5 day old chick with heavy droopy wings

[jsheepdog]

We just hatched our first batch of quail chicks about 6-5 days ago and just noticed that 1 of them who is the youngest of the batch is having very heavy/droopy wings and is propping itself up by letting the wings hold it steady. So it's not moving around a lot. We noticed that if we carried it and let it down, it would not be able to stand up by itself, it would stretch itself out and we'd need to prop it up. As it's not eating and drinking like the rest, we dip its beak in water every now and then but it's not eating even though we scattered some feed near it. It's in a tripod position, sleeping a lot.....

Anyone encountered this before? Not sure what we should do...and what happened? It was doing fine yesterday...

Thanks in advance!

 

[jsheepdog]

 

[jsheepdog]

Update: Chick didn't make it

However, if anyone has any idea on what might be the cause, it would be great to hear your thoughts.

Thanks!

 

[veggiecanner]

Some just get like that, they always die. nothing you can do either.

 

[HappyBeaks]

Hi JSheepdog, When Quail chicks go like this it can be very sad and very frustrating. I will try to answer your question as to why this happens. There are in fact many reasons why some chicks go like this no matter how much we look after them, but I will give you the most common causes here. Some times they have a weak internal organs and normaly survive a few days from hatching, every thing seems fine they seem fit and healthy and then their wings will droop and and they will breath faster then normal and stop hanging around with the rest of the chicks. It is best to just let nature take its course in cases like this.

Another common cause of Drooping wings and death is swallowing Sawdust and/or Sand and causing a blockage, death follows with in a day or so of very young chicks. To prevent deaths caused by this, you can use bedding that is to big to fit in their beaks etc. Please ignore any books that tell you to keep day old chicks on sand, this is one of the worst beddings you can have for day old chicks. Only ever put them on sand when they have developed a full set of feathers and have learned what food to eat.

I think in your case here it may of just been an internally weak one, they normally show no signs of weakness until around the 24 hours when they die. When exactly what you describe happens. Its very hard to know for sure with out knowing what conditions you are keeping your chicks,eg food,temperature etc but hope this info is of some help and good luck with the rest of your hatch.