Pipped on wrong end!

[SavageChick]

Thanks for posting the photo! I hope the little one will be okay for you without any problems.

 

[TwoCrows]

You might need to keep that one separated for a few days with a bit higher heat than the other babies. Sometimes the ones you help out of the egg are much weaker and colder. So you might offer him up a 97 or 98 degree brooder for a few days.

Good luck with this baby!

 

[MadamContrary]

Well I can now say I will probably never intervene again, though the chick is "alive" it's not thriving. It cannot walk and seems to have orientation issues. I had to splint curled toes and it is not really helping, poor baby was stuck too long or possibly nutrient deficient? It has no interest in food or water and it's mate does not view at as an equal. Sad to have brought it into the world and I will probably have to put it down. Now my other one will be alone, has anyone kept cortunix alone successfully? I cannot find a suitable mate locally! This whole situation was doomed from the start I think.

 

[TwoCrows]

Sorry about your baby. I tried to warn you. If they do not have the strength and lung power to get out of the egg, there is something wrong. Natures way of weeding out the weak ones. Zipping out of the egg is the first test mother nature gives a baby at the world. If it cannot pass this test, it will generally not pass survival.

Yes, single quail can survive alone, but they can get lonely. Prop up a feather duster in the corner, feathers down so the one that stays alive will have something feathery to snuggle into. Even a small stuffed animal will work. You can also put a small mirror at quail height so he will see himself and think there are other quail out there.

Some people have made pets out of lone quail. Especially Coturnix. They are easily tamed and will warm up to you if you spend enough time with them. They can make wonderful house pets. Good luck with both babies.

 

[MadamContrary]

Thank you for the help, with out a doubt natural selection is involved. It was hard to think of it suffering and dying in the shell but, all I did was prolong it's misery. Lesson learned, I guess now I have a house pet! Any chance I could put an adult button quail female with it? Or would it be purely dependent on the personality of the button?

 

[TwoCrows]

You can try mixing them. Buttons are pretty small and if the Button does not have an attitude, they may become best of friends. Just watch them for a time to make sure there is no aggression. Make sure that the quail baby does not access any layer feed or oyster shell. If it turns out to be a female, she can have any layer feed when she starts to lay. If it turns out to be a male, you will have to keep any calcium on the side so he is not forced to consume it.

 

[SavageChick]

Really sorry to hear that your chick did not make it. Your description matches that of the one that I "helped" in my first button hatch. It really is kind of a lesson learned, as you mentioned. Once you've done it with unfavorable results, you really don't want to go there again. Makes me wonder how so many others apparently have done it successfully - at least enough to create a "how to" lesson on it. I don't have any experience with mixing a button chick with an adult button hen, as the oldest I've mixed with a chick was only two weeks older. Would be interested to know how this goes for you if you decide to try it.

 

[James the Bald]

Well I can now say I will probably never intervene again, though the chick is "alive" it's not thriving....

Well, the one thing you can do is accept this as a learning experience and put it into your notes for "things to remember"in the future. Sometimes we do things with the best of intentions, and unfortunately, they do not turn out the way we would like.

 

[MadamContrary]

No doubt about that. unfortunately it did not make it and I egg-topsied the rest of the "pip and quitters" and they all had that same odd body to head ratio and curled toes. So my guess (obviously I am no expert) is that either it was genetic or a result of horrible air cells not allowing for normal growth and development. The one lone survivor is doing well and I was lucky to find someone who had a hatch on the same day so we are going to go pick up some buddies for it tonight. I am hoping the new ones are not carrying any diseases, but I don't think I can plausibly do 30 days quarantine.

 

[Rocktown Mama]

I don't know if you did.. but if you didn't this time, maybe next time you could try dry hatching? I did low humidity until lockdown... it was only my second hatch and got around a 90% hatch rate. Sorry things did not go well for you this time around