HELP..is there a VET in the joint? Baby quail chick in dire straights..

[jus_the_facts]

....I'm at my new job...sittin' with a girl with Down Syndrome....her Dad is a Vet and there are two boxes o'baby chicks here...one o'them is dyin'...it's just layin' here barely breathin' and twisin' around sufferin'....I haven't a CLUE as to what to do for it...I took it out o'the box because the other chicks are freakin' out and all huddled in the corner away from it. :cry: Anybody know WTF if anything I can do for this teeny tiny thing? x(

[jus_the_facts]

1. here's a pic o'these sweet li'l things.....

.....the Vet and his wife are in Houston at M.D.Anderson as she has lymphoma and undergoin' chemo....sure wish he's left some instructions as to what to do for these babies....DAMMIT!!! :(

[LWolf]

9. I hatched and raised quail once.

It was about 8 years ago. In the right conditions, mortality rate is 5-8% during the brooding stage (first 15 days).

How old are they?

There are several important considerations:

Temperature: First five days, 95 degrees. day 6- 9, 90 degrees, 10th on, 85 degrees.

Put layers of paper down on that mesh to conserve heat for the first 10 days. Clean a couple of times a day. Fresh water daily. Don't spill the water; no damp spots! Quail do not thrive on chicken feed. They need a gamebird mash at about 25% protein. If you can't find gamebird mash, turkey starter is a little better than chicken. If it comes in crumbles, mash it up.

[jus_the_facts]

10. They're only a few days old....

....teeeeeny tiny little sweeties....he's got a huge bag o'game feed...but they're in cardboard boxes and the water and feed recepticles haven't been cleaned since Sat....that could be the problem...they're under lamps with a thermo that reads a steady 95 degrees...sure hope he'll be back tomorrow to check on 'em...gotten conflictin' info on as to just when he's to return and I'm worried about the adult birds and horses that need feedin' too...SURELY he's got somebody comin' over there today to see after all his animals!! :(

:hi: thanks for all the information...I'll pass it along to the woman who's there now!!

[LWolf]

17. Good luck to all the babies!

:hi:

[jukes]

2. Emergency Vet

shd be listed in yellow pages or call your local copshop (business #) for referal. birds are delicate & there's little you can do on your own.

[jus_the_facts]

3. it's too late...just watched it die.....

....thanks anyway...:cry: :cry: :cry:

[GoddessOfGuinness]

4. Awww...

And they're so sweet too! :hug::cry::hug:

I hope the little critter didn't have West Nile...

[jus_the_facts]

5. *sigh* Thank you....I dunno what's wrong....

....this is the second one to die today....the girl I relieved tonight said another one died earlier...could be west nile too but I just don't know enough about 'em and they didn't leave any instruction as to anything other than keepin' an eye on 'em....sure hope the other 7 will be okay....there's another dozen or so in an incubator waitin' to hatch....a pen full o' asian chickens....a pen o'quail..and another of pheasants....a pond full o' geese and a horse too and as far as I know they haven't been fed today....s'sorta pissin' me off that they didn't leave any instructions as to all their care. :shrug:

[roguevalley]

6. has anyone handled them? Baby animals sometimes drop dead from

being handled. sorry to hear this. you did your best, honey. :(

[jus_the_facts]

12. Not sure about anybody else....but they're so tiny.....

...I was afraid to touch 'em....the rest of 'em seem to be doin' fine so far...will find out later tonight how the rest are fairin'. :hi:

[Dem2theMax]

7. For the remaining ones, make sure they have food/water. Also,

make sure they are not in any direct sunlight (way tooooo hot for them) or in any drafty, cold places. Birds can get sick and go so fast. Especially little babies. Make sure it's warm enough for them and that they have something to snuggle in. Towels or old blankets. But you have to remove those and wash them every day. Cuz they is gonna poop on everything. Speaking as one who has been pooped on by her parrots many times. :) Good luck!

[jus_the_facts]

13. They do huddle together and doze.....

....the thermo says it's a steady 95 degrees in there...hope the rest will be okay. :shrug:

[ET Awful]

8. :( Poor thing.

You did the best you could for it. Hopefully the rest are doing better :(

[jus_the_facts]

11. it was really sad to watch it suffer so...

...breaks m'heart that I couldn't help it...but they're not much larger than m'thumb at this point. x(

[sleepyhead]

14. See if there's a wildlife rehab place in your area.

They often know quite a bit about these little critters and can be a great resource. If they're not listed in the phone book, try calling the local veterinary emergency room or even a local vet when they open up tomorrow. Also try calling animal control. They may have contact numbers for rehabilitators who can help you. Good luck!

P.S. I know the vet you are working for, via one of the veterinary groups I belong to. He's a good guy.

[jus_the_facts]

15. Thanks for the info....

:hi:

.....he seemed like an extremely nice guy to me too from the brief meetin' we had the other day! :)

[skygazer]

16. Quail are tough

I used to raise quail and pheasant - the pheasant were fairly straightforward but I had a hard time with the quail. The advice you've gotten so far is excellent - I can only add that if it's any kind of illness, you are likely to lose more. Birds pass illness quickly - a friend of mine who is a vet told me that her course in bird illnesses pretty much gave one solution to every problem - kill the flock and start over.

Hopefully, it was simply a case of weak babies. Hatching is hard work and you're bound to lose a couple out of every batch. Sorry - they are awfully cute. Are they drinking? Critters that small can dehydrate rapidly.

[tuckessee]

18. There's a book about an abandonded quail chick

titled That Quail, Robert by Margaret A. Stanger originally published in the mid 1960's but it was in print until the 1980's.

If you can find a copy it might provide some helpful info.

It's been years since I read it but if I recall correctly, they hatched Robert from an egg that had been abandoned.