Baby quail has claw like curved feet he can't walk!

[Witchy momma]

My my 7th baby just hatched and i think maybe he was backwards he can't stand and just flips out every where he cant straighten his toes so he just flops trying. Any suggestions? This is my first hatch and its actually has gone really well. Not not sure how to help this guy.

 

[Quailobsessed]

Try putting a band-aid on the feet to straighten them. They're kind of like shoes for the quail.

Pretty sure @Nabiki has suggested this before and may have a better description/picture to explain it.

 

[Nabiki]

Give it 12-24 hours first. If it looks like the second picture, you may have to cull it, but you might be able to fix it with shoes. I tried really hard with that second one, but the toes just would not uncurl. That was my very first hatch, though, so I might be able to fix it now. I don't know. I have managed to save 3 or 4 chicks since.

I use a bit of card stock and a not very sticky type of tape like masking tape. This isn't the best picture on earth, but it's what one of mine looked like after putting shoes on.

 

[Witchy momma]

Yeah his neck is not looking right either he just seems twisted in all ways.. I will give him some time thank you!

 

[Severne]

I made some mini splint out of popsicle sticks and A tiny bit of electrical tape, and did therapy for it each day, she got better, but the other one didn’t. usually they are fine, but sometimes they don’t make it. one thing that makes them twisted like this is when you try to help them hatch. If You didn’t do this, it’ll probably get better, unless it has a major deformity.

 

[Witchy momma]

I made some mini splint out of popsicle sticks and A tiny bit of electrical tape, and did therapy for it each day, she got better, but the other one didn’t. usually they are fine, but sometimes they don’t make it. one thing that makes them twisted like this is when you try to help them hatch. If You didn’t do this, it’ll probably get better, unless it has a major deformity.

No he came out on his own but struggled like crazy. Thx

 

[BloomBunny]

I would give her vitamin b complex with thiamine. See this thread. Vitamins e and selenium are also helpful for neck and leg problems.

 

[JaeG]

I've had a chick hatch whose foot was curled under so bad that I couldn't even straighten it to make him a shoe. He hobbled around for a the first week with his foot curled under at the ankle, then I noticed he was walking flat footed but still limping with a big kink in his ankle, and once he was 3 weeks old I could not tell him apart from any of the others. So a bit of time can do wonders. Put a scrunched up cloth in the brooder under the heat lamp (grab it in the centre of the cloth and place it down like a scrunchy tent) and encourage him to go under it and push up into it like they would into their parents' (if they had some) feathers. It's great for strengthening their little legs. Even pushing up into the folds on the outside will help.

Here's one demonstrating on the outside of the cloth: