How to help this button? Curled toes? Malpositioned.

[Nabiki]

Great job! I know just how hard it is to tape little button toes. I expect this one will be just fine now.

 

[Carterborchers]

Thank goodness for a video I found on this site about using masking tape to make little shoes. He wore them for 2.5 days, and within an hour of taking them off, I couldn’t tell which chick he was out of a dozen without looking for a tiny bald spot on one of his wings.

I’m over-the-moon happy!

 

[Carterborchers]

His toes were so bad, I almost had him euthanized. Toe taping is totally possible for button quail, especially if you have an extra set of hands. The masking tape shoe video is the route we went. I fixed another from a hatch yesterday, and it is walking fine after just one day of tape (I removed the tape in the morning because he just couldn’t get traction on the pee pad). Hardest part is definitely getting that tape off!

Here’s the one from above a week later! he’s a gorgeous little one!

 

[Carterborchers]

I don’t think the weak olds like being with the newly hatched. Everyone tried to run under him. Lol

 

[Nabiki]

I don’t think the weak olds like being with the newly hatched. Everyone tried to run under him. Lol

Putting chicks that have that much of a size difference together is asking for trouble. Keep a very close eye on them to make sure the week olds don't kill the day olds.

 

[Carterborchers]

Oh, I have separate brooders for the them. They were just posing for a pic. Every time I hatch these guys, I forget how small they always are, and how quickly they grow!

Someone is coming to pick up most of the older birds tomorrow…except for a couple of whites and “skinny Pete” who had the genetic condition that looks a bit like scoliosis.

He’s eating and drinking and seems happy… just has a crooked spine and odd gait. No one seems to be picking on him, so if the vet thinks he’s not in pain, I’ll probably keep him as a special needs button.

The now-two-day olds have a few with issues. I corrected a mild curly toe with a day of tape. I wanted to get it off as quickly as possible because he couldn’t get any traction and legs kept sliding out. I even tried putting stripes of puff paint on the bottom of the “shoes,” but he still slipped.

Two others had splayed legs, one is getting around fine with taped legs. The other declined overnight. I noticed his belly felt very soft when I was applying the tape to his legs. Somehow, I found him laying flat and managed to get the surgical strips off. He’s not responding to much of anything. Other birds pooped on him, so I moved him to the incubator. It seems like there’s no point in retaping. I’m obviously not a bird expert, but I think his yolk sac wasn’t 100% absorbed, and now it’s scabbed over. Maybe infected.

Another day older was just limp and lethargic. He let me hold him upside down and his head drooped and he didn’t resist. He looks healthy. I saw some watery diarrhea near him, and cleaned the box and isolated him. I’m guessing hens can pass diseases to offspring through the eggs, or no?

 

[Nabiki]

Usually eggs don't carry disease. As long as the incubator and brooder are clean, it's a pretty safe bet that any issues with chicks aren't disease.

 

[Carterborchers]

Usually eggs don't carry disease. As long as the incubator and brooder are clean, it's a pretty safe bet that any issues with chicks aren't disease.

That’s good to know! I have people coming to pick up chicks tomorrow. They’ve been waiting a few weeks for this hatch. Thank you so much for being so responsive…you’ve been incredibly helpful! I’ve only kept 3 pair of buttons for about 8 months. Any eggs I hatched were from my own hens and not subjected to shipping, so I never experienced problems before (knock on wood). Of 60 eggs shipped (it was only supposed to be 20!) I ended up with about 50 babies. A bit more than I bargained for. Luckily, I have a list of people in the area wanting chicks, so rehoming won’t be an issues, and I think I got my whites I was looking for.

 

[Nabiki]

That’s good to know! I have people coming to pick up chicks tomorrow. They’ve been waiting a few weeks for this hatch. Thank you so much for being so responsive…you’ve been incredibly helpful! I’ve only kept 3 pair of buttons for about 8 months. Any eggs I hatched were from my own hens and not subjected to shipping, so I never experienced problems before (knock on wood). Of 60 eggs shipped (it was only supposed to be 20!) I ended up with about 50 babies. A bit more than I bargained for. Luckily, I have a list of people in the area wanting chicks, so rehoming won’t be an issues, and I think I got my whites I was looking for.

Shipping is rough on eggs. Not only do a fair number of them just not develop, sometimes they don't develop right. I'm terrified that I'm spending a LOT of money this month on a dozen svart hona hatching eggs and I won't get any chicks.