A baby quail not being able to walk is certainly strange behavior, if you notice this strange and off behavior in your birds you may start to worry for your little bird.
This article looks into why your baby quail can’t walk.
Baby quail can’t walk:
A quail not being able to keep its balance, falling over, or not being able to get up at all is quite concerning to any quail raiser, it is even more concerning if the quail is not an adult quail, but a baby quail.
Here are reasons why your baby quail may not be walking:
It is still tired:
If your baby chick has just hatched from its shell and is not walking then this may simply mean that the bird is still tired from the hatch.
These tiny birds exert a lot of energy while hatching and may simply be too tired to walk as soon as they hatch.
The baby may also not be walking yet because it is still getting used to its legs and needs to practice walking and falling down before it finally does walk.
What to do:
This is quite normal behavior for baby birds and is not something to worry about, if the bird isn’t walking because it is tired you can leave the bird alone.
Leaving the bird alone will let it regain some energy. Feeding the bird some sugar water or egg yolk will also help it regain its energy.
If the bird is just learning how to walk then give the bird time to learn how to walk.
Spraddle leg:
If your bird is sitting on the floor with its legs out and can’t walk or keep balance on its own then the bird may have a condition called spraddle leg or splayed leg.
This condition develops if your birds were exposed to too high temperatures while incubating in their eggs, this makes the bird’s legs weak and the bird’s legs can’t keep the bird up.
It also develops in birds who walk on slippery flooring like newspaper or cardboard, this causes the bird’s legs to slide.
What to do:
If your bird has spraddle leg then you can wrap some bandages, string, medical tape, or rubber bands around the bird’s legs to get it stable.
Stand the bird up so its legs are in the correct position and then wrap the bandages around the bird’s legs.
At this early age, your bird’s legs are still getting stronger, if the legs are bandaged into position they will become stronger in the upright position.
You’d need to install flooring that gives the bird traction while it’s running around in the first days of its life. You can use a shelf liner or paper towels as flooring, this will keep the bird’s legs from sliding about
You can keep this from happening in the future by making sure that the temperature in the incubator is kept consistent and make sure that the temperature is not too high during incubation.
Mareks disease:
Mareks disease is a disease that is often talked about when it comes to chickens but quails can also develop Marek’s disease.
This disease will cause some form of paralysis in the bird, the paralysis will start off affecting one of the bird’s limbs and then full-blown paralysis will come after that.
Because the birds can’t walk, they can’t reach food or water and will eventually starve as a result.
What to do:
Unfortunately, there is no treatment for this disease as of yet.
This condition is highly contagious, it can quickly travel throughout the flock, some birds will develop this condition but may not show any signs of having this disease.
In fact, some birds will die without showing any signs of being infected with this disease.
If you enjoyed this article then you may also be interested in other bird related articles. Here are some articles that you may be interested in: Baby Quail Laying On Back, Quail Acting Drunk, Quail Acting Strange, Do Quail Spit?, Why Is My Quail Shaking, Turkey Chick Vs Chicken Chick, Baby Chick Won’t Put Weight On Leg, Quail Vs Chicken Raising, Newly Hatched Chick Not Moving
