Sick quail (golden manchurian coturnix)

[Quailfanny]

Hello there. After having searched all through the internet without success, and going crazy due all the stories about fatal viruses I have decided to create an account to tell about my quail's issue instead of comparing other quails' issues to our situation in order to find a solution. I hope someone has an idea.

3 weeks ago I have found one of our quails (we have 4 in total) with a bruised/swollen toe and a swollen/infected eye. I took her to the vet, (respiratory infection; no idea what she has on her toe, though) and we started a treatment with Sulfatrim and Carprofen. After 2,5 weeks the swollen eye was better but for the rest no change at all. She was sleeping the whole time, her chest/neck expanded during breathing while she slept (which was kind of scary), so I took her back to the vet. She changed the medicine to Novadox and said that I could continue using Carprofen if I wished to. I also got an eye cream (chloramphenicol) for the infection because the quail still didn't open her eyes which happened to be very red. It's been 5 days now and I still don't see any changes. She sneezes, sleeps most of the time and her chest expands (I don't know if this is the right description. English is not my first language, sorry.) while she sleeps, her eyes are most of the time closed and if she opens them she doesn't seem to see very well so when she tries to eat or drink she misses a couple of times until she finds the containers. Her appetite is good which seems odd because loss of appetite seems like a common symptom for almost all viruses/bacteria. Her poop is also normal, no discoloration/not watery. I give her vitamins and herbal mix to improve her immune system but I wonder if I should switch the medicine again. Or should I wait a bit longer?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Nabiki]

Can you post pictures? How old is she? What are you feeding your birds? How much space do they have?
Sorry for all of the questions, but they may help.

Your English is better than many of the native speakers here, so don't worry that we don't understand you.

 

[FloorCandy]

Also what kind of bedding do you use? Has the vet ruled out an allergy to the bedding?

 

[Quailfanny]

Can you post pictures? How old is she? What are you feeding your birds? How much space do they have?
Sorry for all of the questions, but they may help.

Your English is better than many of the native speakers here, so don't worry that we don't understand you.

Thank you for your reply! I believe she cannot be over 1,5 years old. I got her a year ago from a farm and I don't believe she was 6 months old as they sell quails right after they are ready to lay eggs. I didn't really ask for her age as I got her to keep company to my other quail which was alone.
Even though we have chicken, quail are getting special quail food. I can look up the ingredients in case relevant? They were in a cage in the garden, I guess 2,5x1,5 meters. Now that she is sick I have her at home in a small cage but she doesn't mind because she doesn't move much except for looking for food or water. I just took the attached pictures. The marked spot is where her chest is extremely expanding(?) during breathing. She is like this the whole time. Once in a while she wakes up, sneezes, shakes her head to dislodge nostrils or something, eats some food and then falls asleep again.

 

[Quailfanny]

Also what kind of bedding do you use? Has the vet ruled out an allergy to the bedding?

Vet didn't mention anything about allergies. One side of her head was pretty swollen so she just focussed on the infection part. Inside they have pine shavings and during the day they walk on garden soil.

 

[ButtonBag]

Poor little lady! I'm a total novice, but have been doing a lot of googling lately for my own sick quail, and the picture of yours looks a lot like the one on this page describing coryza. There's also info in this article about it, could she have caught it from your chickens? I'd assume this is what your vet was treating for though…

Again, I'm a total quail newbie so could be wrong, I hope you find a way to help her get better!

 

[Nabiki]

Nutrition information on her food would be good.

It sounds like some sort of respiratory disease. I'd recommend a vet, but you've already taken her to one. Do you have the option of taking her to another vet?

 

[Nabiki]

Vet didn't mention anything about allergies. One side of her head was pretty swollen so she just focussed on the infection part. Inside they have pine shavings and during the day they walk on garden soil.

That sounds good and not likely to be anything that she's allergic to.

 

[DeathlayerDreams]

Giving her a raw egg can help her with the extra nutrients to try and fight off the infection hope she gets better

 

[Quailfanny]

Poor little lady! I'm a total novice, but have been doing a lot of googling lately for my own sick quail, and the picture of yours looks a lot like the one on this page describing coryza. There's also info in this article about it, could she have caught it from your chickens? I'd assume this is what your vet was treating for though…

Again, I'm a total quail newbie so could be wrong, I hope you find a way to help her get better!

I have indeed read about those illnesses as well and also mentioned it to the vet the second time I went there. The problem is that they aren't familiar with all avian illlnesses, and also cannot say what it exactly is without taking a sample I guess.
Thank you for replying. Wishing your quail a speedy recovery!