Quail was okay yesterday, but is suddenly showing signs of exhaustion, refusing to eat etc?

[pe4ch]

Hi there,

I own a quail, she's a female and I've had her since September 2023. She was active yesterday, eating, drinking & running around. But today she seems very exhausted, her eyes are half opened (see video I attached where she drank a bit of water) and I notice she keeps sleeping a lot, wobbles a lot, refuses to eat, falls over easily and struggles to get up and she seems more fluffed up than usual. Her poop looks normal too.

https://imgur.com/jhvg3cX

Any advice on what may be happening? It happened in less than 24 hours, and I'm quite worried
Is there something I can do, is she sick?

Thanks, any help/advice will be appreciated

 

[Nabiki]

How many quail do you have?
How many males, how many females?
What are you feeding her?
What is her home like?
Pictures of her home would be good.

 

[pe4ch]

How many quail do you have?
How many males, how many females?
What are you feeding her?
What is her home like?
Pictures of her home would be good.

1. I only have the one quail
2. Just the one, which is a female
3. I feed her mashed corn, seeds, oats, cucumber, sometimes mashed up carrots, she eats bugs too (these are the different foods she eats)
4. She currently stays in my room, it's spacious, but I take her out as much as I can since the weather is quite cold here

 

[Nabiki]

I see several problems that could be affecting her health. Quail are good at hiding illness, so she could have been getting sick for quite some time and only now has been unable to hide her sickness.

1 - Quail are social, and she needs company. If you can only get one more, get another hen. If you get a male, you will need 3-4 more hens.
2 - Her diet is not giving her the nutrition she needs. I suspect that this is the root cause of her illness. She needs game bird feed.
3 - I suspect that while her home may be spacious, it may not have enough hiding places. I'm also not sure of her age, but quail generally have a lifespan of only a few years.

 

[pe4ch]

I see several problems that could be affecting her health. Quail are good at hiding illness, so she could have been getting sick for quite some time and only now has been unable to hide her sickness.

1 - Quail are social, and she needs company. If you can only get one more, get another hen. If you get a male, you will need 3-4 more hens.
2 - Her diet is not giving her the nutrition she needs. I suspect that this is the root cause of her illness. She needs game bird feed.
3 - I suspect that while her home may be spacious, it may not have enough hiding places. I'm also not sure of her age, but quail generally have a lifespan of only a few years.

I'll try the diet option first and see if it makes a difference, I'll update here ASAP with the progress.

 

[Nabiki]

Make sure that the feed is for game birds or turkeys if you can't find it. You want something in the 24% protein range with 1.5% methionine and about .5% lysine for best nutrition. If she's laying, you will want to give her crushed egg shell or oyster shell for extra calcium. Give that to her on the side and she will eat as much as she needs.

 

[007Sean]

I see several problems that could be affecting her health. Quail are good at hiding illness, so she could have been getting sick for quite some time and only now has been unable to hide her sickness.

1 - Quail are social, and she needs company. If you can only get one more, get another hen. If you get a male, you will need 3-4 more hens.
2 - Her diet is not giving her the nutrition she needs. I suspect that this is the root cause of her illness. She needs game bird feed.
3 - I suspect that while her home may be spacious, it may not have enough hiding places. I'm also not sure of her age, but quail generally have a lifespan of only a few years.

I agree with @Nabiki diagnose.

 

[Cinch]

I see several problems that could be affecting her health. Quail are good at hiding illness, so she could have been getting sick for quite some time and only now has been unable to hide her sickness.

1 - Quail are social, and she needs company. If you can only get one more, get another hen. If you get a male, you will need 3-4 more hens.
2 - Her diet is not giving her the nutrition she needs. I suspect that this is the root cause of her illness. She needs game bird feed.
3 - I suspect that while her home may be spacious, it may not have enough hiding places. I'm also not sure of her age, but quail generally have a lifespan of only a few years.

Agreed
Very gregarious birds, another few would pep her up. Sounds like lack of minerals and proper nutrition.

 

[Daniel Grey]

If she's laying, you will want to give her crushed egg shell or oyster shell for extra calcium. Give that to her on the side and she will eat as much as she needs.

Also, I suggest chick oystershell grit and chick grit because I find the stuff you buy for chickens is too big.

 

[pe4ch]

She's back to normal, got her some 'Cluck & co organic, all flock blend, organic poultry food with 20% protein', it's the best I could find nearest to me. After 2 or so days, she went back to normal. I would've tried something stronger, but it's the only one they had.