Jumbo Coturnix won't open eyes

Jun 9, 2023
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My quails hatched yesterday. Some needed assistance. I'm not sure if this is one that needed assistance or not but it won't open its eyes. I opened one eye for it just to make sure it's eyes worked. Yes. And I wet a q tip and dabbed the other eye to see if any gunk was crusted over it. Nope. I see an eye under there but for some reason it doesn't open them. A couple of these chicks had some blood loss during assistance hatching. Maybe it just doesn't feel well from blood loss? I don't know. I used the q tip to drop water on its beak and added a couple drops of nutri drench. I have the quail with me in my bra now keeping warm. All 29 other quails are fine, eating and drinking.
 
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My quails hatched yesterday. Some needed assistance. I'm not sure if this is one that needed assistance or not but it won't open its eyes. I opened one eye for it just to make sure it's eyes worked. Yes. And I wet a q tip and dabbed the other eye to see if any gunk was crusted over it. Nope. I see an eye under there but for some reason it doesn't open them. A couple of these chicks had some blood loss during assistance hatching. Maybe it just doesn't feel well from blood loss? I don't know. I used the q tip to drop water on its beak and added a couple drops of nutri drench. I have the quail with me in my bra now keeping warm. All 29 other quails are fine, eating and drinking.

I think you’re doing well so far, and though I don’t know what exactly could be happening, or what to do about it, but I’m sure someone will be along shortly who does, I do know that many blind birds can live long, happy lives, as long as things like food and water always stay in the same place, so even if things don’t get solved, there’s still hope!
 
Are the eyes red? I'm wondering if this one is albino. If that's the case, if they don't hatch blind, they usually go blind quite soon.
No it has black eyes. Not albino. I kept it in my bra and I was outside working. It's like 108 here and I went inside to check it. It opened one eye on its own. So I put it back in the brooder in hopes it might open its eye to eat. If it eats it will feel better.
 
It was in your bra in 108 degree weather? Yeah, that doesn't sound like it would be a happy chick. Putting it back into the brooder was probably the best option.
 
It was in your bra in 108 degree weather? Yeah, that doesn't sound like it would be a happy chick. Putting it back into the brooder was probably the best option.
Actually it settled nicely in there. I wasn't out for that long but I kept a check on it and it was settled and sleeping. That's all it was doing under the heater too. We have the AC running in the house and maybe it doesn't like the temperature inside? Maybe it doesn't feel super good...maybe it's cold. I don't know. I have the AC vent closed in the room with the brooder. It's 77 in there. It was doing well in the heat outside. I'm just glad it voluntarily opened one eye. I'll check in on it tomorrow and see how it's doing. All quails are asleep under the heater.
 
What is the temperature at the warm end of the brooder?
How many chicks do you have? If you have several, you can watch them to tell if they're hot or cold. If they're huddling together, they're cold, if they're laying stretched out away from the heat lamp, they're hot.
You mentioned blood loss from assisted hatching. A couple drops of blood is a lot for these little things, so that could be a factor if this one was one of them.
 
What is the temperature at the warm end of the brooder?
How many chicks do you have? If you have several, you can watch them to tell if they're hot or cold. If they're huddling together, they're cold, if they're laying stretched out away from the heat lamp, they're hot.
You mentioned blood loss from assisted hatching. A couple drops of blood is a lot for these little things, so that could be a factor if this one was one of them.
I had 30. I don't have a heat lamp. They were coming and going out from the heater, eating and drinking. I was so busy this morning so far I haven't had time to directly check that chick. I had to take 10 to their new home, I have baby chicks arriving from the post office today, cleaning out and prepping brooders. Crazy. I did observe all the chicks this morning as I was picking out 10 and I didn't see any with closed eyes. After I get home I can look through the remaining 20 and find that one and just see how it's doing. This morning I didn't see any still chicks. Everyone was pretty vigorous and eating/drinking well.
 
I had 30. I don't have a heat lamp. They were coming and going out from the heater, eating and drinking. I was so busy this morning so far I haven't had time to directly check that chick. I had to take 10 to their new home, I have baby chicks arriving from the post office today, cleaning out and prepping brooders. Crazy. I did observe all the chicks this morning as I was picking out 10 and I didn't see any with closed eyes. After I get home I can look through the remaining 20 and find that one and just see how it's doing. This morning I didn't see any still chicks. Everyone was pretty vigorous and eating/drinking well.
I checked the chick with the eye problem and it still has it. It won't open 1 eye on its own and only opens the one eye sometimes. I'm going to try the water and Nutridrench periodically and hope that helps it come around. I do not know if it is eating crumbles on it's own.
 

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