My little chick that just hatched this morning just died, and I'm trying to figure out what happened and what I should do.
I got a pair of bobwhite quail in March, and they started laying eggs daily right away. I have been putting them in the incubator, and 2 hatched about 4 weeks ago. Those chicks are big and strong now and just about ready to be taken outside. There was a gap between the firstborns and the rest of the eggs I set in the incubator, and the newest chick didn't hatch until today.
I was a bit concerned, because about a week ago, between the time the first chicks hatched and the newest chick was born, the mother suddenly came down with a sickness and a very bad fever, she was panting heavily. I took her to the vet the next morning and the vet said she had an infection, and was on the verge of death-although, whether it was a contagious infection or not she didn't know. It came on suddenly and her fever was so high it was just below the lethal temp. The vet gave her a cold bath and antibiotics and she started recovering pretty quickly. Now, her mate also seemed at times like he was mildly sick, and they were living in the same cage. He started sneezing a lot, and I started suspecting that it might have been some kind of flu going around that just hit her a lot harder.
Now, back to the newborn chick. He seemed relatively healthy when he first hatched, though a little small, but active enough. I placed him in with the older chicks, but separated them so he wouldn't get crushed. I was immediately concerned, though, because I noticed that every now and then, he would start panting. That seemed very odd for a small, wet chick to be overheated, especially when the others were running around and flying and fully covered in feathers and not panting at all. I never saw the other chicks pant like that when they were born. And it wasn't hotter than normal in there, either. But, he seemed otherwise healthy enough, so I left him alone and came back a few hours later to check on him. If he was hot before, he wasn't anymore, because now he was huddled right underneath the lamp. In fact, something seemed off about him, because now he was shaking-almost like he was shivering. He stayed in that corner for about 20 minutes, and I was concerned so I decided to pick him up and make sure he was okay. When I lifted off the screen he started peeping like crazy, and struggling to move, but he seemed like he was having trouble getting up, only managing to roll over on his back. He seemed stuck, and so I picked him up gently and then I realized he was dead.
I know that it's normal to lose a few chicks out of a batch, and that they are very vulnerable at this age, but I am still concerned because of the possibility that this chick could have contracted the illness from his mother and it could cause further casualties. The egg was laid before she was sick, but there were lots of other eggs she had laid right up to the day I took her to the vet that could have been infected in the incubator with him. I am wondering if this sickness is just a flu of some sort that is just hitting the weakest and more vulnerable ones especially hard, and that makes me worried because I'm hoping the rest of the chicks that will hatch soon don't come down with it. I don't want any more casualties to future chicks. So I am wondering what I should do and what might possibly have been the cause of the chick's death. If anybody has any ideas or information, I'd appreciate all the advice I can get.
I got a pair of bobwhite quail in March, and they started laying eggs daily right away. I have been putting them in the incubator, and 2 hatched about 4 weeks ago. Those chicks are big and strong now and just about ready to be taken outside. There was a gap between the firstborns and the rest of the eggs I set in the incubator, and the newest chick didn't hatch until today.
I was a bit concerned, because about a week ago, between the time the first chicks hatched and the newest chick was born, the mother suddenly came down with a sickness and a very bad fever, she was panting heavily. I took her to the vet the next morning and the vet said she had an infection, and was on the verge of death-although, whether it was a contagious infection or not she didn't know. It came on suddenly and her fever was so high it was just below the lethal temp. The vet gave her a cold bath and antibiotics and she started recovering pretty quickly. Now, her mate also seemed at times like he was mildly sick, and they were living in the same cage. He started sneezing a lot, and I started suspecting that it might have been some kind of flu going around that just hit her a lot harder.
Now, back to the newborn chick. He seemed relatively healthy when he first hatched, though a little small, but active enough. I placed him in with the older chicks, but separated them so he wouldn't get crushed. I was immediately concerned, though, because I noticed that every now and then, he would start panting. That seemed very odd for a small, wet chick to be overheated, especially when the others were running around and flying and fully covered in feathers and not panting at all. I never saw the other chicks pant like that when they were born. And it wasn't hotter than normal in there, either. But, he seemed otherwise healthy enough, so I left him alone and came back a few hours later to check on him. If he was hot before, he wasn't anymore, because now he was huddled right underneath the lamp. In fact, something seemed off about him, because now he was shaking-almost like he was shivering. He stayed in that corner for about 20 minutes, and I was concerned so I decided to pick him up and make sure he was okay. When I lifted off the screen he started peeping like crazy, and struggling to move, but he seemed like he was having trouble getting up, only managing to roll over on his back. He seemed stuck, and so I picked him up gently and then I realized he was dead.
I know that it's normal to lose a few chicks out of a batch, and that they are very vulnerable at this age, but I am still concerned because of the possibility that this chick could have contracted the illness from his mother and it could cause further casualties. The egg was laid before she was sick, but there were lots of other eggs she had laid right up to the day I took her to the vet that could have been infected in the incubator with him. I am wondering if this sickness is just a flu of some sort that is just hitting the weakest and more vulnerable ones especially hard, and that makes me worried because I'm hoping the rest of the chicks that will hatch soon don't come down with it. I don't want any more casualties to future chicks. So I am wondering what I should do and what might possibly have been the cause of the chick's death. If anybody has any ideas or information, I'd appreciate all the advice I can get.
