help quail chicks!!!!!

[sydney quailman]

hi all please have some info , i have hatched 13 quail chicks (jap) some are less then 24 hrs old and are not walking upright, sort of legs apart. other still to young to walk yet?

also 1 quail chick has its foot bent over , its like walking on its ankle.

any help would be great thank you very much,

cheers,

sam

 

[TwoCrows]

Leg issues in quail are usually due to incubator issues....heat too high, humidity to low or even improper setting and turning of eggs. Any of these things can cause leg problems and once they happen, there is little you can do. Make sure your brooder surface is not slick. I like to use paper towels or even that non-skid shelf liner. A good grip will help strengthen the legs. If any of the quail have splayed legs, you can use a bandaid and tape the legs together so the chick can at least stand...

https://sites.google.com/a/poultrypedia.com/poultrypedia/poultry-podiatry

(see the section on Leg Hobbles to treat Splay Leg)

You can add some vitamins to the water to help strengthen the chicks. Sprinkle food all around them so it is easy to access. Put water in a jelly jar lid so it is low and easy to drink from. Other than this, there is little you can do. Some may make it and some may not.

Watch your incubation process closely next time. Try to use a forced air incubator to avoid hot spots and don't allow the temp to get above 100 degrees.

 

[sydney quailman]

thank you, i have a hovabator with fan, i did had 2 temp guage in the incubator , one read 99.8 other read 102, so which one do i trust?

also with the bandaid do i tape legs together? thank you

 

[TwoCrows]

Tape the legs so that the legs stand apart. Just as if the chick was standing, enough that it can hobble to get around. Keep the bandaid on for a day or two. Sometimes 2 days is enough for the chick to gain enough strength to stand and walk on it's own.

I would say that the one that read 102 was the one that read correctly. 102 is way to high for incubation and this is probably what caused the leg issues.

 

[sydney quailman]

thanks i have been home and taped the legs up as best i could , out of the 13 hatched 4 have splayed legs, out of the 4 , 3 seem to be struggling look really weak and tired, 1 of them seems to have picked up walking better now, what do i do if they dont get better?

so the temp should be 98-100?

thank you,

 

[sydney quailman]

ok update 2 are doing really well now, 1 is trying its best , im helping it walk to teach to walk, other one is weak but not giving up been getting to sit up and try walk,

 

[TwoCrows]

Don't give up on them yet. Chicks with weak legs can take several days to a week to get to walking properly. They may all recover. Good to hear that some are doing so well!

As far as temp, 99.7 degrees with about 50% to 55% humidity is the preferred for incubation stats. 10% higher on humidity level at lockdown time.

 

[TwoCrows]

Oh....a day or so later, as the chicks seem to be able to stand and hobble around, take the tape off the legs. At this point, they will be able to gain the strength to move about without the restriction of the bandaids. Good luck!

 

[sydney quailman]

thanks twocrowsranch, 2 doing really well, im being doing physio with them getting them stronger, 1 i put on plastic cup for 5 mins to help it sit up then take out , 1 of them still cant sit up at all seems to be the weakest one, it just flat on its stomach. not sure about that one.

 

[sydney quailman]

ok 3 are doing well, 1 not doing well i have attached photo, its the yellow lying on its stomach.



this other yellow black stripe doing physio in the cup.



any suggestion with the yellow chick on its belly?