Chick not growing feathers well

[cctrapqueen]

Hi Quail friends!
This is a sort of follow up to a post I made about accidentally feeding my quail chicks the wrong food (too low of protein) for 7 days. The majority of my chicks seem to be thriving although they may be a behind weight wise for now. However this one chick looks very bad physically despite being active etc. Has anyone seen anything like it? I asked Zack from myshire (where I got the eggs from) and he had no clue other than nutrition. They've been eating the proper food for over a week now and its like it just can't feather right. I have a pic of the chick in question and the rest of the normal growing gang. I even have him and 2 others with some feather issues separated in case he was struggling to get enough food/warmth etc. They are 2 weeks old. This is my first set of eggs I hatched myself, so I am wondering if it is a development issue?!?! I really am stumped.
Thanks for any insight.

 

[casportpony]

Does it stand around with its eyes half-closed like that often?

 

[cctrapqueen]

Does it stand around with its eyes half-closed like that often?

Nope, I just caught it that way in the picture.

 

[casportpony]

Okay. Don't think I've seen anything like that before.

 

[cctrapqueen]

Okay. Don't think I've seen anything like that before.

Hah! I've managed to stump everyone. I dont know if that's good or bad! I will probably have to let it go, I do worry it is in pain and since not improving it is really probably the most humane thing to do. I am trying to give it a chance.

 

[Nabiki]

If it's active, eating and drinking well, I'd give it another week or so. The feathers might start growing in better. You can still cull then if there's no improvement.

 

[cctrapqueen]

If it's active, eating and drinking well, I'd give it another week or so. The feathers might start growing in better. You can still cull then if there's no improvement.

Thanks! This is my thought too. Its just so bizarre!

 

[FloorCandy]

If I were to guess I’d say that chick has some sort of defect that is affecting digestion or nutritional breakdown of food. If it is physically growing at the same rate as the others I wouldn’t worry too much, but accept that it may have a short life, if a hen it might not lay regularly. You may even need to keep it inside in bad weather if the feathers stay so sparse and broken.

my other suggestion is since BYC quail people are stumped maybe try asking on a different board here, like in the health or chicks section, and if that yields no solution, maybe a different bird breed forum, people who have parrots often have many helpful tricks for dealing with feather issues.

 

[cctrapqueen]

If I were to guess I’d say that chick has some sort of defect that is affecting digestion or nutritional breakdown of food. If it is physically growing at the same rate as the others I wouldn’t worry too much, but accept that it may have a short life, if a hen it might not lay regularly. You may even need to keep it inside in bad weather if the feathers stay so sparse and broken.

my other suggestion is since BYC quail people are stumped maybe try asking on a different board here, like in the health or chicks section, and if that yields no solution, maybe a different bird breed forum, people who have parrots often have many helpful tricks for dealing with feather issues.

Thank you. This is an excellent idea. Thanks for the thoughtful response!

 

[Ravenlover]

Please keep us updated o.o I'm curious if it is a calcium from wrong food thing cuz don't they grow bone feather tubes then the feathers come through the tubes?