My quail seems paralyzed and can't walk.

[ManuelManuel]

Hi

I have 2 Japanese quails, one male and one female and they both are a bit older than 2 years. from 2 weeks ago to last week, the female quail was so anxious and she started falling down and since 6 days ago, she cant walk or stand up any more, but she is always hungry and I'm feeding and watering her a lot everyday. she is able to stand on her feet, but she can't keep her balance, so I must help her when she eats and drinks water.

I personally don't like to have any kind of pet and animal at all, but for some reason, I'm supposed to having them...
Anyway, they both don't afraid from human and are friendly with human and the male quail is perfectly fine (at least till now) and he is kind and so wild, He sometimes feeds the female quail, but many times grabs her neck or knocks her head for his male activity...
However, they are in separate places in the past week, and I placed a mirror in front of the male quail, so he doesn't call his female and stares at himself all the day...

For the female quail, I've done "supportive care" in the past 6 days, but she still is not able to walk or standing up, even I'm not sure she's getting better or not. Pleas tell me, what can I do for her.

Thanks.

 

[DK newbie]

What do you feed her and does she get additional calcium?
To the extent of my knowledge, this is most likely caused by one of two things - either she hit her head, most likely when trying to escape the roo - japanese quail should not be kept in pairs but in groups of one male and 4-7 females, to prevent over breeding - or she depleted her calcium depots from laying eggs while receiving insufficient feed.
Her feed should have 25%+ protein, contain sufficient vitamins and supply her with - as I recall - 3.5% calcium. Usually people give the calcium separately, as it is very hard to get a feed that both has sufficient protein and enough calcium.

 

[ManuelManuel]

Thanks for the answer.

I feed her with grain and eggshell and sometimes greens, Sesame (she loves it)... But now she has not so much tendency to eating eggshell. You're right, I guess she has not received enough calcium, because she has lost some of her toenails during the past 2 years.

But I think she's old, so she doesn't make so much egg in her body and shouldn't lose so much calcium.. She has laid almost 20 eggs for this year and her last egg was very small. Also she has eaten almost all of her own eggs (mostly eggshell).

However, still I'm not sure which one is the reason. What can I do for healing her?

Btw she naps when she's eating her food.

 

[DK newbie]

Grain in general has WAY too little protein for quail - that's very likely why she eats her eggs and also why she lays so few. At two years it's natural that her egg laying is reduced, but as far as I know, she still should lay more than 20 in a season.
Also grain doesn't have enough vitamins - and if she doesn't get vitamin D3, she's unable to make use of whatever calcium she does eat. She also gets vitamin D from the sun though, so if she gets around an hour of direct sunlight (not through a window) a day, that shouldn't be the problem.
The first thing I'd do, is switch her to a proper diet - usually that means a gamebird crumble or turkey starter. And make sure it has AT LEAST 24 % protein. Until you kan get that for her, I'd feed her hard boiled chicken eggs, crushed with the shell and all. Feed her a couple of times a day, as egg spoils quickly and shouldn't be left out too long. That'll give her all the nutrients she needs.

 

[ManuelManuel]

Thank you!

So I start to switch her to a proper diet, and will put her under the direct sunlight.

 

[DK newbie]

Be careful with the sun, as she can't walk away if it gets too hot - in general quail like sunbathing even on hot days, but don't overdo it. And as long as her diet has sufficient vitamin D, it shouldn't be necessary.

 

[Binki]

Awww I hope she feels better with her new food! That's so kind of you to take care of her

 

[ManuelManuel]

Be careful with the sun, as she can't walk away if it gets too hot - in general quail like sunbathing even on hot days, but don't overdo it. And as long as her diet has sufficient vitamin D, it shouldn't be necessary.

Sure, I'll be careful

I think she really needs to the sunlight, because she can't clean herself well and probably there is a lot of bacteria between her feathers.

I have two questions, How many days do you think the healing will take?
And is it possible that there is an egg into her body and she is not able to lay the egg?

 

[ManuelManuel]

Awww I hope she feels better with her new food! That's so kind of you to take care of her

Thanks, I hope so too

 

[DK newbie]

Egg binding is a possibility and it can actually cause symptoms similar to the ones you are describing, but usually an egg bound quail doesn't live for many days and you should notice it straining, so I don't think she's egg bound. But you can try feeling the area below her vent - if there is something the size and shape of an egg, she might very well be egg bound.
As for how long it'll take for her to start walking after getting her diet corrected - it can be anything from a few days to never. I'd expect to see some kind of change within a few weeks, be it better or worse, but that's as far as I dare guess.