Found a young, stranded baby quail! Need help-fast!

[dc3085]

ive heard chicken feed with meds in it can kill quails, so i feed mine game bird feed(i crush it up smaller)they drink a lot!(as well as eat a lot for the size they are) from what im seeing and they can and will flip over in to the water. so you have to keep the water bowl small >< i use a small cap and keep it filled often say ever 4 hrs i check if not more.i treat mine like i did my baby chicks besides that.

Medicated feed doesn't kill anything, thats just a nasty rumor. If you feed medicated feed to chickens gamebirds or other fowl for long periods it can sterilize the birds. However if you live in an area that has problems with cocci and enteritis, medicated feed may be the only way you can raise your chicks safely.

Hi I recently hatched 2 bobwhite chicks and they look just like him...

Do you plan on keeping, releasing, or putting up for adoption?
He is a bobwhite and they do not grow that fast only coturnix



The coturnix (blond) are ownly 2 days older than the bobwhite and were born on May 31 well hatched
Pics not today but a few days ago they still look the same bu feathers in tip of wings...

THe OP hasn't said what state they are located in. That does look like a bob chick, it also looks like a valley or gambels chick.

Also if the OP releases this bird, it's pretty much a death sentence. Releasing birds does almost nothing for the population because they don't survive long enough, restocking has shown to be a great failure because of this. Captive raised birds lack important instincts they learn from living in a wild covey.

 

[clawstar]

I strongly disagree with you dc. A friend of mine accidentally released 5 bobwhite this past year. They are thriving yesterday I saw a hen with a chick! Most of these birds were full grown and raised in a rabbit hutch. THEY ALL ESCAPED AT DIFFERENT TIMES MAYBEY MONTHS APART!!!

2 of my baby's died this week...
RIP
Copper
Frango

 

[dc3085]

When I get a few minutes later i'll dig through my links and show you data that proves how ineffective it is.

 

[enola]

Feeding medicsted feeds for long periods of time will not cause sterility in chickens or any other poultry.

 

[dc3085]

Here is one site that discusses a few studies on restocking quail.

More data on the costs and failures of restocking quail.

Another article on why restocking doesn't work, and really isn't even the problem with wild populations.

Some more info on the ineffectiveness of restocking

...I can keep going.

I've read in several places that keeping gamebirds and even chickens on medicated feeds for long periods will cause sterility in roosters. I believe it is even mentioned in Stellar's book Coturnix Revolution. I'll have to see if I can find the studies she mentions.

 

[Advocat]

I strongly disagree with you dc. A friend of mine accidentally released 5 bobwhite this past year. They are thriving yesterday I saw a hen with a chick! Most of these birds were full grown and raised in a rabbit hutch. THEY ALL ESCAPED AT DIFFERENT TIMES MAYBEY MONTHS APART!!!

2 of my baby's died this week...
RIP
Copper
Frango

Possibly the key word here is "5 bobwhite" -- they went in a group. My understanding, from reading about releasing wild Gambel's or California/Valley quail after being raised by a person is that because quail are so covey-oriented, an individual quail should not be released alone. No covey will accept it, and as a lone bird it will die. Wild life rehabbers will offer to take quail babies and raise them with others so that a group can be released and the young ones will have a covey of their own.

In the case of my little Gambel's, there are no wild life rehabbers near me and circumstances would have made it difficult for me to drive to the nearest within any reasonable time frame. So I opted to raise the bird myself and keep it. He's growing well, all appears to be healthy, he's active, and he's a lot of fun ... I let him out of his crate a couple of times a day for about an hour and he's very friendly and personable.

 

[dc3085]

Bobwhites have been released by the hundred of thousands (more likely millions) over the years in the US. Keep in mind hunting was extremely popular in the first half of the 1900s, much much moreso than today. They tried everything they could think of back then and more has been tried since. Restocking just doesn't work. Gamebird shooting preserves release thousands of birds a year EACH, and still have to release thousands more to keep a huntable population present. Some do survive the first generation, the reading I linked will show that. But it also shows that subsequent generations suffer and over time you'll be right back where you started. The people doing the studies I linked are releasing birds that have never seen a person and often are brooding them in remote brooders in the habitat they intend for them to live in, still it's pretty much a high cost failure.

 

[clawstar]

Ok, advocat if you read below that my post states that they escaped months apart at least ,not together.

 

[Dragons4u]

The Ohio State University did release studies a few years back here in Ohio and found an 85 to 90 percent mortality rate of released birds.
The mortality rates very by species, but was always extremely high. It showed that the state putting money into population recovery was a waste of money here. We just don't have the environment for them to sustain or grow anymore in wide spread areas.
Small areas of the state, almost in pockets smaller than county size, they do survive better.
Even so, every once and a great while, maybe every two years or so, I'll see bobs or a pheasant running through a drainage ditch or flying to get away from a tractor.

 

[Advocat]

Ok, advocat if you read below that my post states that they escaped months apart at least ,not together.

You're right, my fingers went faster than my brain!

Although, they were still raised together ... I wonder if they stayed around the area and the escapees joined them. Probably difficult to tell.