1 week old Quail chick unable to stand... about to give up...!

[Humble]

I purchased 10 day-old Coturnix quail chicks a week ago (now they're a week old). There's one in the bunch that just last night I saw it is unable to stand straight, it started all of a sudden. It can kick with its legs when I pick it up but it keeps falling forward (maybe it's an issue with its toes). When I set it down, it just tips over right or left and can barely move. I have been isolating it for the past 8 hours because I've been seeing others seem to tip him over when they run for food. I also carry it to water every now and then to make sure it is eating/drinking, but it seems to be giving up.

I'm new to this, so I can't figure out if it's a malnutrition, an injury, or a disease.

Okay, this is important - I have been unable to get my hands on Quail chick starter feed so I've been feeding them the following:

+ Organic cornmeal, coarse grind
+ Organic millet
+ Organic sunflower seeds, coarse grind
+ Boiled egg, 1 per day for all 10 chicks
+ Occasionally sprinkling spirulina on their food
+ Apple cider vinegar in water supply

I was thinking it is malnutrition, but the others seem healthy, even the runt who seems to push thru an entire feeding frenzy.

As for an injury, I see many chicks pecking and biting each other's toes, and a couple times I have seen them doing it in a brutal manner.

What are my options?

 

[GitaBooks]

I'm sorry to hear that.


It could just be a deformity, a chick that fails to thrive and suffers from weak legs. It could be spraddle leg (where the legs are out of joint), a vitamin deficiency (causing paralysis), a disease (causing paralysis), or not enough protein. Quail need a lot of protein, over 20%. Chicks love to go after toes, but game-birds in particular like to do it. They do it when they don't have enough protein as well as when it is too hot.

I hope this helps. Best of luck!

 

[kingmt]

Add some raw hamburger or wet cat feed for now to see if that helps but I'd suggest looking for a better feed. Can you find turkey starter 28% or grower 22%?

In not sure this is your problem but they do act like that from like of protein.

 

[Humble]

Thanks for your replies GitaBooks and kingmt. I will try to up the dose on the protein and see what happens.

An update on the issue, I see that now the chick is tilting its head to the right and when I pick it up, it seems to want to walk right into the wall. It takes a few steps and falls forward or to the side. Yesterday, it would allow me to pick it up. It is really sad to watch. Is this like a neurological issue or a virus? I had never seen this before and about 30 hours ago the chick was fine.

 

[GitaBooks]

Thanks for your replies GitaBooks and kingmt. I will try to up the dose on the protein and see what happens.

An update on the issue, I see that now the chick is tilting its head to the right and when I pick it up, it seems to want to walk right into the wall. It takes a few steps and falls forward or to the side. Yesterday, it would allow me to pick it up. It is really sad to watch. Is this like a neurological issue or a virus? I had never seen this before and about 30 hours ago the chick was fine.

Yes. Neurological issues can be caused by physical injury, nutritional deficiency, viruses, and poisoning.

 

[kingmt]

It really sounds like nutrition. That one is to far gone. It should be culled.

 

[dc3085]

I would guess that it is a nutritional issue due to not being able to digest the hard diet you were feeding it. Many of the things you were feeding that chick it would have needed grit to digest. Seeds are inadequate for coturnix as anything but a treat. These birds have such an insanely fast metabolism that just a couple hours of not having proper nutrition will directly affect their growth rate for life. Coturnix must have high protein feed that contains vegetable proteins and ideally animal proteins as well (animal proteins are getting harder to find in game bird feeds due to the cheapness of the world we live in).

 

[kingmt]

Yelp. To add they need fat also. A quail is what I consider a opporvor. They eat anything they have the opportunity to.