Emergency!! Need help..

[AngelSlise]

Hi there, I have a wild baby quail I found yesterday waddling around. I searched for hours but couldn't find his/her family now he is hungry, jumping around in a box I found. In the box I put paper towels on the ground, and I put some water in a little water bottle cap (which I made him drink some) and also I grinded some cat food but he doesn't seem to be eating that. I need help on what to feed him, what his environment should look like, and any other advice you might give me! Thanks for looking and God Bless

 

[AngelSlise]

Here is a picture:

 

[DK newbie]

You can try hard boiling an egg and feeding to him finely chopped - only a little at the time, keep the rest refrigerated. If you can catch some small bugs, that might get his attention as well. Make sure he is kept warm - at that size, his enclosure should have a spot with a temp around 95-98 F as well as cooler areas. If he spends much time looking as he does in the picture, he is probably unwell.

 

[AngelSlise]

You can try hard boiling an egg and feeding to him finely chopped - only a little at the time, keep the rest refrigerated. If you can catch some small bugs, that might get his attention as well. Make sure he is kept warm - at that size, his enclosure should have a spot with a temp around 95-98 F as well as cooler areas. If he spends much time looking as he does in the picture, he is probably unwell.

No he isn't usually like that, he really likes sleeping in my hands for some reason. When I put him.back in the box, he starts chirping and hopping around. He's been at it for about 30 minutes, he quiefed down a bit. And thank you for the info!!

 

[cosmosue]

What a sweet little thing!

Yes he needs some warmth and if you can find some gamebird crumbles at a local store like tractor supply or a feed store that would be good - may need to grind it down more depends how big the crumbles are, not sure if he will take to it since he’s wild but he should in time.

The hard boiled egg is good, maybe some crumbles meal worms if you can find them and crush them a bit they are high in protein...

If he’s yours now then you can get a heat lamp for $20 or so online or at a feed store. I would use paper towels for a little while and change to plain pine straw. Plastic tubs work good as brooder until he is bigger.

When I sometimes hold my babies I put one of those microwave muscle neck things in the microwave for a minute and they love those and fall asleep right away. Last night I had a baby out and I wrapped him in a warm wash cloth from the dryer and he fell asleep on he floor while I did laundry... lol I covered him partially with another warm one. I like to get them to feel safe around us by handling them.

So that’s my advice it’s usually pretty easy to care for a baby but he’s probably lonely and that’s why he cries when you put him down - if he had a small stuffed toy that he can’t eat or a feather duster or warm wash cloth he may cuddle that and stop crying for a bit.

 

[cosmosue]

It looks like a baby California valley quail - is that where you are? In that area?

 

[SurferchickinSB]

No he isn't usually like that, he really likes sleeping in my hands for some reason. When I put him.back in the box, he starts chirping and hopping around. He's been at it for about 30 minutes, he quiefed down a bit. And thank you for the info!!

Probably needs warmth around 95 degrees, needs a heat bulb or you can maybe drape a heating pad over a big can and keep it on low.

 

[cosmosue]

Yes a heating pad would work until you get a lamp. If you have any type of thermometer just place it in there it should register if it’s warm enough. I imagine baby quail like to fall asleep in a human hand because we are 98.6 usually.

Last night we had a storm. I was paranoid I thought we need a game plan. I have 54 babies between 1 week and 3 days old in my office. Plus an incubator with 12 California valley eggs.

I decided I would fill bottles of hot water if the power went out and cover in a light towel and place them inside the brooders.

I also decided for the incubator I would fill it with hot water and then drain it back to normal afterwards.

The power never went out thankfully but at least I had a game plan.

My last and possibly nuttiest idea was to wrap them all in a towel and get under the covers with them haha... using my body to keep them warm until power came on. The towel would be to protect myself and my bed from the poopies lol and keep them in one place or try to... 54 babies is quite a lot.....

Another idea would be to place the entire brooder in the bathtub and fill the tub with hot water. Up to a certain temp and level. The brooders are water proof tubs. They would keep warm that way for a while lol with a towel draped over the top.

Me and my ideas... worried more about the babies and eggs than getting any work done on my computer or anything lol