Please help, quail is picking his butt

[Lady_Bat]

We just got baby quail yesterday morning (we've never had birds before). Out of 50: 1 DOA, 1 died in a few hours, 3 are worrying us. One of the 3 on the fence is a runt. He was doing a weird wattle so we checked him & found that he had paste butt. So we used a warm wet paper towel to unclog him. He seemed much happier/better. When we checked everyone 30 minutes later we saw him being abused & quickly broke it up. But the damage was done, it looks like his intestines are coming out. So we segregated him. Now he's pulling out his own intestines. At least that's what it looks like. What do we do? Put him down? If so, what's the kindest way? He looks like hes in pain, won't sit or lay down, crying, & picking his butt. I feel like a terrible mom right now. How do I help him?!

 

[Yorkshire Coop]

Sorry to hear about your quail It is a hard decision to make but if the little ones seems in pain and it is intestines protruding putting him down maybe the best option.

Could you post a pic?

 

[le_bwah]

If his intestines are really out, you can't fix that kind of damage, and the chick is likely in pain. A nice (sharp!) pair of scissors to take the head off, close to the skull, will kill instantly. Sorry your chicky got hurt.

 

[Lady_Bat]

Update: I used a pair of very sharp kitchen shears & helped him go to heaven. & now I need a beer. I've culled rabbits for food before but this was far more difficult, I guess because it was a baby? Big thank you to le_bwah, that's how I thought it should be done but wasn't 100%.
He (sorry, I just refer to it as a he, not sure if it was) had a kinda bulging belly, it looked different than the others & he walked like he was drunk. The hole where the intestines were coming out was at least a mm up the belly, away from the vent. I'm an EMT & thought maybe I could use a warm/moist paper towel to try to get things back in & possibly patch him up but it didn't work. & when he ripped a chunk off I knew I couldn't save him. I'm sorry we didn't think to take a picture, we haven't been this emotionally torn up since we had to put our dog down in January. My husband buried him with the other 2 that didn't make it.

 

[Yorkshire Coop]

Update: I used a pair of very sharp kitchen shears & helped him go to heaven. & now I need a beer. I've culled rabbits for food before but this was far more difficult, I guess because it was a baby? Big thank you to le_bwah, that's how I thought it should be done but wasn't 100%.
He (sorry, I just refer to it as a he, not sure if it was) had a kinda bulging belly, it looked different than the others & he walked like he was drunk. The hole where the intestines were coming out was at least a mm up the belly, away from the vent. I'm an EMT & thought maybe I could use a warm/moist paper towel to try to get things back in & possibly patch him up but it didn't work. & when he ripped a chunk off I knew I couldn't save him. I'm sorry we didn't think to take a picture, we haven't been this emotionally torn up since we had to put our dog down in January. My husband buried him with the other 2 that didn't make it.

I’m so sorry.

 

[le_bwah]

It's always sad when a baby's hurt, but you did the right thing.

 

[Heather2018!]

I'm so sorry you had to go through that! I just hatched several quail this summer and am new to 'quailing' as well. I have lost several chicks right after they hatched. Got a five day old button chick gasping for breath and has droopy wings. Don't think there is much I can do, aside from sugar water. Its hard.