partridge chick can't stand up

[Magweno]

Five out of eight pipped partridge eggs hatched without a problem but two pipped and then stopped - beaks out. Beaks out means the chicks are too big to turn - means my humidity was too high, right?

I helped them out but now they can't sit up or stand up, they just roll around on their backs with their heads twisted flailing their legs. Is this because they grew too large for the eggs and developed wrongly because of the high humidity? Is there anything I can do? They have bright eyes and peep loudly, aside from their inability to turn right-way-up they seem pretty healthy.

One day I will learn never to help a chick out of its shell. Fingers crossed my bantam chick is a lady and she'll take over this hatching lark for me.

(By the way a follow up on my previous post about the peeping bantam chick: I managed to find a local bantam enthusiast who had an appenzeller with chicks the same age as mine. It's been adopted into the fold and is being raised there.)

 

[foxy]

How long since they have hatched Magweno?

 

[Magweno]

All happened today and last night, the healthy ones were out at 1am but the poorly ones I helped out at about 9am this morning

Could I make a neck brace out of sponge for them?

I took this one out of the brooder quickly to take a photo to show you what I mean:

 

[chrismahon]

Hi Magweno. Never seen anything like that and I don't think it is a humidity problem as they were not stuck to the membrane. Their beaks break out then they breathe to give them the energy to break out fully. But they were unable to, perhaps because they are underdeveloped due to a vitamin deficiency in the parents. Looking at the level of deformity I don't think there is anything you can to to rectfy their condition.

 

[bex46]

ive had this problem before, Chicks at this age develope quickly, so you need to hold the chick in one hand in the correct postion for 2 hours. (obviously if you have the time) the chick will go to sleep fairly quickly as you are warm. You should not hatch from these chicks in the future if they survive. And as hard as it sounds, if your a breeder, do not help chicks out, they are not strong enough to survive un-aided and won't breed successfully.Saying that, I always do, if im honest. I feel its my responsibility. x

 

[bex46]

sorry me again, too quick to post!!! this is called Wry neck, common in quail. if it dosnt resolve itself, it will live happily like this ie eat as normal etc. Do not breed from it, i think its hereditary, not sure though.x

 

[Chuck]

I would say it's because the chick was stuck in position in the egg for too long, not hereditary. Helping them out is always a risk but sometimes is worth it as they get stuck on a bit of dried membrane. I doubt if these chicks can survive like this.

 

[serama1]

Hi, Re legs I had a chick hatch in April with spraddle legs, you may find the following link helpful:

http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2012/02/spraddle-leg-in-baby-chicks-what-is-it.html

This does not cover the neck problem though.

 

[AlexArt]

I had a turkey hatch that sounds similar to yours - I was going to bump it off TBH as it kept flipping over and had a very weak neck, but I propped it the right way up in the inci and left it for 24hrs and it's now 2 weeks old and perfectly normal, this was one I helped out too as it seemed to be rather slow and got stuck, but a stint longer than I would do normally in the inci did the trick, although if it hadn't have shown signs of normality after the 24hrs I would have called it a day, mine are for meat so I won't be breeding from it anyway.

 

[bex46]

Hi, me again, just spoken to a friend who breeds quail and it seems its not hereditary, probably just because it was late hatching. Sorry for the wrong info.

 

[Magweno]

Thanks for the info everyone.

Bex46 I am not breeding from these guys, I got the parents as a gift from a friendly game dealer and they happened to lay eggs, I hatched them out of curiosity and will either eat or sell the offspring. Not enough room in the aviary!

AlexArt sounds very similar! glad it sorted itself out.

Mum and I tried making little splints and neck braces out of card, vet tape, foam, fluff, bandages, plasters... But nothing really worked. One died while we were out, just exhausted I guess. I decided it was honestly just cruel to keep the other alive, but just as I was watching it and brewing myself up to doing the deed it managed to flip itself over. After an hour or two of being propped up and straightened out it started showing signs of improvement. Miraculously this morning it was walking around just like the others, although its head is still turned 90 degrees. It falls over every now and again but is generally alright, and getting better and straightening its neck and toes out on its own.

I honestly can't believe it!

The others with spraddle leg and crooked toes had hobbles made of vet tape attached and by the morning they were walking normally which helped sort their toes out. (The incy floor was slippy so while they were in overnight they all got spraddle leg )The final surprise was one late to the party, a perfectly normal very healthy partridge chick hatched this morning in about 10 mins, no warning at all! Fantastic. I had put a towel under the other eggs by now so no problems with spraddle leg.

Pheasants have been hatching all through the day, no deformities or stragglers at all. I have seven from ten eggs with the other three pipping. They look enormous compared to the partridges and quail!

They are on a 24% protein pheasant crumb starter so I wonder if the high nutrition helped the crooked-neck-chick (nicknamed Igor).

Here is Igor, he is in the middle:

Here are some of the pheasant chicks having a nap:

 

[chrismahon]

Hi Magweno. Sounds like chronic inbreeding or an extremely poor diet for the parents to have had all those problems.

 

[Magweno]

Hi Chris, they didn't hatch with spraddle leg, they developed it because the floor of the incubator was slippy. The crooked toes were because they weren't able to spread them on the ground because of the spraddle leg - my fault entirely for being asleep while they were hatching and not realising they were slipping. The parents are fed on a very high protein diet developed for game birds along with the quail, not chicken food. The crooked necks could have been hereditary though, but I have a feeling it was because the humidity was at 70-75% during the whole incubation and was raised to 80-85% after pipping.

 

[Marigold]

Well, yes, with the humidity as high as that, and a slippery floor, the problems are understandable. I expect that, next time, you'll plan to line the floor with rubber mat or j-cloth when turning stops two days before the hatch?
Glad the chicks legs are better, but if he were mine I would probably feel his future was doubtful.

 

[Magweno]

Yes, the lull in between the partridges finishing their hatch and the pheasants pipping I managed to get a cloth underneath all the eggs.