One chick chirping much more than the others

[Jannbo]

So a few days ago I had my first experience with raising quail when my mom brought home a lone gambel who's parents had been killed and didn't have any siblings in sight that we couldn't get a rescue to take. Unfortunately he passed from a seizure while I was holding him to take the poop covered towel out to put a fresh one in. It was sad but I fell in love with quail from it and the next day I went and got some celadon chicks from someone locally. They're all less than a week old with the oldest being about 5-6 days I'd guess and the youngest probably being 3.

They're all healthy, eating, drinking, pooping and sleeping like normal. I had one scare yesterday a bit after I got them. One of the older chicks wasn't looking very good but a couple drops of sugar water and he's been lively ever since. For the most part they're all pretty quiet. They'll chirp now and then, cry when I need to take their water dish and food out to clean them so they're not eating their own poop, and whenever I have to pick them up to move them to a temp brooder so I can clean theirs out in the morning. Two of them will chirp bit to let me know they don't like it when I have to pick them up and struggle a bit, but nothing major. The oldest one cries a lot when I have to move him but when the others are in there he quiets back down. But a younger all yellow one will freak out when I move him. He squirms to the point if I'm not super quick he'll get out of my hands and cry nonstop during it. That's not the issue. I understand it's stressful for him and he just happens to be a bird that particularly has an issue with being held, so I don't pick him up unless I absolutely have to. The problem is that he seems to be chirping almost nonstop. The other birds do chirp, but its more often that they're quiet, especially at night. This little guy will start chirping even at night when the other three are sleeping. He'll go for about 5 minutes then stop, then pick back up after a little while until he completely falls asleep. I'm wondering if there's something wrong that might be making him more vocal than the others of if he's probably just a much more timid bird than the others. The heat should be fine because the others have been sitting around the middle and occasionally going to the spot where I have the reptile pad to get a bit warmer.

I recorded a video of it and I'll paste the link to it. Yes I know one looks dead, they're not. I know they sleep like that but these birds rarely do so on the rare occasions they do I freak a bit. The light shining down in the video isn't normally there, its just a soft light I was using so you can actually see. Also I do clean their cage frequently. For some reason they always decide to cover the paper towels right after a put clean one in

Here's some clearer photos of all four from yesterday after I got them. The one who keeps chirping and crying is the fully yellow one. The one with a black beak and the one with the black top and yellow body have both been jumping a lot and trying to fly today. All four are pruning themselves today but yesterday the one with a brown top and yellow body hadn't started pruning. That one seems to have least developed feathers on their wing so I think they're a bit younger. All four of them love to dig in their bedding after kicking their food off the paper towel. Also that heater on the side isn't the main heater. There's a more powerful one on the bottom side of the brooder that is fully adjustable with a thermometer inside the brooder so it doesn't get too hot. That way there's a bit more variation in the warm areas they can go to

 

[Ursuline Chick]

He does look sad. Is he a different breed and/or younger than the others? He seems smaller than the others. He may just be lonely and scared. In time he should bond with the others, just be patient if you can. Good Luck

Do you think he has imprinted on you?

 

[007Sean]

I can't hear it chirpping in the video but it's behavior isn't anything that would indicate something is wrong! Some chicks are just more vocal about their situation than others.
You may have to watch them closely as they get older....it being the 'odd one' out...meaning it's a different color, sometimes they get picked on more than others.

 

[Nabiki]

I agree with @007Sean. In my experience there is almost always one chick in any hatch that just. will. not. shut. up.

 

[Jannbo]

He does look sad. Is he a different breed and/or younger than the others? He seems smaller than the others. He may just be lonely and scared. In time he should bond with the others, just be patient if you can. Good Luck

Do you think he has imprinted on you?

Unfortunately he definitely hasn't, he still freaks out anytime I have to move him so I can clean their brooder and is generally !more distant than the other three. I don't think he's a different breed since the breeder said they were all celadons, but its a bit hard to know for sure since I didn't hatch them myself. I was thinking him and the one that is yellow and brown were a bit younger at first but I'm pretty sure as of today they're all 7 days old based on the development of their wing feathers so far. Those two are probably a few hours younger than the fully black one and the black and yellow one since those two have a bit more defined feathers. So far he's been very active with the other 3 so hopefully it'll get better for him. He's still more vocal than the others today but its just been tiny cheeps except when I had to pick him up. He's not making as many crying noises so I'm thinking he was just stressed by a new environment as well as having to be picked up earlier so I could safely clean. I'm gonna keep a closer eye on him for sure though, make sure there's no negatives changes

 

[Jannbo]

I agree with @007Sean. In my experience there is almost always one chick in any hatch that just. will. not. shut. up.

Better him just liking the sound of his own voice than there being something wrong. Although I might be saying something different after being woken up at 2 am cause of it lol

 

[Jannbo]

I can't hear it chirpping in the video but it's behavior isn't anything that would indicate something is wrong! Some chicks are just more vocal about their situation than others.
You may have to watch them closely as they get older....it being the 'odd one' out...meaning it's a different color, sometimes they get picked on more than others.

The chirps were definitely quiet in the video so it might not be playing super loud, but they were definitely there. Glad its nothing super concerning, just wanting to make sure I take every precaution on the chance it is.

I've definitely been keeping a close eye on him just to be sure, but all four get along well so hopefully that won't be an issue down the road.

 

[CliftonQuail]

The chirps were definitely quiet in the video so it might not be playing super loud, but they were definitely there. Glad its nothing super concerning, just wanting to make sure I take every precaution on the chance it is.

I've definitely been keeping a close eye on him just to be sure, but all four get along well so hopefully that won't be an issue down the road.

It looks like you're using a plastic tote as a brooder. You mentioned having to move the birds into a temporary container when cleaning the main brooder and that stresses out the one bird more than the rest. Would it be possible to get a second identical tote and just swap the birds from one to the other each time you need to clean? That way, you're only moving them once each time instead of twice (main to temp and back). That's how I've been doing it for the last several hatches I've done and they seem a lot calmer about the whole process.

That said, I agree with @Nabiki and @007Sean, there's almost always one of the silly buggers that never shuts up.

 

[Kiki]

The feed...can you put some in to a zip lock bag and take a hammer to it. The crumbles look a little too big.

Hammer it up for a week.

 

[Jannbo]

It looks like you're using a plastic tote as a brooder. You mentioned having to move the birds into a temporary container when cleaning the main brooder and that stresses out the one bird more than the rest. Would it be possible to get a second identical tote and just swap the birds from one to the other each time you need to clean? That way, you're only moving them once each time instead of twice (main to temp and back). That's how I've been doing it for the last several hatches I've done and they seem a lot calmer about the whole process.

That said, I agree with @Nabiki and @007Sean, there's almost always one of the silly buggers that never shuts up.

Its not a tote, its one of those large plastic storage tubs. I would do the two separate tubs right now and swap them just once, but I use two reptile heaters for warmth, one stuck to the bottom and the other by a corner on the side with the main heater in case they need a bit extra warmth, and they can't really be removed without ruining the sticky side. If it doesn't get better for him then I'll most likely need to order a heat lamp or some more heater pads to set up the second brooder for that. Other thing I'd be worried about is the size difference because their brooder is probably about twice as big as that temporary one, and with them start to jump pretty high to stretch their wings, the lower height of the netting might be an issue.

I do quite like the idea though of it and if I don't switch to doing it that way with them this time, I'll be giving that a try when I have my own hatch. Hate seeing them stress out just from being moved so that seems like a great solution!