Curled toes on quail chick... please help

[wornoutmomto3]

I have been hatching quail for about 5 months now, and it has been an absolute joy. Except when problems occur. One that keeps popping up is curled toes. It the past I would get about 1/8 of the hatched chicks have some degree of curled toes. All have resolved on their own within a couple days after hatch. That is until this hatch.

This most recent hatch was the worst I have had thus far, 6 out of 18 developed and only 2 hatched. One chick had curled toes on one foot, while the other had both feet curled. I gave 5 days to resolve like the others did, but nothing happened. So, I put "Band-Aid" boots on them. I have never needed to use boots for my birds in the past. How long do I need to leave the boots on? How often to I need to change them. Quail don't get very big, but they do grow fast. They are full size and begin laying by 8 weeks old.

 

[ronott1]

I have been hatching quail for about 5 months now, and it has been an absolute joy. Except when problems occur. One that keeps popping up is curled toes. It the past I would get about 1/8 of the hatched chicks have some degree of curled toes. All have resolved on their own within a couple days after hatch. That is until this hatch.

This most recent hatch was the worst I have had thus far, 6 out of 18 developed and only 2 hatched. One chick had curled toes on one foot, while the other had both feet curled. I gave 5 days to resolve like the others did, but nothing happened. So, I put "Band-Aid" boots on them. I have never needed to use boots for my birds in the past. How long do I need to leave the boots on? How often to I need to change them. Quail don't get very big, but they do grow fast. They are full size and begin laying by 8 weeks old.

With chickens it is only for several days. It should be the same with quail.

Check into feed and parasites as the cause. Also, temperature too low in the incubator can be a cause.

I bet they are not getting proper nutrition for some reason though.

Added: I am talking about the parents.

 

[casportpony]

With my peafowl, chicken chicks and ducklings it's never taken longer than 3 days of taping. No need to change it, just put on tape and wait 3 days.

-Kathy

 

[wornoutmomto3]

 

With chickens it is only for several days. It should be the same with quail.

Check into feed and parasites as the cause. Also, temperature too low in the incubator can be a cause.

I bet they are not getting proper nutrition for some reason though.

Added: I am talking about the parents.

I get a game bird feed from the only place that sells it for several miles, and they only have the one type. It is a high protein feed 22% I believe. Could adding additional vitamins to the water work?

I did have an issue with temp at the end of this last hatch, because my cat thought the warm incubator was a good place to sleep and kept causing the temp to jump a couple degrees.

With my peafowl, chicken chicks and ducklings it's never taken longer than 3 days of taping. No need to change it, just put on tape and wait 3 days.

-Kathy

Thanks. The "boots" just went on today so I will wait 3 days and see if there is any improvement.

 

[ronott1]

I get a game bird feed from the only place that sells it for several miles, and they only have the one type. It is a high protein feed 22% I believe. Could adding additional vitamins to the water work?

I did have an issue with temp at the end of this last hatch, because my cat thought the warm incubator was a good place to sleep and kept causing the temp to jump a couple degrees.
Thanks. The "boots" just went on today so I will wait 3 days and see if there is any improvement.

They are coturnix quail?

Feeding for them is something like:

Curled toes are caused by:



Maybe try some vitamins in the water. Make sure the feed you are using has enough methionine too.

 

[wornoutmomto3]

Thank you. That is very helpful.

The little boots fell off after about 36 hours and the toes were straight. I have more quail eggs in the incubators and I am monitoring the temp and humidity very closely.

 

[casportpony]

Thank you. That is very helpful.

The little boots fell off after about 36 hours and the toes were straight. I have more quail eggs in the incubators and I am monitoring the temp and humidity very closely.

Thanks for the update!

-Kathy

 

[ronott1]

Thank you. That is very helpful.

The little boots fell off after about 36 hours and the toes were straight. I have more quail eggs in the incubators and I am monitoring the temp and humidity very closely.

Did you get some vitamins to the flock or change the feed?

Thanks for the updates and post how they do on the next hatch please.

 

[wornoutmomto3]

Quote:
For the chicks I mixed 2/3 game bird with 1/3 chick starter. But, I changed nothing for the main flock and this set of eggs, yet. I wanted to test a theory I had.
My hatcher has started having really bad issues with humidity when the chicks start to pop out of their shells. The humidity jumps to between 80% and 90% and the viewing window develops a very wet layer of condensation. It is beautifully constant at all other times. Normally, I am home for the actual hatching to monitor and adjust the humidity as needed. That wasn't the case for these chicks, but will be the case for this next hatch. If the issue is non existent then I know it was the hatcher and I will be working on constructing a new one. If it persists I will start making changes to the main flocks dietary provisions.