quail with crooked neck

[LindsayB]

Hey Y'all, I had 9 quail hatch out on sunday. All are healthy, eating, drinking except one. Well its still acting fine but it's neck is bent to one side. Is this something that went wrong during incubation or something else? When it's older can I still hatch eggs from it or will they all have this issue? It's the jumbo brown on the left...

 

[kmkr79]

Make sure he can eat and drink ok, and he should straighten out within a couple days as he has a chance to stretch and move. Sometimes the bigger kids get a little too cramped inside their egg, or not quite enough humidity so they got 'stuck' and couldn't rotate inside the shell enough, and pinched a nerve. Once they get a chance to move it and work out the kinks it usually only takes a few days to straighten back out. Be sure you are providing proper gamebird feed with high protein and the necessary nutrients to support their quick growth, and that will help him recover.

If he doesn't recover, I would not use him/her for breeding, just in case.

 

[LindsayB]

Thank you! I feed all my quail game bird startena 30% protein. From one day to adults.

 

[LindsayB]

It's neck seems to be the same if not a little more bent to the side. Is this wry neck?? Any vitamins I could give it?

 

[davedavey]

Good question I hatched out some Texas a&m quail and one has a crooked neck and it's now 19 days old and has gotten worse not better. It seems to eat and drink ok but neck is not getting better. Dave

 

[Quail Jailer]

Is the bird eating drinking and growing like his peers? does it seem to be causing him problems?

If hes otherwise OK I'd give it a week or so, my biggest concern would be if part of the neck is growing and part not so much, causing a progressive deformity.

Maybe DC will weigh in if he's seen the condition.


edit; Davey you posted while I was typing. Your bird may be as I described, wait and see. You may have to use some scissors to straighten it out.

 

[ChickieMama84]

I have one that has a really crooked neck but he was eating and drinking fine! You just got to watch out for them because he got picked on today and got scalped so he is in his own box until he heals

 

[LindsayB]

It's eating and drinking fine but it's neck is definitely bent more to the side. It is a little bit smaller than the others but not by much.

 

[Quail Jailer]

Yes I have a "special" bird but she's really no extra trouble. born without one eye or socket which caused her upper beak to "curl" (for lack of a better word)
towards the missing eye. I was afraid she couldn't eat but has done surprisingly well.

That said, you're probably going to have to decide if special needs are something you want to deal with.

If its eating well enough Id keep him on the high protein diet til he's 8 or ten weeks old then put him on your diet....

 

[VickieB57]

Quail Jailer, I have a chick like that! It's a week old today. It's head is smaller on the left, and it doesn't have the left eye. It's upper beak doesn't sit right on the lower beak either, it is a little to the side. I thought it would die soon, thinking it wouldn't be able to eat or drink right, but it is a week old today and seems to be fine. It is eating and growing. How old is your bird?