NEED HELP Hatched Button/Chinese painted quail eggs!

[Krystal Jones]

My Chinese painted female has been laying on eggs for ages. I did not know they were fertile but 4 have just hatched. What do I do? I have removed the male bird and placed him in a separate pen as he tried to take one of the chicks. What do I do with them? I really want to remove them from the flight as I have several zebra finches and am receiving a new stock and don't want them disturbed. I have a cage that I want to put the mother and baby in but is that possible to move them? Will the mother disown her chicks?


I'm incredibly desperate and need help!
This wasn't expected as I thought the eggs would be unfertile as most of my ones are. I have 4 chicks now and feel I need to act a little quicker than I am.

I have chick crumb, a cage ect.. Can I place the mother and chicks in a cut out mini cereal box as a nest? Will they be okay outside in the cage or can I keep them in doors?


I am panicking as you can tell, so please help, any help/advice given is soooooo appreciated!

 

[GrandmaBird]

Was the male actually hurting the chick or was he trying to sit on it to keep it warm? You can try moving the hen and chicks into another cage but do not be surprised if she wont take care of the chicks, wither you move them or not. I would keep them indoors and sit up a brooder incase you need it.

Here is a link to a site about buttons you will find brooder info there:

http://brackenridgeranch.com/

Jodi is the queen of button knowledge.

be sure that the chicks can get to the food and water but that they cannot fall into the water and get wet. if they do they will die from the cold in a very short time. place marbles or stones in the water dish. sprinkle the food on the floor until you can see that they are eating from the dish with mom.
The hen will sit on them to keep them warm just like a chicken or other birds, finches, do. the main difference is they do not need to be fed by the parents. and can run and jump right away after hatching.

any more questions let me know and good luck they are addicting little buggers!

 

[Krystal Jones]

Thanks so much for replying. I moved the mother and her 4 chicks and three other eggs in to a really nice bird cage. She hasn't abandoned the chicks and is a wonderful mother. However, another egg hatched and she disowned the little chick so I have him inside with me in a brooder I bought over three years ago and it still works like a dream. The chick is taking a really long time to 'fluff up' though as it's still damp so i'm not sure what to do about that

. I went in to where the hen and her babies were this morning because I left the chick in with her last night and it was cold so I scooped the poor thing up thinking it was dead but it start nestled between my fingers. I have never ever felt such a cold bird in all my life. So it's in my brooder now and has warmed up. Is it a problem that the bird hasn't 'fluffed up' and dried out yet?


Thanks so much for your reply!



Oh and yeah the male dragged the chick away from it's mother and started pecking it and had very aggressive body language.

 

[Krystal Jones]

The chick (named Miracle) died 10 minutes ago

 

[GrandmaBird]

sorry about the chick but if the mother did not take care of it there might have been some trouble with it anyway. Dang, but you are very lucky to have her taking care of the others! Most don't even sit long enough to hatch any. Good work!

so it was a good move to take the hen and chicks out silly males. So best of luck with these little ones and keep us updated, photos are great too!
Good luck!

 

[Krystal Jones]

Yeah, aww, thank you for all your help! Today the babies are starting to find their feet and are exploring a little more, all 4 are healthy and very lively little things!



This is one of the chicks with it's momma
This was pretty much 5 minutes after the first chick hatched as it's still a little wet.

More pics coming soon

 

[Krystal Jones]

Momma and her 2nd chick

 

[elsfieldchickens]

How are they doing now?