HELP!!! Woke up to 1 baby quail

[pheasantfrenzie]

Somebody please inform me on what to do. I have been building a large kennel for my adult quail because I have a batch of eggs that were to hatch next week. Well I went out to feed my adult birds and they were making so many weird noises that I have never heard before I thought maybe I would get lucky and they would start laying eggs to no avail. So I kept on hearing this little chirp so looked into the incubator and all the eggs were still upright with no signs of peep holes so I put the lid back on and looked at the adult birds again and still couldn't find the chirp and it was so soft compared to my adults so I looked at the eggs in the incubator again and to my surprise this furry little thing came out from underneath an egg. Talk about restarting your heart beat!!!! So this is where the problem starts. Obviously I need to step into high gear on building the pen for the other birds but in the meanwhile what do I do about my new little surprise and why would it hatch so early? I counted the days and they aren't supposed to hatch until Halloween as to which all my names are haloweeney talk about messing up my plans!!

So I guess my question is can I put him in with the adult birds or would they kill the poor little guy?
Should I buy a little styrofoam incubator until I get the other pen done for the adults?
Can I put him in a box with a light?
Why is he chirping so much, Lonely, should I put something in with him?
And why the heck would he hatch so early?

I know I should be prepared by now but I"M NOT, but trust me I will be in the future

Patty

 

[feathers_3]

If I were you, I would but it in it's own little box with food, water and a heat lamp. If you think he's lonely then put a hen in there with it and watch to see what happens.

 

[The Critter Place]

Hi Patty,
What kind of quail is it? And are you sure you have the hatch date right? If your temps ran a little high in the incubator, that could cause it to hatch early.
Coturnix are about 16-17 days but I had a few hatch on 15th.
Button about 16 days..
And I think Bobs are 21, not sure.

I would not put it with the older quail!
Find you a good size box, and get it a heat lamp of some sort. It will need to be kept around 100 for the first few days.

Do you have starter food for it?

You could give it a stuffed animal for company or a soft rag. I don't think I would put a grown hen . You never know what could happen.

Put paper towels on the bottom of the brooder. They cannot be on a slick surface.

Alot of us use large plastic storage totes.

 

[The Critter Place]

Here are some good examples of brooders from a members web page (Quailladyoffortmeyers)

http://www.stellar-gamebirds.com/Biddie-Care.html

 

[bfrancis]

Don't put it with any adult birds unless you don't want it to live.

I agree, put it in a brooder box by itself (or soft rag for company) with a lamp over it to keep it warm. Make sure what ever you put it in will not get hot and catch fire.

Sometimes eggs will just hatch early, not often, but it does happen...don't be surprised if any others appear early.

This going to sound weird, but if you put a cosmetic mirror in with it, it will see its self and think it has company...done it myself with early hatchers and will keep the loud chirping to a minimum that way.

good luck!

 

[pheasantfrenzie]

They are cotnix and i put them in the incubator for them to hatch on that day or i thought. I did start up the styrofoam one and I will definately try the mirror and a stffed animal because he has gotten so load.
I also don't know how to tell the males from the females on the other ones they are Texas A&m's.
Now i am looking in the incubator every 10 min, threw the doors not opening it.

 

[pheasantfrenzie]

Oh my God I tried the mirror thing and the little one was chirping so loud and he walked by the mirror saw his reflects and ran away so fast into the other side of the incubator. I almost wet myself laughing so hard. Sure wish I would have had that on video it was so funny

 

[bfrancis]

Quote:

I forgot to mention it would take a little for them to get "acquainted" with themselves! It will work though, promise. I wish you could have caught that on video too, never seen one run so fast from themselves before.

 

[The Critter Place]

Quote:

I forgot to mention it would take a little for them to get "acquainted" with themselves! It will work though, promise. I wish you could have caught that on video too, never seen one run so fast from themselves before.

Oh that poor baby! LOL! Yes, that would have been a great video!

Patty,
What did you mean by...?
I did start up the styrofoam one

You weren't planning on using it as a brooder were you?

If so, it won't work. The babies will need space to get away from the heat and cool off.

 

[pheasantfrenzie]

Yes I was going to use the styrofoam until I get the bigger ones out. Maybe a day or 2