Quail chick with a wry neck? - Advice needed

[jsheepdog]

Hello!

We have a chick that hatched yesterday. It took a long time after its first pip to finally unzip itself.
We found its neck was bent over as though it was still in its shell We've not seen anything like it before! It tried very hard to stand and walk but it kept tumbling over itself.
We didn't think it was going to make it through the night. But we kept it hydrated by hand feeding it water and it was encouraging to see it get stronger by the hour.

This morning, we saw it was able to prop itself up and walk a few steps without tumbling. Its neck was still bent but we could see that it was able to somehow lift it for a few moments.

This evening, it's feeding on its own and able to walk around and somewhat able to hold its head straight.

Has anyone had this experience? Is this called wry neck? Other than the neck, it seems so healthy.

Any advice on what we should do?

Thanks in advance!

 

[GrandmaBird]

He looks okay to me just a bit crooked on the neck. I would just put him with the others and let nature take its course. I am betting he will be just fine. It will make it easier to id this one!

 

[jsheepdog]

Thanks for the reply! It does seem like it's gonna be ok
Running around a lot (doing laps today it seems) and he's able to hold his head up a lot longer.
The other chicks in the brooder are a lot older by about 10 days.
Though they are able to see each other through the divider, I'm not sure how they would react to the little one.
But the little one is taking their lead though. Sleeps when they sleep, eat when they eat...
Do you think it would be good for him to join them?

I also read about supplementing his diet with Vit E. Is that necessary if he is already showing signs of recovery?
Are chicks this young able to take pound up fruit and vegetables?

I'm so excited to see how he grows up. He's so full of life!

 

[kmkr79]

So long as he can eat and drink, he should recover fine. I had a baby with this exact same problem, hard time hatching and shrink-wrapped neck, at their fast growth rate the extra time in the shell and continuing to grow kept cramming his poor head. Usually they are out fast enough they can then stretch out their tendons before this is a problem, but extra time in the egg means no stretching room, tendons lock up, tighter space with the continued growth, pinched and weakened nerves in the neck= floppy neck at hatch. Usually you will see them sway head side to side as this is the most movement they can really get as they are trying to look around.

I popped the top of the egg and eventually helped my kid out (was my fault anyways, incy got a little too dry overnight). First day out he just swayed his head side to side, keeping it tucked down, couldn't lift it, and when I tried to help him lift his head, there was not much flex, neck stayed pretty tight. He was pecking at food and I used a gatorade bottle cap for water, since it was so low of a lip he could hang his head over it and get some water without lifting much - be sure he can actually drink though! Usually quail lift their head to let water roll down. If you have not seen yours do this yet, dip his beak and tip his head/body up a few times to let that water roll - if he is dehydrated you will see his feet and wing tips getting skinny instead of nicely plump.

I also -very gently- would tilt his head up slightly to let the muscle and tendons stretch a tiny bit..I only push to the point of what looked like slight discomfort (peep and/or struggle).

By 3rd day after hatching great improvement, he was lifting his head up almost normally, able to drink ok, and running around without tripping over his own head (which he did on the first 2 days...poor guy, I couldn't help but laugh a couple times watching him trip over his own head, tumble, and kick his feet a few times trying to right himself).

4th day, could hardly tell him from his siblings, eating/drinking/running just fine, stretching his neck out on his own to look around.

Your kid sounds like he's in the stages of recovery and should do ok so long as he's able to drink and eat, he'll keep stretching his neck and should recover normal movement.

 

[kmkr79]

Oh....10 days younger than the others..I would not mix him in as it will be harder to tell if he is eating/drinking ok-the big kids might snarf down food and water and make it tougher for him to find them, and if he is still having some troubles they are likely to pick on him - quail seem to like to kick a kid when he's down. Let him recover another day or so until he has normal movement, then maybe find the runt of the flock to put with him for company, monitor for any problems. 10 days is a big size difference and quail sometimes practice cannibalism even when well fed and plenty of space- a tiny guy has tiny toes that look like tasty worms to a bigger kid, and any kids who 'act' weird/stand out from a flock are bully targets. So long as he recovers fine, then I might try the runtiest/mellow/shy kid of your big bunch to send over as a cuddle buddy. Good luck!

 

[jsheepdog]

Hi kmkr79!

Thanks so much for your advice. Really appreciate those tips!

I brought over one of the older chicks to be with the lil one. And boy, was he stoked! Not sure about the one I brought over though But the last I checked they were snoozing side by side.

Saw how the big one taught the lil one how to drink from the drinker instead of the dish with small rocks What a winner! He's now on Day 4, and looking very spritely.

Here's a short clip of what happened when I brought the older chick over.


From this, on Day 1. How far he's come!

 

[veggiecanner]

we had a power outage and the ones that hatched after the electric came on both have bent necks.
their doing ok but i don't think their necks will straighten.

 

[frankthomas654]

No they probibly woulnt i have a juvinile thats like that and hes fine with his neack like that