quail leg problem 2

I have been treating my birds for what looks like Scaley Leg by putting petroleum gel on their legs as has been suggested.

One of my birds is weaker than the others. I have segregated her in a separate cage. She has great difficulty standing and even more trying to walk. I have noticed that one of her hocks and the foot on that side, are swollen.

Does anyone have advise on what I could do to help her?

Does this weaker one also have the leg scale mites too? These mites can cause bone infections from drilling too deeply for too long into the leg.

Do you have a picture of the swollen joint and hock?

Here is a picture of her swollen foot and hock. I do believe she has scaly leg and here is another picture of her leg that I showed in my last thread (quail leg problem).

The second picture looks like there COULD be some leg scale. But the top picture doesn't look like leg scale.

Is that band too tight on the birds leg? If it is, this would cause the lameness and swelling. It looks tight to me. You should be able to slide it up and down with no resistance.

I can slide the band easily on her leg but the swollen foot and hock prevent me from sliding it the whole length of her leg. As the swelling has progressed on her right leg it is getting harder and harder to see the lifted scales.

If she did in fact have a lot of leg scale mites, she could have a bone infection. You can use either the vaseline on the legs to smoother the mites or Ivermectin pour on. I would have to get you the dosage for the Ivermectin. It won't be much more than the tiniest drop on the back of the neck. This will kill all mites, including leg scale mites.

You might also need to start her on antibiotics. Something for deep tissue like Penicillin or Doxycycline. Leg scale mites to a lot of internal damage.

Let me know if you go any of these routes and how you want to administer them and I will get you dosages.

I'm planning on buying Ivermectin tommorow at tractor supply. Do you think I should use this on the other birds that have scaly leg as well as the bird with swollen foot and hock.

I'm not sure what antibiotic I should chose. I have oxytetracycline. Could I use this or do I need to use Penicillin or Doxycycline? Which antibiotic would you suggest?

As for the Ivermectin pour on, I would use this on all your birds. This will help kill off the scale mites fast than smothering them. But if they have crusts on the scales, you will still need to use vaseline to soften and remove the crust without damaging the scales.

As for a dosage, it is not much for quail. I would put on 1 drop (and this drop is from a 25 gauge needle size) Have someone else hold the bird. Suck up 1 cc or so, so it easy to work with. Pull the feathers away right behind the neck and squeeze on only 1 drop from this syringe with needle onto the skin. Make sure it contacts with the skin only. This stuff soaks in fast. It hits the blood stream and makes it impossible for mites to live on the skin or just beneath it. Repeat this in 10 days. Mean while clean out all bedding and spray everything down with a poultry permethrin spray.

Oxytetracycline works well for respiratory issues, but not all that well on soft tissue infections. I would go with the Doxycycline. It is easier than giving injections as you would with the Penicillin. I have given chickens injections, never quail. They are just so tiny and not as tolerant to being handled as much. Doxycycline in the water is how I would approach this. You can order this on line at many places that sell Parrot supplies. It is a common antibiotic used on all birds and takes care of a multitude of bacterias.

doxycycline came in the mail yesterday and i have been giving it to her in her water since yesterday night.

Tonight I found that on one side of her neck she had a huge air sack. Do you think this is an issue and if you do how would you suggest I treat it.

When you say side of the neck, could you be talking about the crop? That is located on the right side breast at shoulder level on the front side of the bird.

If this is the crop we are talking about, did you feel this first thing in the morning when the crop should be empty? And is it soft and squishy or full and hard?

If this is on the side of the neck and not the crop, it would help if you could include pics to see what you are talking about.