[herbiegrowsbananas]

Hiya everyone

Would love some advice. Our incubatored quails are hatching, we have two lovely healthy babies, three wobbling about like crazy and one with just the beak sticking out of the shell. You can see the the whole beak, not just the egg tooth, and it's been like this for at least five hours.

Should we wait, or intervene?

[muntjac]

pick the egg away carefuly and let it out . make sure you do not pull at anything other than shell aoround its face n down its body taking care of the sac

[WG.]

pick the egg away carefuly and let it out

I'm glad you got that reply 'Bear.  We used to keep ducks and it used to break my heart when the little blighters failed to get out of the eggs.  We used to leave them to their fate ... largely due to scary mother ducks who'd have your hand off if you went anywhere near (and trample 4 other ducklings in the process)

[herbiegrowsbananas]

Hi Muntjac

My hubby carefully peeled away most of the shell about an hour ago, but there's still some shell stuck to it's leg, along with the umbilical cord. What do I do here? I have drizzled a little warm water into the shell to help loosen.

I keep expecting it to die, but it's still alive, though it's eyes aren't open, though whether this is because it's a little underdeveloped, or just through exhaustion, I do not know...?

It doesn't seem to have got any weaker, but doesn't appear any stronger, though it has a kick, etc, it's unable to walk.

What's it's chances? I want to give it the best chance, but I don't want it to suffer unnecessarily either...

Look forward to your advice, I really do appreciate it.

[muntjac]

if its egg shell on its leg that can be peeled clear carefully . the cord can be snipped off  n squeesed in the fingers to close it, just hold in the finger tips for a minute or 2 . if it lives after that its gonna be a super quail

[herbiegrowsbananas]

Hi again

Thanks for the advice Muntjac.

We left the chick for an hour or so, no change, just a little kick now and again, almost like a scratch on the beak or head. Reckon he was trying to get up, but just couldn't get the right way up. His feathers (OK, calling it a him ,hoping to hell it's female!!) were very hard, and I didn't reckon he would make it in that state, so we very carefully sponged him down with cotton wool swabs and warm water. We cleaned around his eyes, and they opened and he had his first little look around him. We placed him back in the warmth of the bator and left him for a few hours to rest.

I held the little chick last night in my palm in the sitting position and he lifted his head a bit and opened his eyes. First bit of fight in him. He had just lay there on his side for hours, gaining strength. I examined him and his legs weren't splayed out, just a bit clumsy and weak and if he rested on my finger on one side he could even hold his own head up and had a little waddle.

So, this morning we now have five extremely healthy chicks, this one who is eating, drinking, plopping merrily enough around and only at times rolling onto its back, and so far no fatalities, still got some more to hatch (hopefully)

Thanks for the reply, fingers crossed he will carry on getting stronger. Just gotta think of a suitable name for him now...

Best wishes and thanks again.

[muntjac]

just a point keep an eye on the belly button cord,, if it turns nasty use a tiny small amount of germolene .this may stop the bugs getting in and sending it down hill.if its dry n clean leave it be

[MontyTom]

Well done!

[herbiegrowsbananas]

Hiya

Just a quick follow up on the lil sick  quail chick. Thanks to Muntjac's advice, we have a healthy cheeky little  Superquail that is doing really well.

Out of 30 eggs, we have 21 very healthy chicks, 2 that are a bit wobbly walking but eating and drinking fine, 1 that sadly died in its shell, and the remaining appear unfertile, but we're giving them another couple of days...

Do many baby chicks (quail or hen eggs) die in the first two weeks? I have read some horror stories (but that's the www for you, lol). I don't want to lose any and would love any tips...

I change their towelling twice a day, keeping them at 37.5 degrees C for the next week or so, keeping water clean of poops, and removing poop when we see it, or the silly little b****rs peck at it. Giving them crushed chick food.

Is it worth supplementing the water with vitamins? I'm trying to keep them as natural as possible but if it will help...?

What humidity should they be at now and over the next couple of weeks? I had them at 65 - 70 degrees C incubating, and then 80 degrees C whist hatching...

Cheers.

[muntjac]

temps fine . do as you are now and then in a week or so  have them out in a brooder with a heater .care is taken with making sure they do not chill or get to hot  or crowd over each other this usualy happens in corners , i reckon ur doing just fine . mortality is about 30% anything below that ur doing great for a newbie .one tip is not to count your chicks until they are a couple months old lol

[herbiegrowsbananas]

30% Mortality, ooh, god, that's like 6.9 chicks, oops, counting again, lol!!!

BWs