Why is one of my quail chicks having episodes?

[Quirky Quail]

I currently have 5 Coturnix quail chicks that are 3 weeks old and one of them keeps having these episodes/seizures where his head shakes violently and he reverses with tremendous speed. 2 others had extremely crooked feet and died at about a week old and I had to put the other crooked one down at 2 weeks old due to breathing difficulties. Could these deformities/disabilities be caused by inbreeding? I ordered the eggs from Exeter so my current birds aren't the problem. Any help would be invaluable.

 

[paneubert]

Reversing can just be a sign of submission, but I don't know about the head shaking. I had the runt of a litter who would run backwards from me, but she turned out fine.

 

[Quirky Quail]

Reversing can just be a sign of submission, but I don't know about the head shaking. I had the runt of a litter who would run backwards from me, but she turned out fine.

He doesn't run away from me or the others and he looks just as shocked about it as I am. the other 4 are fine but this one is just a bit odd

 

[lomine]

Leg issues can be caused by problems during incubation, too. If I remember correctly I think it's from the temperatures being too high. I believe certain errors can also cause neurological problems. Some leg problems can be reversed if they aren't too sever and you get to them early enough. I don't think there's much that can be done if he has brain damage.

Have you incubated eggs from your own birds before? Did you have any problems with them?

 

[Quirky Quail]

Leg issues can be caused by problems during incubation, too. If I remember correctly I think it's from the temperatures being too high. I believe certain errors can also cause neurological problems. Some leg problems can be reversed if they aren't too sever and you get to them early enough. I don't think there's much that can be done if he has brain damage.

Have you incubated eggs from your own birds before? Did you have any problems with them?

I haven't yet but I have an abundance at the moment so I was thinking of putting a batch on. We tried to correct the feet from day one but they were too badly affected and one had spraddle leg on top of bad feet. My dad was in charge of incubation so I'm unsure of the temperature but he's a seasoned poultry/game hatcher so I doubt it was that. I'll keep an eye on the weird one and see what happens because he's eating, drinking, pooping and acting normal apart from the "seizures"

 

[lomine]

If legs are really bad it's best to cull. Some things you just can't fix. I think vitamin B deficiency can contribute to bad legs too. Or at least giving extra vit. B can help reverse it. Maybe the parent flock wasn't well taken care of or just lacking in some nutrients.

I once had a chick hatch with very bad legs. I literally had to tape it into a little holder made from a toilet paper tube and had to tape it's legs in place to get them to stay in the right position. He also had to wear "shoes' for about two weeks. I normally wouldn't have done it but it was 1 of 5 I managed to hatch from the last eggs from my flock that was wiped out by a skunk family. I wasn't planning on hatching and these were some eggs that had been left outside for one reason or another for a couple of days and so were never eaten. I think they were rained on. They were also over 2 weeks old so it was a miracle I got any to hatch. I don't even know why I never tossed them in the garbage but I was glad I didn't. I'm sure the age/condition of the egg contributed to his leg/foot issues because I had never had the problem before. He is fine now, just has a limp. It's funny because had he not had the limp I wouldn't have been able to tell him from the other Italian males and I wouldn't have kept him. (Bought other chicks to help replenish my numbers and once together couldn't tell which ones I hatched.)

Maybe the eggs weren't collected or handled correctly and that's why you had problems. Or maybe it was from the shipping. If you have trouble with your eggs in the future it may be your incubator. If not, it could have just been some bad quality eggs.

 

[Quirky Quail]

If legs are really bad it's best to cull. Some things you just can't fix. I think vitamin B deficiency can contribute to bad legs too. Or at least giving extra vit. B can help reverse it. Maybe the parent flock wasn't well taken care of or just lacking in some nutrients.

I once had a chick hatch with very bad legs. I literally had to tape it into a little holder made from a toilet paper tube and had to tape it's legs in place to get them to stay in the right position. He also had to wear "shoes' for about two weeks. I normally wouldn't have done it but it was 1 of 5 I managed to hatch from the last eggs from my flock that was wiped out by a skunk family. I wasn't planning on hatching and these were some eggs that had been left outside for one reason or another for a couple of days and so were never eaten. I think they were rained on. They were also over 2 weeks old so it was a miracle I got any to hatch. I don't even know why I never tossed them in the garbage but I was glad I didn't. I'm sure the age/condition of the egg contributed to his leg/foot issues because I had never had the problem before. He is fine now, just has a limp. It's funny because had he not had the limp I wouldn't have been able to tell him from the other Italian males and I wouldn't have kept him. (Bought other chicks to help replenish my numbers and once together couldn't tell which ones I hatched.)

Maybe the eggs weren't collected or handled correctly and that's why you had problems. Or maybe it was from the shipping. If you have trouble with your eggs in the future it may be your incubator. If not, it could have just been some bad quality eggs.

Fair enough! I wanted to cull the deformed ones but my mum and siblings didn't let me because they wanted to give them a chance. we made little shoes out of cellotape and cereal packet cardboard but they still didn't correct and I made tiny shackles out of string for the one with spraddle leg. I put one down because it seemed lethargic and unable to breathe. There were 50 eggs in total and I got 8 chicks alive (a few died in-shell) and now I'm down to 4 good ones and a neurologically challenged one. Plus side is that I have 4 Italian hens, 4 Pharaoh hens, a roux dilute male, 2 Rosetta males, a Rosetta hen and 4 Pharaoh males in my current stock so there's no shortage of fertile eggs (I only ordered the ones for the dodgy hatch because only one of my hens was laying at the time but they've started laying like mad now) I'm selling some of the males because my ratio is well off.

 

[lomine]

Shipped eggs are hard but 8 out of 50 is not good odds. More and more I’m thinking the eggs were your problem. Somebody handled them incorrectly, either the seller or the mail carriers. It’s too bad but I’m glad your birds are laying for you.

 

[Quirky Quail]

Shipped eggs are hard but 8 out of 50 is not good odds. More and more I’m thinking the eggs were your problem. Somebody handled them incorrectly, either the seller or the mail carriers. It’s too bad but I’m glad your birds are laying for you.

That was one of my suspicions too. Thanks for all your help! I'll keep you updated on the progress of my special needs chick