New Quail Chicks! -- I think we hatched an albino?

[Crowdango]

Since our current covey lost a few members over the winter, we decided to hatch a few more to bolster the numbers. Because brooding chickens in our living room wasn't enough, I guess. :'D We tried out a new egg source this time, a little less than 50% hatch rate - not awful for shipped eggs that I didn't let rest before throwing into the incubator. I really didn't want potentially 20 new quail anyway, so I'm happy with the number we got.

Any ideas on colors would be appreciated! I haven't hatched in a couple of years, so I've forgotten half of what I knew before, haha.

Most interestingly, I think we got an albino!

	<- Our black-eyed white/yellow chick for comparison! Red Eyes seems to be doing well so far, though I've read that they can fail to thrive. I'm hoping to keep a close eye on her and get her to adulthood. I know light can be an issue for them, but should I take any other considerations into account?

We're working on Bandito's legs/feet... I'm going to attempt to make her some shoes to help her curly toes, and give her some Cup Time (in a smaller cup than this very cozy looking teacup) to help strengthen her legs. I hope she does well; she's very pretty.

 

[Nabiki]

What does it mean if they’re bulging? Out of a dozen quail I got two albino-one looks normal and is doing great the other however does have bulging eyes

It's probably already blind and doesn't have a good chance of surviving. :-(

 

[Nabiki]

I have been raising jumbo browns since last summer and I recently had a little yellow chick that matured to solid white with just 2 small dark spots. Unable to feather sex obviously, but, I think it was a hen based on behavior. She was one of a small group with 1 rooster and 3 other hens. They were just reaching young adult when rooster attacked the white and intended death. I don't know how common that is, but, it has made me warry of mixing oddities.

That one sounds like a dotted white. They are often bred to jumbo size.

I have found that quail will pick on any odd ones. I have jokingly said that quail are racist, but seriously, if you have most of one colour and one or a few of another colour, they minority gets picked on.

I had a customer who picked out a bunch of pale birds from me and one dark one. I had to exchange the dark one because the others picked on it. They accepted the new light one with no trouble.

 

[Crowdango]

Took a couple of 2.5 week update shots! Unfortunately, we had some bad luck with this group and lost a few a bit later than we usually expect to...

• We learned that one of our cats can undo latches.... unfortunate for Black Eyes.
• Yellow had a mysterious limp one day, no visible injury, and the next had passed.
• Bandito also passed after about a week - no idea what caused it, but we were especially heartbroken about him.

The remaining six are doing well, though! Little albino (renamed Shrieksy because of her tendency to yell) has pretty certainly gone blind. She still gets around perfectly well on her own, though, and eats and drinks without a problem. We'll probably keep her and a buddy or two in a hutch as a pet as long as she continues to do okay.

Looks like Crazy Legs Alcatraz is a little pearl - and a girl, I think?

Red is, unsurprisingly, an scarlett(?) I think? I have a hard time with the specific color breakdowns - not sure if feather sexable or not.

Detective Squint looks to be some variety of pharaoh. Probably male, judging by the red on his chest? but there's spots too, so I'm not sure.

Punk Rock is... hard for me to identify. Grau fee, probably? The barring on the chest is very pretty, and I love her dramatic eye makeup.

And BEAN!! Who is my favorite - she's the most confident quail I've ever met, and is happy to just sit on my lap forever and gently stand in my hand. She likes to stand right at the front of the brooder and tease the cat, and she isn't afraid of no things. I'm not really sure what to call her color, but she'll probably be Shrieksy's hutch buddy as long as they turn out to be the same sex. :')

 

[Nabiki]

Good luck with your little albino. Its eyes are red, but they aren't bulging, so that's good. It may be light sensitive, so try to limit exposure to bright light.

If you're lucky, it will be a cinnamon hen rather than an albino.

 

[Crowdango]

Even though they don't like interaction much, our quail are definitely pets! The 5 we have outside all have names, too.

These ones were just supposed to be identifiers until we were sure we wouldn't lose any... But now they've stuck. A few will probably get better ones once they're older.

Also, the little albino is still doing great! Eating and drinking well, and was the first one to figure out how to climb onto the brooder plate, haha.

 

[TinaandJohnny]

Even though they don't like interaction much, our quail are definitely pets! The 5 we have outside all have names, too.

These ones were just supposed to be identifiers until we were sure we wouldn't lose any... But now they've stuck. A few will probably get better ones once they're older.

Also, the little albino is still doing great! Eating and drinking well, and was the first one to figure out how to climb onto the brooder plate, haha.

I’ve only had quail for about a year but the little trick I use to get them very excited for interaction is live crickets. They LOVE them. Especially when the girls are laying. They come running up to the door of the cage, crying and begging for them. It’s made them very friendly. The males like them too because if they get one, they can show it off for the girls. I start them off young getting use to them. It’s great protein as well.
And that’s so cute, you’ll have to post on this thread when she/he is a little older so we can see how beautiful!

 

[DaphneMama723]

Good luck with your little albino. Its eyes are red, but they aren't bulging, so that's good. It may be light sensitive, so try to limit exposure to bright light.

If you're lucky, it will be a cinnamon hen rather than an albino.

What does it mean if they’re bulging? Out of a dozen quail I got two albino-one looks normal and is doing great the other however does have bulging eyes

 

[TinaandJohnny]

Took a couple of 2.5 week update shots! Unfortunately, we had some bad luck with this group and lost a few a bit later than we usually expect to...

• We learned that one of our cats can undo latches.... unfortunate for Black Eyes.
• Yellow had a mysterious limp one day, no visible injury, and the next had passed.
• Bandito also passed after about a week - no idea what caused it, but we were especially heartbroken about him.

The remaining six are doing well, though! Little albino (renamed Shrieksy because of her tendency to yell) has pretty certainly gone blind. She still gets around perfectly well on her own, though, and eats and drinks without a problem. We'll probably keep her and a buddy or two in a hutch as a pet as long as she continues to do okay.

View attachment 3493793

View attachment 3493794
Looks like Crazy Legs Alcatraz is a little pearl - and a girl, I think?
View attachment 3493795
Red is, unsurprisingly, an scarlett(?) I think? I have a hard time with the specific color breakdowns - not sure if feather sexable or not.
View attachment 3493798View attachment 3493799
Detective Squint looks to be some variety of pharaoh. Probably male, judging by the red on his chest? but there's spots too, so I'm not sure.

View attachment 3493796View attachment 3493797
Punk Rock is... hard for me to identify. Grau fee, probably? The barring on the chest is very pretty, and I love her dramatic eye makeup.

View attachment 3493800View attachment 3493801

And BEAN!! Who is my favorite - she's the most confident quail I've ever met, and is happy to just sit on my lap forever and gently stand in my hand. She likes to stand right at the front of the brooder and tease the cat, and she isn't afraid of no things. I'm not really sure what to call her color, but she'll probably be Shrieksy's hutch buddy as long as they turn out to be the same sex. :')

Awe I’m sorry for your losses. That’s actually what happened to my blind quail. A cat. I had them out in a pen outside so they could be in the grass, and I was absent maybe 20 minutes and a cat reached through and grabbed him. So sad. And I know it was a cat because it tried to come back later that night to get into their hutch. That didn’t happen. I guess some inebriated lady had been feeding stray cats on our road, immediately down our driveway. We put a stop to that real quick. I was so upset because I had spend SO much time with him to make sure he was healthy.
He did get picked on by other males so I ended up putting him with all my mellow females and he was happy, he liked to hide though.
I had a feeling your little albino would be blind. Mine was all white too but originally had the normal colored eyes that eventually turned almost white.
I love your little Red one. Reminds me of my Summer. She’s a Coturnix but a ginger one. Keep updates on the albino! I’ve got a soft spot for blind quail!

 

[TinaandJohnny]

Since our current covey lost a few members over the winter, we decided to hatch a few more to bolster the numbers. Because brooding chickens in our living room wasn't enough, I guess. :'D We tried out a new egg source this time, a little less than 50% hatch rate - not awful for shipped eggs that I didn't let rest before throwing into the incubator. I really didn't want potentially 20 new quail anyway, so I'm happy with the number we got.

Any ideas on colors would be appreciated! I haven't hatched in a couple of years, so I've forgotten half of what I knew before, haha.

Most interestingly, I think we got an albino!

View attachment 3471375	View attachment 3471376
View attachment 3471377	<- Our black-eyed white/yellow chick for comparison! Red Eyes seems to be doing well so far, though I've read that they can fail to thrive. I'm hoping to keep a close eye on her and get her to adulthood. I know light can be an issue for them, but should I take any other considerations into account?
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We're working on Bandito's legs/feet... I'm going to attempt to make her some shoes to help her curly toes, and give her some Cup Time (in a smaller cup than this very cozy looking teacup) to help strengthen her legs. I hope she does well; she's very pretty.

I love how you named them all. Mine all have names too. I did hatch a chick one time that was blind. He was such a sweet thing. He thrived well but I had to help him find food when he was a chick. Just keep an eye on your albino one in case he goes blind but that’s a cool chick. I’d love to see what he looks like as an adult.