ButtonNomies
Songster
- Jul 17, 2022
- 405
- 707
- 131
Hey guys so I ordered some Valley Quail eggs set them. Now I wasn't expecting many as with all shipped eggs their viability goes into the toilet. But I've never experienced what I went thru today. I'm absolutely devastated. I locked down what appeared to be 5 live eggs (movement on all except one I couldn't see anything except an air cell) ...
yesterday I woke up to 2 pips and a further 2 pipped later on. This morning when I woke the pips were bigger and u could see 4 little beaks taking their first breaths of eggless air. By mid morning I noticed 2 had stopped breathing, I wiggled the eggs gently to see if I could simulate them but stating at them for 5 mins solid neither of them took a single breath so I decided to open em up, they were very obviously dead at this point.
What followed next was distressing. Both chicks had severely deformed heads, not wry neck .. im talking malformed skulls, big dents in their forheads like they'd been caved in
I didn't take any photos of these chicks ... I was so distraught my OH took them away to dispose of them before I could take any photos.
The last 2 chicks finally hatched late this afternoon, one is absolutely beautiful and perfectly healthy in every way. Zooming round the brooder like roadrunner being chased by Wile. E. Cayote on steroids ... im a lot in love with the lil dude. The second made its appearance not an hour after the first. He was very weak after hatching so gave him some nutri and left him in the bator. He started performing his own version of mozarts symphony about 2 hours later and to be honest the poor little mite has not SHUT UP
On close inspection he has the same deformity as the unfortunate pair but milder. Not as bad but still a deformed skull with a dent in his forehead. I'm gonna be surprised if he makes it thru the night to be honest but ... well ... im attached to the noisey floofer!
Yes he sounds like a squeaker toy u thought was a good idea to give ur dog, but .. u know ... hes grown on me like a fungus ... or a migraine ... not decided which yet!
What can I do for him to help him thrive without him suffering. Do I let nature take its course and decide his fate or should I try to intervene and give the poor little pneumatic drill a fighting chance?
Piks of the wee dudes wonky dented head. This is MILD compared to the other 2 who didn't make it.
And here's his brother's fat healthy head complete with impressive quiff (I think he likes to show off his perfectly formed skull)
yesterday I woke up to 2 pips and a further 2 pipped later on. This morning when I woke the pips were bigger and u could see 4 little beaks taking their first breaths of eggless air. By mid morning I noticed 2 had stopped breathing, I wiggled the eggs gently to see if I could simulate them but stating at them for 5 mins solid neither of them took a single breath so I decided to open em up, they were very obviously dead at this point.
What followed next was distressing. Both chicks had severely deformed heads, not wry neck .. im talking malformed skulls, big dents in their forheads like they'd been caved in
I didn't take any photos of these chicks ... I was so distraught my OH took them away to dispose of them before I could take any photos. The last 2 chicks finally hatched late this afternoon, one is absolutely beautiful and perfectly healthy in every way. Zooming round the brooder like roadrunner being chased by Wile. E. Cayote on steroids ... im a lot in love with the lil dude. The second made its appearance not an hour after the first. He was very weak after hatching so gave him some nutri and left him in the bator. He started performing his own version of mozarts symphony about 2 hours later and to be honest the poor little mite has not SHUT UP
On close inspection he has the same deformity as the unfortunate pair but milder. Not as bad but still a deformed skull with a dent in his forehead. I'm gonna be surprised if he makes it thru the night to be honest but ... well ... im attached to the noisey floofer!
Yes he sounds like a squeaker toy u thought was a good idea to give ur dog, but .. u know ... hes grown on me like a fungus ... or a migraine ... not decided which yet!
What can I do for him to help him thrive without him suffering. Do I let nature take its course and decide his fate or should I try to intervene and give the poor little pneumatic drill a fighting chance?
Piks of the wee dudes wonky dented head. This is MILD compared to the other 2 who didn't make it.
And here's his brother's fat healthy head complete with impressive quiff (I think he likes to show off his perfectly formed skull)
Sorry to hear of your hatch but as for the 2 surviving, I'd give the later a chance ... IMO it made it this far, I'd do whatever I could to help it along. Best wishes ...
Although he hasn't stopped with the squeaking ... he literally wanderers around squeaking away to himself. Poor lil mite ... its starting to drill under my skull so maybe this is his way of bonding? 
Good thing the other chicks are doing well but I would keep an eye on them.
