about quail, but it looks like injuries to me. Can you tell if it's actually coming out of the nostrils or just the top of the beak - wipe one off and get a photo.
Are there adult quail that have access to them? Could the be sticking their beak in something or a rodent grabbing hold?

 

[EverythingDucks]

@muddy75 @Nabiki @Kiki , hopefully one of you will be able to help.

So sorry about your babies. I hope they can heal up and that you can at least find the issue.

 

[MGG]

Whoops! Sorry! Didn’t mean to expose ya

Anyway, the fact it says it neutralizes odors makes me think it might be scented? But then again if you’ve used them before with no issue, I wouldn’t think that would be it? But could maybe try putting something different in and seeing if it helps?

Could something have fallen in?

This is such a mystery!

Haha!
I don't know. They have started making the pads a bit differently than they used to, but I have used them for two batches of chicks and two batches of goslings with no issue.
Well, my dumb brother shot a nerf dart into their box a few days ago on "accident", but they didn't eat it and it wasn't in there for more than 10 minutes.

 

[MGG]

Quail chicks are just too adorable for words.

Vitamin K deficiency may cause this. It can't hurt to lace their drinking water with it.

One other alternative is an avian respiratory virus that causes this. Or perhaps a genetic issue causing the bleeding.

They are pretty cute.
I was wondering about some kind of possible deficiency, but I thought that the Nutridrench and Poultry Cell that I've been giving them would eliminate that issue.
I really hope it's not an illness, as these chicks were going to be given to a friend of mine that I'm going to visit in a few days. I don't want to give her anything that could possibly be sick, so I don't know what to do.
What kind of vitamin K should I give? I don't have any place to get stuff like that closed than 25 miles away, and there's no way I could go until tomorrow afternoon at the earliest. Can I use something meant for people or cattle?
I am guessing someone in my little town would have one meant for cattle.

 

[MGG]

I don't know much about quail, but it looks like injuries to me. Can you tell if it's actually coming out of the nostrils or just the top of the beak - wipe one off and get a photo.
Are there adult quail that have access to them? Could the be sticking their beak in something or a rodent grabbing hold?

I did wipe a couple of them off, but it came back. I watched where they couldn't see me for several hours and didn't see any picking at all. I only have one alive chick with the bloody issue now so I'll go wipe him. I didn't want to separate any since I don't have any empty brooders, and I'm sure they've already all been exposed. But I had 4 chicks hatch this morning, I'm not sure what to do with them. I don't want to put them in with the others.
The brooder is in my mostly finished basement, and it's just a blue tote box.
There are no adult quail anywhere near by. It's actually the only brooder in the basement atm.