3 and a half week old quail struggling

[Jannbo]

So my quail that’s the runt of the four I bought has had quite a few issues but he’s had something starting since yesterday. Both yesterday morning and today he wouldn’t stop crying in the morning, like nonstop. There was clean food and water for them, the temp was good, the brooder was clean. Nothing wrong in their environment. Today there’s something clearly wrong. I just got up and the food and water are clean beyond whatever wood chips they’ve kicked into it that I’ll have to clean out in a bit, but the run keep looking down at the ground and stumbling backwards really drastically. He also seems to be unable to eat anymore. He’s still drinking but he’ll go to the food dispenser and try to eat but just can’t. The other three are doing just fine and only cause any sort of issues if I have to pick them up for cleaning.

I’ve checked this one for pasty butt and bumble foot but everything looks good. I can tell there isn’t a broken leg, but it’s hard to examine anything else with how much he starts struggling no matter how long he’s held. I’ve seen people say they usually stop struggling so much after you’ve held them for a bit but this guy just struggles. Doesn’t matter if you’re holding him for half an hour, still struggles

Here’s a video of how he’s acting

 

[Nabiki]

Crying a lot by itself isn't a cause for alarm, but the other behaviours are.

What are you feeding them?
Is it possible that it has a head injury? Either from flushing and hitting something or others pecking at it?
Are any of the others showing any symptoms at all?

Unfortunately, if it's the runt, it may just have something wrong internally, but let's eliminate the most common things first.

 

[Jannbo]

Crying a lot by itself isn't a cause for alarm, but the other behaviours are.

What are you feeding them?
Is it possible that it has a head injury? Either from flushing and hitting something or others pecking at it?
Are any of the others showing any symptoms at all?

Unfortunately, if it's the runt, it may just have something wrong internally, but let's eliminate the most common things first.

They’re getting game bird starter and all the others are perfectly ok. I came back into the room and he can’t walk anymore. Just flipping over himself with his neck tucked in. I’ve got him to calm down while I’m holding him now and I can’t see any signs of a head injury. Their brooder has a soft mesh top so I know it can’t hurt itself by jumping and the other one hasn’t ever attacked it nor are there feathers missing or around the cage to indicate it did. He seems much more ok in my hand since I can keep his head up, but I’m worried it’ll go back down again

 

[Jannbo]

They’re getting game bird starter and all the others are perfectly ok. I came back into the room and he can’t walk anymore. Just flipping over himself with his neck tucked in. I’ve got him to calm down while I’m holding him now and I can’t see any signs of a head injury. Their brooder has a soft mesh top so I know it can’t hurt itself by jumping and the other one hasn’t ever attacked it nor are there feathers missing or around the cage to indicate it did. He seems much more ok in my hand since I can keep his head up, but I’m worried it’ll go back down again

I set him back in and he’s still not holding his head up fully but he’s able to brief moments and was able to eat a bite of food

 

[Nabiki]

I'm guessing that there's something wrong internally. At this point I would recommend either a vet or culling. The poor thing is suffering.

 

[Jannbo]

I'm guessing that there's something wrong internally. At this point I would recommend either a vet or culling. The poor thing is suffering.

That seems to be the case unfortunately. I’ll probably just take it to the vet. It’s a bit harder to cull when it’s one of only 4 chicks and your first group. Hopefully there'll be someone free today.

What’s so bizarre is that it’s able to hold its neck to get a drink and eat now, but it keeps going back down. I’ve got some poly-vi-sol and electrolyte water in its waterer for the time being so hopefully that’ll help it till we get it into the vet

 

[CliftonQuail]

That seems to be the case unfortunately. I’ll probably just take it to the vet. It’s a bit harder to cull when it’s one of only 4 chicks and your first group. Hopefully there'll be someone free today.

What’s so bizarre is that it’s able to hold its neck to get a drink and eat now, but it keeps going back down. I’ve got some poly-vi-sol and electrolyte water in its waterer for the time being so hopefully that’ll help it till we get it into the vet

My most recent hatch, the last bird out had curled feet. I managed to straighten them with the sticky part of a bandaid, but then had a heck of a time getting the bandaid off. I ended up using mineral oil to loosen it and darn near soaked the poor thing. I think the other birds helped groom it and got the excess oil removed overnight. Even while it still had the bandaid on its feet, I was using a syringe to give it NutriDrench every few hours and continued that for three days (squeeze a bit out and put the syringe against the birds beak). I'm still offering it a bit of the NutriDrench every once in a while, but now in a separate drinker. It was also having a hard time keeping its head up. Several times when I checked on it, I was sure it was dead because of the way it was laying. It seems to have rebounded and at 5 days old, I'm cautiously optimistic that it will survive. It's still tiny compared to the other 9 birds in this hatch, but I'm positive that the NutriDrench is the only reason it's still with me.

 

[Jannbo]

My most recent hatch, the last bird out had curled feet. I managed to straighten them with the sticky part of a bandaid, but then had a heck of a time getting the bandaid off. I ended up using mineral oil to loosen it and darn near soaked the poor thing. I think the other birds helped groom it and got the excess oil removed overnight. Even while it still had the bandaid on its feet, I was using a syringe to give it NutriDrench every few hours and continued that for three days (squeeze a bit out and put the syringe against the birds beak). I'm still offering it a bit of the NutriDrench every once in a while, but now in a separate drinker. It was also having a hard time keeping its head up. Several times when I checked on it, I was sure it was dead because of the way it was laying. It seems to have rebounded and at 5 days old, I'm cautiously optimistic that it will survive. It's still tiny compared to the other 9 birds in this hatch, but I'm positive that the NutriDrench is the only reason it's still with me.

Good luck with your bird! Hopefully yours is all good after it makes its recovery. This little one has been smaller than the others since I got them at 5 days old. It’s always rebounded each time with lots of care, but this time is for sure the worst. I’m 99% sure it’s wry neck now so I’ve got poly vi sol in its water and keeping food all over the floor of the brooder so it can peck anywhere it is and get some food instead of struggling to get to the feeder. Luckily the quail it’s been with since it’s grown enough has been cuddling with it this whole time. I’m keeping a close eye on them to be sure it doesn’t attack, but they both start crying desperately if I separate them so I think keeping them together is gonna do it way more good than isolating it

 

[Nabiki]

Good luck with your bird! Hopefully yours is all good after it makes its recovery. This little one has been smaller than the others since I got them at 5 days old. It’s always rebounded each time with lots of care, but this time is for sure the worst. I’m 99% sure it’s wry neck now so I’ve got poly vi sol in its water and keeping food all over the floor of the brooder so it can peck anywhere it is and get some food instead of struggling to get to the feeder. Luckily the quail it’s been with since it’s grown enough has been cuddling with it this whole time. I’m keeping a close eye on them to be sure it doesn’t attack, but they both start crying desperately if I separate them so I think keeping them together is gonna do it way more good than isolating it

That really doesn't look like wry neck to me. In my experience, quail with wry neck can live a full lifespan without much disadvantage. I usually raise mine until they're big enough to eat then cull them.