help!! first-time quail owner with 1 chick

[yearofhiss]

If they're not eating or drinking, you can try feeding them a slurry of their feed mixed with water to try and pep them up enough to hopefully bounce back - Tropican baby bird food would be better for more intense nutrition, that's at petsmart.

You can use a syringe that doesn't have a needle, or an eyedropper or even a straw that you dip into the feed slurry and stick your finger on the other end to hold a few drops of liquid in there to put a drop or two at the corner of their beak - this should make them swallow and take in a lot of that wet food at the corner of their beak.

This should happen every half an hour so they get steady food and water and most chicks should bounce back within several hours but again, they will only survive with proper heat and feed.

You have to go slow with this method, it takes patience, but hopefully they will soon look to the syringe to eat from as many have in the past, then I thicken it up until they eat and drink on their own.

also the protein percentage is 24%. the bag has a quail chick and duck on it. and i put a small mirror in the box.

 

[dpenning]

thank you so much for the replies. the yellow one died so it is just the brown one now. i told my parents about getting a heat lamp, especially because they just ordered 100 more eggs so i guess we're not stopping anytime soon, but they keep saying that this one quail doesn't matter and they don't care if it dies and they're definitely not getting a heat lamp until the next batch hatches in a few weeks. i'm the only one that cares about this one chick in my house i guess. i took the setup into my room. the temperature is 95-98 degrees with the heating pad and heater.

the chick is eating and drinking well and seems okay. it keeps peeping when i dont have my hand in the box, i think it misses the yellow one. it's 11:30pm here and i'm about to go to sleep. i will update tomorrow morning, hopefully it survives the night. will it be okay with no light at night? or should i keep a dim light?

Seriously? 100 more eggs?!? Hoping you have read some of the links provided in this thread and the stickie T the top of the quail forum and can give them some education before the next batch arrives. Better yet, get them in here to do research so there isn't another mass killing of babies. These guys are too little to stay in the incubator that long and it is over crowded to begin with from what you've said. Have the brooder ready with a heat lamp before they start hatching, you never know when they will start popping and won't have time to go get a heat lamp. Make sure you have a quail watered or marbles in a chick waterer. You may want to crush the quail starter a bit when they first hatch.

Good luck, hope they take more interest in doing it correctly so you don't havve to watch them all die again.

 

[yearofhiss]

Seriously? 100 more eggs?!? Hoping you have read some of the links provided in this thread and the stickie T the top of the quail forum and can give them some education before the next batch arrives. Better yet, get them in here to do research so there isn't another mass killing of babies. These guys are too little to stay in the incubator that long and it is over crowded to begin with from what you've said. Have the brooder ready with a heat lamp before they start hatching, you never know when they will start popping and won't have time to go get a heat lamp. Make sure you have a quail watered or marbles in a chick waterer. You may want to crush the quail starter a bit when they first hatch.

Good luck, hope they take more interest in doing it correctly so you don't havve to watch them all die again.

thank you! yeah, i thought they would have understood that overcrowding is an issue but i think they're planning on having the brood ready. im pretty sure my dad has been on this forum because ive heard him say some things word for word from the informational posts.

the chick survived the night. he's less active but still eating the crumble and drinking some sugar water. he plays with himself in the mirror and doesn't seem to have a problem with the temperature. i do have pebbles in the water and the crumble is the consistency of cornmeal.

one small concern of mine is that he's having these weird small hiccups. it started half an hour ago after he drank some water. i saw him try to sleep but he keeps jolting awake after about 17 breaths and hiccups for a while. they are small hiccups, not as severe as the ones a previous chick had (he eventually died, he looked like he was gasping for air) but im worried they might get worse. is this natural or should i try to fix it? if so, how would i do that? thank you!

 

[dpenning]

I can't help you with that one, I never noticed that behavior in mine. @Binki ?

 

[Binki]

thank you! yeah, i thought they would have understood that overcrowding is an issue but i think they're planning on having the brood ready. im pretty sure my dad has been on this forum because ive heard him say some things word for word from the informational posts.

the chick survived the night. he's less active but still eating the crumble and drinking some sugar water. he plays with himself in the mirror and doesn't seem to have a problem with the temperature. i do have pebbles in the water and the crumble is the consistency of cornmeal.

one small concern of mine is that he's having these weird small hiccups. it started half an hour ago after he drank some water. i saw him try to sleep but he keeps jolting awake after about 17 breaths and hiccups for a while. they are small hiccups, not as severe as the ones a previous chick had (he eventually died, he looked like he was gasping for air) but im worried they might get worse. is this natural or should i try to fix it? if so, how would i do that? thank you!

It's really awesome that you have empathy for this little helpless animal and are taking the time to do what you can to care for it.

I've heard of people making "hen huts" with heating pads, like a little cave for the bird on an angle with the hating pad over it so the bird can go under it, maybe that would work better? The mirror was a good idea

I found a thread regarding bird "hiccuping" and it seems to be harmless crop adjusting (hopefully) whereas the one who died was likely doing something related to dying as it was more intense?

http://forums.avianavenue.com/index.php?threads/hiccuping-motion.105853/

 

[yearofhiss]

if a part of the box is too warm or too cold, the chick should relocate on its own, right? one end of the box is 99 degrees and the other end is 95 degrees. it's 3 days old but still stays at the 99 side. is this bad?

and will the chick drink water of its own accord? i've had to dip it's beak in the water everytime but it drinks like 10 gulps each time. but only after i initiate it. same thing with the food. is it because it keeps forgetting to eat/drink or because it's forgetting where the food and water are? they're right there..

im so sorry for all these questions im just really worried and they're really specific so it's hard to find answers about them.

 

[yearofhiss]

thanks for the reply! i will try the hen hut idea, but my heating pad is very large (it covers the entire bottom of the box) but i'll see if i can do something to get heat from above.

the hiccuping doesn't seem to be the same as the one described in the thread, but it's alright because he stopped doing it. he is just resting in front of the mirror right now.

thank you again !

It's really awesome that you have empathy for this little helpless animal and are taking the time to do what you can to care for it.

I've heard of people making "hen huts" with heating pads, like a little cave for the bird on an angle with the hating pad over it so the bird can go under it, maybe that would work better? The mirror was a good idea

I found a thread regarding bird "hiccuping" and it seems to be harmless crop adjusting (hopefully) whereas the one who died was likely doing something related to dying as it was more intense?

http://forums.avianavenue.com/index.php?threads/hiccuping-motion.105853/

 

[Binki]

if a part of the box is too warm or too cold, the chick should relocate on its own, right? one end of the box is 99 degrees and the other end is 95 degrees. it's 3 days old but still stays at the 99 side. is this bad?

and will the chick drink water of its own accord? i've had to dip it's beak in the water everytime but it drinks like 10 gulps each time. but only after i initiate it. same thing with the food. is it because it keeps forgetting to eat/drink or because it's forgetting where the food and water are? they're right there..

im so sorry for all these questions im just really worried and they're really specific so it's hard to find answers about them.

Ah I see the issue about the big heating pad, since your brooder readings are good and you have a lower heat side he should be able to regulate himself. You can see if he's too hot he will pant and/or sprawl out on the ground and if too cold will huddle up (usually with each other) and not move much.

It is unusual that he hasn't learned his food and water at three days. Perhaps the food needs to be a bit more crumbly than powdery in consistency and sprinkled around the main food dish, might encourage him to do natural pecking behavior at tiny things on the ground.

As for the water, normally quail chicks are ready to peck at stuff to see if it's food so I take some bits of dried grass, crush it between my fingers and sprinkle those grass "dots" on the water surface.

Usually when a chick sees those dark bits on the water it encourages them to do a test peck. Then, the water is disturbed and the dark bits sway around, encouraging more pecking and that's usually enough for them to know where their water is without me having to handle and dip their beaks.

They do watch each other and try to peck things first so that could have something to do with his lack of interest/recognition?? *shrugs*

Oh the hiccuping may be crop adjusting due to the powdery food? Again I would crush it to small crumbs rather than powder because (I'm not sure) that could increase his risk of impacted crop.

I would show him his food and water as often as every ten minutes to train him to get used to it and to get his strength back up - poor loner might have your company on his mind more than looking for food and water!

You can use a big folded pair of fluffy socks or little stuffed animals to keep him company and have something to snuggle against, he will probably climb up your sleeve if he gets his beak in there...!!

Can get those things at the dollar store, beware of the socks though I had one chick crawl into the tight fold of them and although he seemed alright I don't think he would have been able to get himself back out - coturnix quail chicks snuggle up RIGHT UP in their mom's feathers and sometimes poke their beaks out above her wings I have some adult quail that still love to snuggle and slip their heads in my sleeves and try to burrow in so this little guy of yours would probably appreciate some snuggling with you or an inanimate object

 

[Binki]

Oh also, don't be shy to ask your questions, especially ones that involve going beyond the normal care for quail. Keep them coming

 

[JurassicBawk]

Quail cannot go 72 hours without food/water. They grow at a much faster rate than chickens, and use up their yolk supply within 24 hours. I would personally never leave any in an incubator for more than 24 hours without food and water. Once they are hatched and dry/fluffy, they need to be removed to a proper brooder. I'm sure the lack of a decent brooder didn't help, but I'd be willing to bet that some of those 100ish dead quail babies starved.