HELP!!Quail legs are out to the side

[joe125]

Quote:
Yes you are being cruel to keep him alive!

Maybe not, I just don't know.....If you are standing him up, wiping it's nose and vent every 2-5 hours, then cull it! The rest of your flock will thank you.

You can make me the bad guy if you wish!

 

[pheasantfrenzie]

IF I have to wipe his ass I think I would rather do that but as long as he keeps trying to stand up there is always hope.
And no your not the bad guy everybody has there own option but killing something isn't the answer. If he goes on his own at least I know I did my best

 

[TedJan92_in_Idaho]

I have to agree with Joe

 

[Chinchilla2]

Quote:
Gotta agree with joe125 here, culling is actually the most humane thing to do. First, this is not a person, it's a bird. I know we all love our little birdies but living with splayed or sprattled leg is way more inhumane than culling. You are already approaching the 48 hour range on the thing and that's pushing the potential repair time. While you may think it can get around well with the problem, water and feed access will become a major issue if A) you cannot get the leg in alignment or B) you do not cull. If you do decide to try to align, best of luck. However, like I said in the first post to you, I would cull. Sharp scissors to the neck, a quick pop and twist, even the rather gruesome dark plastic bag and hammer routine will get the job done. Right now you are setting up both you and the bird for even more heartache down the line.

Sorry, I grew up in the country where there are three types of animals: predators, utility, and useless. You shoot the predatory ones. Coyotes, wolves, possums, etc. Some predatory animals then became utility animals since you had a barbeque dinner on them. You take good care of the utility ones since they provided one of two things: product, power, or protection. Product (cows, goats, chickens, quail) is milk, eggs, and/or meat, power (horses, some cows, donkeys, mules) refers to the ability to pull a wagon, tiller, or transportation rounding up the product animals, while protection (dogs, cats, burros) is the ability to chase of those predators you aren't able to grab the shotgun to shoot or those that sneak in and try to pig out on your feed (rodents). You remove the useless ones from the bloodline since they would do nothing more than take up valuable food better given to something that will provide food, protection, or power.

It sounds cruel, it sounds heartless, but that is just my take on things. While I will doctor, treat, and medicate for some things, others I will not. If you have just the one quail, give it a shot and try to fix it. You may get lucky. For me, I am looking at hatching upwards of 20 or more at a time. Between cleaning brooder boxes, feeding the flock outside, building new housing, and trying to feed a family, I really do not have the time to worry about one little newly hatched quail chick that is probably going to die a slow sad death either due to reduced size, failure to reincorporate back into the flock, or starvation.

ETA: And yeah, I cry every time I have to do it, so I'm not so heartless after all. I also cry when I have to go choose who is gonna be dinner the next night.

 

[Ugo]

I have a 3 week old with legs like that that i could not kill

. but i have never had to clean its vent or feed it, it gets aroud on its own just fine. i did try the bandage thing for 1 week but when i removed it they just went back out D:

 

[M@M@2four]

I have had to deal with splayed leg many times and have always fixed it this way: http://www.poultryhelp.com/spraddle.html Within 2 days they are walking just fine and you can take the band-aids off!!!

 

[shelleyd2008]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=584695&p=1

 

[FarmGirl01]

I used the band-aid method on 2 button quail. Worked like a charm. Need really good vision. LOL

I do cull also. Good luck on your choice. You got some great advice.

 

[pheasantfrenzie]

Hi All,
I wanted to thank you for all the advise alot to think about on what to do. I really do apreciate it alot that you commented that is why it's so important to have a site like this
Patty

 

[Stellar]

How is the little guy doing? Any improvements?