One legged quail with recurring infection, maybe bumblefoot-what can I do to fix it? Prosthetic leg?

That's good to hear. Too often the standard advice is 'separate the injured/ill animal' without mentioning some will nosedive in condition if put into a box or room where they cannot see their family. Some cope, some get depressed immediately.

I always prefer to have the convalescent cages among the main population, but since implementing a very strict culling policy against bullying, I can leave injured or ill birds among the main flock without harm coming to them so now I prefer to do that. (Obviously my ideas on biosecurity are a bit different to most... I prefer to expose them to disease rather than try to protect them indefinitely since that only ever ends one way --- sooner or later, there's a fatal outbreak of what may only be a common cold among more pathogen-exposed stock. Since my stock come from all manner of places, often in poor condition, it just makes more sense for me to work on their immune systems being strong rather than try to isolate them from disease).

The choice of oats and fresh food is common with animals who are sick or have infections, because both of those conditions in almost all forms cause some amount of liver burden and fresh foods, oats etc are easy and gentle foods for them whereas cooked foods, particularly the oils, proteins and fats in cooked form that one gets in pellets, can be so hard on an overworked liver that they can be fatal.

Best wishes.
 
Yeah, the vet actually advised me to keep her with her mate. They are so extraordinarily close to each other that whenever I separate them, they both get depressed and uninterested in food or rest and he keeps calling her and searing for her frantically until she's back again. She still is not very happy being in a separate cage, she escaped from her cage today and ran right over to them and tried to get in their door. When she couldn't, she just sat there as close as she could to them.

She is still eating sparingly today. Not nearly as much as normal and she's still not laying eggs which is really really unusual for her, she regularly lays one egg every day. She's also getting short fevers. I'm misting her off to keep her cool. I am starting to think I should take her back to the vet, and I would, but I don't actually have a car right now.

I did get her to start eating some medicinal foods, though. I scrambled an egg with its shell in some coconut oil and mixed in half a capsule of goldenseal and 2 cloves of garlic. I really wish I could get an accurate dosage for birds, a capsule being a human dosage, but then I figured that with the amount of food she's eating, that it's unlikely she's going to take too much or even enough. (If you can even overdose on this herb that is; I don't think you can.)

She's pecking at the food, though. So that is a good sign that she's getting at least some food into her system. I do wish she'd drink more water. But her stump looks much, much better. The scabs are gone. At this point the infection is probably being harbored inside her body, though. I'll just have to keep providing medicine for her. As soon as I get the shoes in the mail, I'm putting her back in with them and hoping she will start recovering then.

She is trying to eat grass so I'll give her some fresh grass and mix up some oatmeal for her and try to find a way to work in some grapefruit seed extract.
 
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Yeah, the vet actually advised me to keep her with her mate. They are so extraordinarily close to each other that whenever I separate them, they both get depressed and uninterested in food or rest and he keeps calling her and searing for her frantically until she's back again. She still is not very happy being in a separate cage, she escaped from her cage today and ran right over to them and tried to get in their door. When she couldn't, she just sat there as close as she could to them.

She is still eating sparingly today. Not nearly as much as normal and she's still not laying eggs which is really really unusual for her, she regularly lays one egg every day. She's also getting short fevers. I'm misting her off to keep her cool. I am starting to think I should take her back to the vet, and I would, but I don't actually have a car right now.

If she were laying right now that'd be unusual and an issue as the last thing she needs right now is to be producing as well as trying to heal. The short fevers I reckon probably indicate a systematic infection or similar.

I did get her to start eating some medicinal foods, though. I scrambled an egg with its shell in some coconut oil and mixed in half a capsule of goldenseal and 2 cloves of garlic. I really wish I could get an accurate dosage for birds, a capsule being a human dosage, but then I figured that with the amount of food she's eating, that it's unlikely she's going to take too much or even enough. (If you can even overdose on this herb that is; I don't think you can.)

You can overdose on pretty much anything, but many things you can't overdose on without megadoses particularly gentle herbs which you'd have to forcefeed to overdose on for the most part. There is conflicting info on whether you can overdose on Goldenseal but generally it's believed to be toxic and fatal in very high doses, though that information is somewhat suspect because it's obtained by overdosing animals with isolated compounds rather than the whole herb, but, if force feeding overdose of anything is always a risk, as a general rule of thumb. The amount you're giving is very unlikely to be a risk. One study on toxicity cited generational exposure in rats... Hardly sounds like a large risk. When in doubt about any medicine or any individual's ability to cope with the medicine it can help to offer unmedicated food or water sources as well. They will generally possess enough instinct to self medicate if it's available.

She's pecking at the food, though. So that is a good sign that she's getting at least some food into her system. I do wish she'd drink more water. But her stump looks much, much better. The scabs are gone. At this point the infection is probably being harbored inside her body, though. I'll just have to keep providing medicine for her. As soon as I get the shoes in the mail, I'm putting her back in with them and hoping she will start recovering then.

She is trying to eat grass so I'll give her some fresh grass and mix up some oatmeal for her and try to find a way to work in some grapefruit seed extract.

Fresh greens, and naturally grown ones more than kitchen scraps, are vital in recovery from many issues from disease to injury, it's a very good idea to let her have all the fresh green grass she wants. The chlorophyll is a gentle and safe detoxifier which can be the difference between life or death for some animals. Many greens also contain some antiseptic qualities. Dried raspberry leaf tea, or crumbled leaves added to her food, could help, it's used to stop internal infection and aid in clotting, and boosts iron levels and stop diarrhea among other uses. I've used it with my animals and found it's quite helpful with many issues.

Best wishes.
 
Yeah, I know they don't normally lay when they're sick, but when she was really sick (on the verge of death with extremely high fever sick) she was still laying eggs every day without missing a beat. So the fact that she's not laying makes me worried she might be sicker than I thought... I'll just keep an eye on her and if she's not improving in the next few days I'll probably bring her in.

She does seem to be eating better today, also she is drinking more, and she is opting to drink the water I medicated with GSE, so that should help. For future reference to anybody reading this, I put a drop of agrisept (GSE) in 8 oz of water and then refill her water dish with this as she drinks it.

I tried feeding her kale, but she wouldn't touch it. What she really is gobbling up, though, is freeze dried veggies (peas, corn, bell peppers, carrots, and tomatoes) that I crushed for her. She eats that faster than anything else I've given her so far.
 
I think she was still laying when near death because the biological process seems to lag behind most stimuli they receive, egg production doesn't slow or stop just because they're actually dying, so there may be a delayed halt triggered back then which you're seeing in effect now.

Ditto on the kale, my chooks hated it. I don't much like it either. I suspect it's too high in potassium and vitamin A for most poultry, perhaps, and I know my vit K and A levels don't need supplementing.

Best wishes.
 
She's doing much better today. She laid an egg this morning, she's eating and drinking regularly, been more active. She still looks a little hot but I'll keep medicating her and keep her cool until I'm sure she's recovered. Should get better now that her stump is healed up.

Thanks for your help!
 
Thanks :)
Yeah, she's hopping around on it like it's not bugging her at all anymore. I took a look at it today and it looks pretty well healed, no more open bloody spots or swollen scabs, just calloused skin. Ironically, I had to put her mate in with her yesterday as he somehow hurt his beak and was bleeding everywhere. I think he must have tried to fly out of the cage and hit his face. I almost wonder if he did that deliberately so he could be with her lol!
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The birdy booties also came today, but they were waaay too big. I tried to cut them smaller but they just didn't fit-the way her stump's bent it wouldn't fit inside right, and she kicked it off immediately. Oh well, as long as she's kept on a soft surface, I think, walking on it shouldn't be a problem since the wounds are healed. I'll keep them on the paper towels until I finish the coop and can put them on some soft bedding.
 
Good stuff. Can you consider giving some more updates sometime in future for the sake of others with similar problems? One legged birds are very hit and miss, some cope fine, others won't. The more info the merrier. :)

Best wishes.
 

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