Help--leg weakness developing in young flock--??

[FenDruadin]

We have a group of 40 young quail (about three weeks, I think--I lose track--) in a pen and tonight I noticed three of them with VERY weak legs, and several with somewhat weak legs. One actually had its leg bent backwards and looks about ready to pass on. Two others can't really walk. I set them down next to the feeder & waterer, and they acted very hungry & thirsty.

Anyway--the only thing I can think of that might be the problem is that last night I gave them a feeder of game bird flight conditioner feed in addition to a feeder full of starter. I didn't think anything of it at the time--it was dark and I was in a hurry, and the flight conditioner was handy. I figured it wouldn't be a big deal for just overnight and, anyway, they had a full container of the starter too.

Could that have caused such significant leg problems so quickly? Of course, I removed the offending feed and replaced it immediately. I also noticed, while messing around in there, that there was a place in the pen where a quail could get a leg caught and possibly injured, so we fixed that too. But except for the one with the leg bent backward, the others don't seem to be injured--just weak.

I should probably have culled the really bad one, but I wanted to give them a chance to recover if it's a feed problem.

Any thoughts?

(Edited to change the subject heading.)

 

[ssbs]

Feel of their "drumsticks".. Do they seem off? I had a batch like this, I didn't notice anything wrong with them. They walked just fine. Then right at 3 weeks I realized they were having leg problems, I checked their legs out and they had a horrible variation of leg lengths, some were half an inch long and some were more then two inches.. The 3 or 4 that were walking normally had legs that were about 1.5" long.

I think it was because they got big enough for it to finally cause them problems. It really seemed that it happened overnight. They ended up being culled and fed to my ferrets.

 

[Stellar]

I am curiosity, do you raise your birds on wire? I know many people do, I unfortunately do but keep lots of kitty pans with pine bedding for them to rest in. I read a lot and leg problems do to result to wire floors.

 

[shelleyd2008]

I had some do this as well this year. They would start it around 2 weeks old or so, then by 4-6 weeks they were just fine. I got some gamebird startena for some of them, though I don't know what caused it. I've never had them do that before, and it's not been all of them that have done it this year, only a few batches. Mine are all raised on solid floors until about 4 weeks or so, they are on cloth (towel) for at least the first week. So I know it's not spraddle leg, they just have very weak legs. I think my problem may have been a 'bad' bag of feed? That's the only thing I can figure.
I don't think yours is from feeding them a different feed one time, I would think it would take more than that.

 

[FenDruadin]

Thanks for all the feedback--glad to hear I'm not the only one. Wish I knew what the problem is. They're no better today. I'll check out the leg lengths, but I got a pretty good look at them and they didn't look strange--just very weak. I've had leg problems in ducklings before, and it's usually the feed. But we've fed this same batch of feed to others with no problems--which makes me wonder if we got an old batch and it's just now reaching the "too old" point? I know old feed can cause this problem, and the bag itself is less than two months old, but I wonder how long it might have sat in storage before we bought it... on the other hand, the feed store regularly sells out of Startena (which is what they're on), so it seems unlikely it would be that old...

Anyway, they are on wire, but for young birds they get a layer of straw on top of the wire. They seem rather unsteady, though, even those that are not weak. Maybe the unevenness of the floor is a problem?

We're going to switch them to a ground-level run this afternoon. They need more space anyway. The run is on dirt (and grass and weeds), so it should be a better surface for them. And they'll have tons of room. I'll just be glad if none of the others develop the problem, and I'll be ecstatic if the three with severe weakness recover. I'll let you all know. Thanks for the thoughts!

 

[JJMR794]

Leg Weakness And Later Developmental Problems Are Often Caused By 2 Things.... Insufficient B Vitamins (more Specifically Vit B12) Your Feed Must Contain A Red Meat Source Or It Wont Supply B12(no Matter If It Claims To Be Complete Or Not). The Other May Be A Lack Of Other Vitamins, Try Supplimenting The Water With A Vitamin Additive. If Neither Of These Work Then Your Likely Dealing With A Genetic Issue.

 

[shelleyd2008]

I would wager a gamble that my problem was a feed thing. I only had one or two batches of babies that did this, and they were successive batches. I have not had any other problems before or after those 2 (I think) batches, so I assume it was a feed issue. I have since hatched many more babies from the same birds that all the others have hatched from with no problems. I'm fairly certain mine was just a bad bag of feed

 

[FenDruadin]

Labor Day weekend is killing me. We can't get new food until tomorrow. I called all over the area and sent dh on a wild goose chase two counties away trying to locate a feed store that was both open and carried the right feed. No luck.

We've lost two birds so far, and others continue to show weakness. Another, older batch started showing the same symptoms and we're 80% sure it's the feed. It's Purina Startena and we've successfully raised several batches on it, but this particular bag must have something wrong with it. It sat in storage at the store too long, or Purina made a mistake (even the big guys can do that sometimes). I've switched all the birds over to the Purina Gamebird Layena that the adults are eating until tomorrow when the stores open again. I don't think it's a great solution, but I'm kind of stuck.

I like the vitamin idea though--I've got some baby vitamins and may put that in their water until I can get to the store.

It's driving me crazy not to be able to do anything about it.

Anyway, thanks for the feedback--I really really think it's the feed. I had a similar problem among my ducks earlier this year and within hours of switching their feed to a fresh bag, they recovered. I'll keep everyone updated...

 

[shelleyd2008]

Quote:
The feed I use (all the time, ever since I started raising quail) is Purina Flock Raiser, so it wouldn't surprise me one bit if it is the feed. Give them the layena, a few days won't hurt them. Give them some cat or dog food ground up with some boiled egg yolks and vitamins in their water. Then toss that bag of feed as soon as you can get more! I'm so sorry you're having such a bad time with it, I hope you can get something different soon

 

[Stellar]

Make sure you don't give them the feed and vitamins in the water and such together because you can hurt your birds more by overdosing. I feed my birds Manna Pro Gamebird and it works wonders.