Incubated Baby Button Quail (HELP)

[BellaTweety]

Hey guys, it's been a week since the baby hatched and I noticed a few days ago that the little guy had red toes! It looked terrible and bloody almost and I don't know what caused it. I took out the Timothy hay that was its bedding and replaced it with some softer paper towels. I have also been gently dipping it's toes in coconut oil to soothe them/hydrate them. I don't know if it's working but I want to know why it's happening. Is it diet, substrate, or something else? (Forgot to say that I also put some oyster shell in its dish)

I will be posting a photo to hopefully give you guys an idea on what the hoo ha is going on.

Thanks once again

 

[BellaTweety]

 

[DK newbie]

Looks like its toe tips are going to rot off.. Usually I'd say something has been restricting the blod flow, causing the tissue to die, but as it's happening only at the tips of the toes and on all the toes, and there doesn't seem to be anything tangled around the toes, I'm not quite sure about that. It kind of looks like frost damage - the extremes of the body are affected first, because that's where the blood has most trouble keeping you warm. But I doubt you've exposed it to frost ^^ So, my guesses:
1) Button chick feet could be very sensitive to cold and going cold during the first few days of its life could have caused so little blood to get to the feet for so long that this process started.
2) Maybe it's the opposite - could the heating pad be too warm? But I guess you'd expect damage at the bottom of the feet then, and probably not looking like this very typical restricted blodflow damage (gangrene)..
3) Does motherconure ever preen his toes? She could have bitten a little too hard, causing the blood vessels to rupture or something..
4) Something genetically wrong with the chick, for instance causing the skin on the toes to be too tight, not allowing blood out there as it grows.
5) Something (poop? Hay? Hair?) has been wrapped around his toes for too long at one point.
6) Oyster shell only puts the organs under pressure on a small chick that doesn't need it, so I would stop using it. I don't know if it can cause anything like this though..

If the cause of the problem has been removed (but I guess it's hard to tell if it has), I wouldn't worry too much about it. I think he is going to loose the tips of his toes no matter what you do. It might get a nasty, exposed bone-like look, but I don't think it'll hurt the chick and it'll most likely fall of on its own, though it might take a while.

Good luck to both of you

 

[BellaTweety]

I don't think it would be frostbite, I have never to little even let the baby shiver, so I think that's out of the picture. It could very well be the heat pad, but again it would probably not just be the tips of the toes. I have never seen mother conure (Sunny) preen its toes. Whenever she's too rough I take her out for a bit, to avoid any injury as this. It could be her, but because the way I watch them I doubt it could be this. I dont know if it could be genetic, I got my quail from a breeder but I do know that the male and female are not related, since I made sure I got them separately. But their parents may have had inbreeding or this as well. I am not always home so I am unsure if anything has ever been stuck on its toes. But my question is if she did then why would it be on all of her toes? And thank you about the tip on oyster shells, glad I haven't given her too much. It is such a shame that her toes are going to fall of since she is such a pretty chick. But seeing as it appears the very flesh has rotted to the bone, I don't have much hope. I guess better look out next time to avoid this again! Thanks

 

[contactvidura]

You can remove them from the incubator and put in a brooder once they are dried and fluffed... Within first 36 hours they wont eat much some chicks don't eat at all.. But when they are hungry they will start to peck everything they see. If you only got 2 chicks, make the brooder very small and covered. Spill small amounts of food crumble everywhere on floor/bedding and keep a dish of water with play marbles. They are very intelligent birds. They learn things very fast. If they looks normal, you need not to worry at all. But if they cant lift their heads, or cannot walk as usual, or notice something unusual then only you need to worry. By the way based on my experience its very hard to get chicks when you incubate just 2 eggs... You need to put at least 7 eggs for a successful hatching...

I don't think it would be frostbite, I have never to little even let the baby shiver, so I think that's out of the picture. It could very well be the heat pad, but again it would probably not just be the tips of the toes. I have never seen mother conure (Sunny) preen its toes. Whenever she's too rough I take her out for a bit, to avoid any injury as this. It could be her, but because the way I watch them I doubt it could be this. I dont know if it could be genetic, I got my quail from a breeder but I do know that the male and female are not related, since I made sure I got them separately. But their parents may have had inbreeding or this as well. I am not always home so I am unsure if anything has ever been stuck on its toes. But my question is if she did then why would it be on all of her toes? And thank you about the tip on oyster shells, glad I haven't given her too much. It is such a shame that her toes are going to fall of since she is such a pretty chick. But seeing as it appears the very flesh has rotted to the bone, I don't have much hope. I guess better look out next time to avoid this again! Thanks

By the way what kind of heating are you using? What kind of a brooder are they in?

 

[BellaTweety]

I made a diy brooder from a plastic tub, a lamp, and a heating pad (since the lamp doesn't emit heat)

 

[boblo]

I think to keep your chicken safe, you should put a blanket on it, That should do.