Quail Chick Questions

[AQuailNamedFrancis]

Hello BYC - It has been a long time - it is good to be back!

I guess to jump right into it - yesterday my little floof balls hatched (Coturnix Quail) and have been moved to the brooder after everyone was dry. So far 10/12 eggs have hatched with everyone but maybe 1 seemingly healthy. My only concern is with one chick who does not hold its head up fully 'normal' compared to the rest of them. I have been keeping a close eye on her and she is able to eat, drink, walk and cuddle with the crew. I hope I am just being paranoid - but could it be something like wry neck or neurological problem and if so any vitamin recommendations / strategies for healing? My other question is the last 2 eggs have zero pips exterior or interior - I assume I should just keep them in the incubator for some extra days and hope for the best? I candled them super fast after getting the dry chicks out and they don't look dead and appear to be fully developed - perhaps they understand living rent free in an egg is pretty awesome .

(This Quail Here ^ ^ ^ is the one who doesn't fully hold her head up Ill continue to keep a close eye on her)

I'm going to have any army of Pearls and Italians - with the exception of some Tibetans lol!

 

[Nabiki]

It's hard to tell from the picture what, if anything is wrong with your one chick. It doesn't appear to be wry neck since the head is pointing straight forward and I'm not seeing any kink in the neck. Keeping an eye on it is probably the best thing you can do for now.

If the last two eggs look to be fine when you candled, I would leave them in the incubator for a couple more days. Sometimes there will be cool spots in an incubator and that can delay development a bit.

 

[TeresaW]

Hello BYC - It has been a long time - it is good to be back!

I guess to jump right into it - yesterday my little floof balls hatched (Coturnix Quail) and have been moved to the brooder after everyone was dry. So far 10/12 eggs have hatched with everyone but maybe 1 seemingly healthy. My only concern is with one chick who does not hold its head up fully 'normal' compared to the rest of them. I have been keeping a close eye on her and she is able to eat, drink, walk and cuddle with the crew. I hope I am just being paranoid - but could it be something like wry neck or neurological problem and if so any vitamin recommendations / strategies for healing? My other question is the last 2 eggs have zero pips exterior or interior - I assume I should just keep them in the incubator for some extra days and hope for the best? I candled them super fast after getting the dry chicks out and they don't look dead and appear to be fully developed - perhaps they understand living rent free in an egg is pretty awesome .

View attachment 3905624
(This Quail Here ^ ^ ^ is the one who doesn't fully hold her head up Ill continue to keep a close eye on her)

I'm going to have any army of Pearls and Italians - with the exception of some Tibetans lol!

Welcome back and congrats on your little ones.

 

[AQuailNamedFrancis]

Thank you Nabiki! Sounds good I will keep an eye on the little bugger!

(Edit) - Thank you Teresa!

 

[Susan Skylark]

This is a wry neck (could eat and drink), never improved but survived.

I love your little Italians, so cute! If you don’t have any hatching or pips after another day or two you can try water candling to see if they are even alive. Do not attempt if there is any crack or hole in the shell or the chick will drown. But if you are going to toss the eggs anyway, it may be worth a shot. Fill a glass with 100F (not C!) water and gently float the egg in the warm water on a sturdy and unmoving surface (no dryer or vacuum or kids or dogs or trains rumbling in the vicinity!). If the egg just sits there it is dead, a living egg will bob around and jiggle a bit causing ripples in the water. Dry off live eggs and return to the incubator, dispose of dead ones. I only do this after everybody is hatched and I want to clean up the incubator and there’s only one egg left.

 

[AQuailNamedFrancis]

Thank you Susan! I’ll give them some more time and try the water candling if needed!

 

[Nabiki]

View attachment 3905939
This is a wry neck (could eat and drink), never improved but survived.

I love your little Italians, so cute! If you don’t have any hatching or pips after another day or two you can try water candling to see if they are even alive. Do not attempt if there is any crack or hole in the shell or the chick will drown. But if you are going to toss the eggs anyway, it may be worth a shot. Fill a glass with 100F (not C!) water and gently float the egg in the warm water on a sturdy and unmoving surface (no dryer or vacuum or kids or dogs or trains rumbling in the vicinity!). If the egg just sits there it is dead, a living egg will bob around and jiggle a bit causing ripples in the water. Dry off live eggs and return to the incubator, dispose of dead ones. I only do this after everybody is hatched and I want to clean up the incubator and there’s only one egg left.

Egg shells are porous. Float test (or water candling) is really not recommended. It's better to take a candler or flashlight and take a look that way.

 

[AQuailNamedFrancis]

So today is now day 21 and these last 2 eggs have no pips / anything going on - I think its probably fair to assume that they wont make it?

I assume they are not viable - should I give it a little longer or is it time to turn the incubator off?

Thank you.

 

[Nabiki]

Those look dead to me.