Quail Chicks with deformed feet

[canepole]

I have quail eggs hatching in the bator right now. Two have hatched so far and the both have feet issues. The first to hatch has a slightly curled toe on each foot and the second has some bent toes and one bad foot. I have heard all of the reasons for bad hatches like this, but I have never heard anyone say it was because the eggs were old. Some of the eggs I set were over the one week mark and I was wondering if this could be why they have deformities. I had this same issue with my last hatch and I had some eggs that were old then. I had about thirteen hatch and all but one died, even though many were able to straighten their feet out after hatching. Has anyone else ever had issues out of old eggs like this? I feed my quail a premium diet. Some of my quail are from the same hatches and are related, but I don't believe it is genetics. It could be a possibility, but I have more eggs due to hatch next week that were set pretty fresh. If I still have issues after that I may rule out the old egg theory and move my quail into seperate breeding pens and introduce some new males.

 

[The Chickeneer]

Well, I'm pretty sure it has nothing to do with how old the eggs are/genetics. Sometimes that just happens

there's probably a reason for it, but I don't know what it is. So the one with the curved toes, try to uncurl it gently to see if the are uncurable or just stuck like that, wire mesh at the bottom of the incubator really helps straighten out their feet & toes. For the brooder, I do not reccomend newspaper, because it has no grip for their feet and is slippery for them, making it hard to walk. As for your second chick, look up splayed leg on the forum and see if that is the case, if it's not splayed leg then we probably need some pics. Good luck with your chicks!

 

[canepole]

The one with the curled foot does have some splayed leg going on. I just find it odd that both times I have incubated old eggs the chicks have had issues with curled feet and splayed legs. One more has hatched and he seems to have issues with one foot as well, but his may straighten out like the first one.

 

[The Bean]

I have quail eggs hatching in the bator right now. Two have hatched so far and the both have feet issues. The first to hatch has a slightly curled toe on each foot and the second has some bent toes and one bad foot. I have heard all of the reasons for bad hatches like this, but I have never heard anyone say it was because the eggs were old. Some of the eggs I set were over the one week mark and I was wondering if this could be why they have deformities. I had this same issue with my last hatch and I had some eggs that were old then. I had about thirteen hatch and all but one died, even though many were able to straighten their feet out after hatching. Has anyone else ever had issues out of old eggs like this? I feed my quail a premium diet. Some of my quail are from the same hatches and are related, but I don't believe it is genetics. It could be a possibility, but I have more eggs due to hatch next week that were set pretty fresh. If I still have issues after that I may rule out the old egg theory and move my quail into seperate breeding pens and introduce some new males.

Hi there. I too have had problems with difficult hatchings and deformed toes. Out of 12 eggs only 5 hatched and only 2 have survived. I also feed the parents a premium diet and have tried to help the chicks with little boots and plasters but they died. I don't think age of eggs is a factor as mine were pretty new. My baror is fan drive and humidity controlled so it is either genetic or bad luck. I am also going bring in new male but it could be the female. Anyway good luck to you and at least you and I are keeping on trying unlike some horrible person who said to pull their heads off. Good luck