Teaching quail to eat/drink

[NightFury06]

Hello everyone.
Good news, the quails hatched. Bad news, they wont eat or drink. I have tried tapping the food, water with my finger, tilting their heads to it, sprinkling food on the floor, and they just wont. This is my first ever time hatching ANY bird and I dont know what else to do. Also, one keeps flipping onto its back. Please, someone hep me im so worried.
For context, they are a maximum of one day old.
Thank you so much,
from a very worried owner.

 

[cherrynberry]

Hello everyone.
Good news, the quails hatched. Bad news, they wont eat or drink. I have tried tapping the food, water with my finger, tilting their heads to it, sprinkling food on the floor, and they just wont. This is my first ever time hatching ANY bird and I dont know what else to do. Also, one keeps flipping onto its back. Please, someone hep me im so worried.
For context, they are a maximum of one day old.
Thank you so much,
from a very worried owner.

How long have they been doing this for?

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Did you grind the feed smaller? Crumble is too large for them to eat as chicks

 

[FloorCandy]

You need to grind it into powder in the blender for them. Describe how the one flips on its back, is it leaning back, looking up and falling over, or is it wobbly on its feet and falling sideways?

 

[Nabiki]

My chicks usually start eating and drinking right away, but it's not uncommon for them to not eat or drink for up to 24 hours after hatching. They are still "eating" their yolk at that stage.

Instead of using your finger, you might try something like a toothpick that lets them feel more like something their size is pecking at the food and water.

 

[NightFury06]

How long have they been doing this for?

since they moved to the brooder

 

[NightFury06]

You need to grind it into powder in the blender for them. Describe how the one flips on its back, is it leaning back, looking up and falling over, or is it wobbly on its feet and falling sideways?

It kind of waddles forward a step then falls backwards and can’t get up.

 

[cherrynberry]

since they moved to the brooder

How many days?

 

[FloorCandy]

It kind of waddles forward a step then falls backwards and can’t get up.

Have they started eating yet?

Newly hatched quail are notoriously clumsy, and if they haven’t been eating for over a day, they could be getting weak and falling, usually in a scenario where a chick isn’t thriving, they will end up on their side. Does the chick stretch up before it falls? Does it look up? Is it falling straight onto its back or does it fall sideways and then flail and end up on its back?

When a chick is gazing upward all the time it’s called Torticollis, aka stargazing or wry neck. It manifests in different ways, some look up, some look down, often these chicks will gaze up and back so far that they seem to be doing slow, continuous back flips. You can try supplementing with vitamin e. There are a lot of info and articles on it, some people have varying results long term.

 

[NightFury06]

How many days?

1, 2 now