What a hatch!

[Susan Skylark]

I hatched 7 coturnix this morning, boy has it been weird! I’m culling an older hen but don’t want to lose the color (ginger?) so I put her in a pen and got a couple eggs, marked them and then put them into lockdown in a separate incubator. Meanwhile the other eggs were hatching and all coming out Tibetans but I also had one coming backwards, he zipped but didn’t hatch and after a couple hours I split the egg, out he popped, everything dry and right as rain, a little falb fee with an unabsorbed yolk sac/umbilical hernia (not a vent prolapse, umbilical cord was dry, goop inside egg was dry, fully zipped, chick is full term) Google had no answers. Treated him as best I could, I’ve dealt with this in mammals but the yolk sac was a novelty, time will tell if he makes it, perky as all the others 8 hours post hatch but won’t know for a day or three on prognosis. After dealing with him the two reserved eggs finally got around to hatching, both yellow chicks with what appear to be reddish hints on the back, look just like mom at hatch (ginger eb tuxedo?). The significant thing here was I wanted a male out of her (sex linked recessive, if it is ginger) so his daughters would be ginger too. There is no way she could pass on the color to her chicks unless bred to a carrier bird, I was planning for these chicks to be the carrier! Obviously you can’t guarantee color at this age or for several more weeks but I’d be tickled if I accidentally skipped a generation! But how if this is the only bird of that color in the flock with no known carriers? I have 3 new males of unknown parentage from within my own birds, the father could be one of her sons! It turns out I really didn’t need to separate these eggs as nothing else in the hatch looks anything like these two but at least I know for sure. Hilarious to think my little line breeding experiment to verify color worked a generation faster than I had hoped. I’ve had this hen for a year and have never hatched anything resembling her, I’ve had a ton of scarlet tuxedos (plus or minus fee) but they are all red/orange/brown even at hatch but she’s beige, this is also my first hatch from these young males. Always something interesting going on!

 

[Debbie292d]

I know very little about quail colors but congrats on the hatch!

 

[Susan Skylark]

I don’t know squat either! I have no idea what to make of either these two chicks or the hen. The chicks are both overall yellow, one has faint reddish striping and other slightly heavier (but still faint) gray or black striping while mom was yellow with a faint red tinge over her back. It will be a long month waiting to see what they are when feathered out. I was hoping to get an answer on the hens color by some clues from the chicks! They might be some sort of Italian but I’ve never had one with this faint of markings, the hen might be a carrier (eb phenotype), the same with the males, only time will tell.

My little umbilical hernia/unabsorbed yolk sac guy isn’t going to die of peritonitis, we’re 60 hours post hatch and he is a perky little chap but I’m wondering if he has other developmental issues, he’s been pecking at his belly a bit, not sure if he’s pooping, might be issues with his gut development, we’ll see how he does. Definitely a curious hatch! My last had 3/17 hatch due to a faulty turner, I almost forget about them since they’ve been so low maintenance!

 

[Susan Skylark]

My hernia guy died 4 days post hatch, half the size of the others. I took stitches out day 2, his hernia sealed, but that wasn’t his only issue I think. I discontinued antibiotics day 3 in case they were upsetting his gi tract, no change there either. Perky and eating until the end. Pecking at belly (colic), little to no fecal material passing, no growth or pin feathers, never really laid down or slept on side, very leggy almost looked like a killdeer chick instead of a quail (pot bellied and chunky, walks lower to ground), wouldn’t surprise me if his guts didn’t quite connect from one end to the other (atresia coli), especially with his hernia issues. Was worth a try but didn’t have much hope for him, he didn’t suffer at least! He was so cute too, kept that baby look the whole time, crazy how fast they grow.