HELP - zipped and stuck

[USAmma]

I have not had quail experience with this, but I had a parakeet that had 14 chicks one summer (!!). Two of them had to be assisted out of their shells. I had no idea what I was doing but I had common sense. They both made it. I just opened the shell enough to see them breathing and give them some room. One ended up not having the yolk absorbed. I hand fed it some water and then very diluted baby bird formula. I kept it in the nest with the other chicks for warmth. After 2 days it was strong enough to feed from its mom and it grew up to be a very friendly, healthy bird.

 

[flg8r]

He didn't make it. I don't think there was anything I could have done or not done. I don't know why he zipped so wide when he wasn't ready to hatch (I'm guessing by the sac) but it looked to me like his bottom half was deformed and I don't know that he would have made it out on his own anyway. I'm guessing he couldn't move enough to finish the zip. He never got use of his legs and there were way more bend than the normal newborn toe curl. He just rolled if he tried to move. More green/yellow stuff came out of him after he hatched. Can they get an infection inside the egg? That's what it seems like.

I didn't cull him. I wanted to at least see if he could absorb the yolk and get on his feet. I gave him water twice since he clearly couldn't make it over there on his own and kept him warm in the incubator. Hopefully he didn't suffer. There is one last egg that pipped and it's in the incubator. I'll give it another day or two but I don't think it's coming. (I'm okay with leaving the pipped ones alone, it was the visible peeping chick in distress that threw me.)

Thanks for the help. A little traumatic for my first hatch but the other 16 are doing great and are the cutest fuzzballs ever.

 

[smallbluejellybean]

That's sad, but not all of them are meant to make it. I just think all of them deserve a chance when they are so small and haven't even had a chance to prove they could make. That is why I really don't like culling babies, but if necessary I will put an animal down or cull as the say. Seems so unfair though. Hope your next incubation goes better than this one. It only takes one little thing to go wrong for it all not work they way we want. I once had electricity go out while I was at work and didn't know it. Lost 35 eggs with 3/4 grow chicks inside. The only reason I found out is I was talking to a neighbor who asked about the eggs and asked how they went during the blackout. I kept out hope, but lost the lot.

 

[Quailsong]

Thanks for the update. It's sad he didn't make it but it sounds like the chick's situation was def out of your hands. I've only hatched chicks once before (this summer) and I've found it is a full bag of emotions. From intense joy to terrible sorrow, often bouncing to both extremes within minutes. Sometimes things work perfectly (as if the stars are in alignment) and other times it seems like everything that could go wrong, did.

Even though it turned out as it did, I def hope you'll give hatching another try down the road. Maybe try from a different breeder this time & see if that helps improve the hatch rate.

And can we see some pics of your fuzzballs?

 

[flg8r]

I was the breeder on these.

I think 16/18 survival (all 18 fertile) is pretty good for my first time out. The incubator is as low tech as it gets - hand turning, fluctuating temp and humidity. I want to try again for sure in a new incubator and I would love to introduce some new colors but I'm not sure on space - I'm kind of breaking city code in having them in the first place, so I've learned since getting them.

Here are the 16 dog-piling onto my boys' hands (one more in my avatar). These little guys are way more tame than their parents that we bought at about a week old, not sure if that's an age thing. I hope they stay like this, so sweet.

 

[smallbluejellybean]

I was the breeder on these.

I think 16/18 survival (all 18 fertile) is pretty good for my first time out. The incubator is as low tech as it gets - hand turning, fluctuating temp and humidity. I want to try again for sure in a new incubator and I would love to introduce some new colors but I'm not sure on space - I'm kind of breaking city code in having them in the first place, so I've learned since getting them.

Here are the 16 dog-piling onto my boys' hands (one more in my avatar). These little guys are way more tame than their parents that we bought at about a week old, not sure if that's an age thing. I hope they stay like this, so sweet.

Low tech is way better in my opinion. Less can go wrong. I preferred turning my own eggs. It was easy, you just mark one side with a minus sign and the other with a plus sign and I would rotate all at once 4 or 5 times a day.
I actually made my own incubator out of an old huge fish tank, styrofoam, heat pad and lamp, tray for water, thermostat, thermometer/humidity gauge, some small size wire and an anti slip mat. I had a lot of the stuff in my garage. All together it cost me about $80 to set up and one side is the incubator and the other a brooder. The most expensive things were the electric stuff.
I tried a small store bought one and I didn't have much with it. Mine worked great.
I a button quail on 12 eggs at the moment and 8 little babies already running around the bottom of the aviary. Yes, they reproduce fast. I am selling a few this weekend to bring down the numbers a little.
Really nice pic. Do you have anymore? Would love to see.

 

[flg8r]

Well you know if you ask for pictures I have to post more! I want to get some better ones now that they're a few days old, we've been careful not to take them far from heat.

I think the one on the right will be tuxedo. We have three with those markings and their father looked the same as a chick. The two on the bottom right are likely tibetan. The rest should be normal/brown.



They just crawled in my hand and fell asleep. They are less than 24 hours old here.





Little tiny wing nubbins. They flap them and run around but I can't get a pic because they move so fast.



The darkest chick. Even my adult tibetans aren't this dark. He also appears to be the runt of the hatch.

 

[Starkasm]

They are absolutely adorable!!! Great job!