Just became a parent of orphaned quail, need help.

[Amytwinmom]

I opened my back door and baby quail ran into my house. By the time I caught them, mom and dad were nowhere to be found. I have several questions on how to care for them as I also haven't been able to find any bird rehabbers (Sunday in Utah). I made them a temporary home with a 20gal aquarim and a chick brooder light. We have raised plenty of chickens and still have some of the stuff. I used a terra cotta saucer for a water dish, filled it about a 1/4 of an inch and put glass pebbles in it. We have no quail food though and being Sunday, no feed stores are open. What can I feed them in the mean time? They are very stressed and I have put some boxes in for them to hide inside. I'm targeting the temperature to be between 80-90degrees F and will keep my eye on them.

Will the parents reject them at this point if we do find them?
How can we reintroduce them to their parents if not?
Anything else I should know about them?

Thank you so much for your help.

 

[TwoCrows]

Welcome to the BYC and the quail forums!

This seems to be going on a lot lately...people finding baby quail. LOL So you are not alone.

I would continue to find a wildlife rehabilitation facility that might take this baby. But in the mean time, it sounds like you are on the right track. Can you guess the age of the quail? Generally quail are brooded like chicken chicks...starting at around 95 degrees and the heat lowered by 5 degrees each week till 6 weeks of age. Quail are much tinier that chicken chicks. If you send along a pic, we might be able to tell what breed it is and how old it is. So as long as he is taller than 1 1/2 inches and shorter than 4 inches, you can start the heat out at around 90 degrees.

If you have any chicken chick starter, that will work for food until you can get gamebird food. Do not feed it layer feed. If you feed your roosters a flock raiser, you can feed that to the baby. All food will probably need to be crushed so the baby can eat it. If you do not have any feed you can feed him, hard boiled eggs will keep him alive till you can get feed. Warmed up baby food will also work. Anything thing to keep him going.

It is probably too late to find the parents or reintroduce him back in. If you turn him loose, he will no doubt not make it.

Good luck with this baby.

 

[TwoCrows]

Oh, and if this little guy is really tiny, you might want to get a jelly jar lid, put some tiny stones in it and fill it with water. This way he won't fall in and drown. Quail are notorious for falling into water.

 

[Amytwinmom]

Thank you so much, I'm going to boil an egg for them. I'll try to upload some pictures as soon as I can, but I'll wait until hubby comes home,I'm not tech savvy. I saw the parents and I believe they are California Quail. That is usually what we have in neighborhoods here in Utah. Little guys are scared and I put two little boxes in for them to hide in and they are venturing out now. I might try to put in a stuffed animal or make something out of yarn if you think that's a good idea?

 

[TwoCrows]

Be careful with yarn so they don't get tangled in it. You might want to catch them and dip their beaks in the water or tap with your fingers at the food so they know where it is. Keep it sprinkled around the floor around the feeder. (Lay paper towels down and sprinkle the feed on it.) Keep up the good work.

 

[Nichrome]

Since my last experience with boiled egg I have become a bit weary. A couple of chicks died of boiled egg indigestion!

Make sure that if you feed your chicks boiled egg it is smashed thinly and of a liquid/paste consistency so it is easy to digest.

 

[SavageChick]

Oh dear, I haven't heard of boiled egg being a problem before. Nichrome, did you feed your birds both the egg whites and the yolks? I'm just curious about this because I read somewhere to feed only the yolks, but don't recall a reason for why this was recommended. Have also read where people leave their boiled egg crumbs sit out for a while (I think it was 30-60 mins. if I remember it right) before giving it to their birds. Yet, there wasn't a reason given for doing it this way either. Now I'm more interested in knowing the reasons why some folks recommend doing it this way. Really sorry to hear you lost your chicks from this.

 

[Nichrome]

I had fed both the whites and the yolks and during the "autopsy" I only found the whites in the throat of the chicks! What I think is best and safes is to feed only the yolks, pasted and topped with some natural yoghurt to aid digestion and to make them more liquid.

 

[Amytwinmom]

Wow thanks everyone. I am grateful for your advice. I ended up putting a feather duster in there and they love it.

 

[Nichrome]

Just make sure they cannot get tangled in it.