This is my life... day 15 quail in lockdown...

[Erkenstein]

Even if the bird's on its belly with legs out behind it can correct since the hips are the issue. You just need to keep the hips in the correct position until they fuse.

 

[RenegadeSkate3]

Will just leaving it be also help? Since the little feetcufs I put on the chick seem to be placing its legs in a good position!

 

[RenegadeSkate3]

When do I also clean their brooder? They are also getting trained to get used to my whistle rather than finger...

 

[Erkenstein]

For the chick with spraddle, just make sure that there is some food sprinkled around nearby, and give it chances to drink. Sometimes other chicks will get interested in the hobbled one and start pecking feet or pestering it, so I try to position the bird with the legs folded underneath so that it doesn't look different from the others.

As I wrote earlier, using shelf liner in the incubator and the brooder helps prevent spraddle. Before the chicks hatch, I set up the brooder with a layer of paper towels with shelf liner on top. That way, they can get their footing. Every day, I add a new layer of paper towels on top (paper towels are okay after the first couple of days, once their legs are solid), and that is how the floor of the brooder stays clean until they can move out. So don't remove those paper towels, but just add a new layer on top when it needs it.

My brooder has a wire bottom with a waste tray under, so after several days I remove some of the paper towels so that part of the brooder is wire and they can get used to it. After about a week, the only paper towel that is left is under the feeder, to keep the food they spill from falling through the wire. After about a week and a half, I take out the rest of the paper towels and put a plant saucer under the feeder to catch the food that spills. Then I introduce a sandbox.

 

[RenegadeSkate3]

Well.... the straddled leg chick has her feet underneath... also the button quail chicks will hatch today or tomorrow dependent on the lockdown success rate, once they are born? Can I mix in the button quail with the cotournix? Or should I make another brooder?

 

[RenegadeSkate3]

This is the chick with straddle legs... I also noticed a cut near her back leg... I put a super tiny bandaid there... and she also raises her leg and stand with 1 leg only.... it’s like when a dog has a hurt paw it raises it... is it because of the cut? Because she used to do it before the cut...

 

[RenegadeSkate3]

I’m not sure the cable tie thingy is really helping her... other than the facts that her legs isn’t stretched out like a model.... it’s cuddled in... but she doesn’t wanna use it... she hops in 1... any suggestion and what to do? Google is running out of options....

 

[Sara L]

Well.... the straddled leg chick has her feet underneath... also the button quail chicks will hatch today or tomorrow dependent on the lockdown success rate, once they are born? Can I mix in the button quail with the cotournix? Or should I make another brooder?

I have brooded button quail and coturnix together, they coturnix seem to have a calming influence on the button quail and they don't seem as skittish as when brooded by themselves. The buttons will get their feathers slightly faster than the coturnix, so make sure your brooder has a lid or you will have escapees.

 

[Sara L]

I’m not sure the cable tie thingy is really helping her... other than the facts that her legs isn’t stretched out like a model.... it’s cuddled in... but she doesn’t wanna use it... she hops in 1... any suggestion and what to do? Google is running out of options....

How long has the leg thing been on? If it's been several hours and she seems miserable with it on, you could try taking it off to see if she is walking normally. If she's not fixed yet, would have to put it back on.

 

[RenegadeSkate3]

How long has the leg thing been on? If it's been several hours and she seems miserable with it on, you could try taking it off to see if she is walking normally. If she's not fixed yet, would have to put it back on.

She’s had it for 4 hours now