Sudden Death in quail, intestinal blockage?

[FeatherSmith]

This post describes my attempt to determine the cause of a death of a quail, so it has lots of gross details! Please do not read if it will bother you.

I went outside this morning to take care of my girls (three month old quail) and found a dying quail. She made no reaction as I reached for her in the hutch and had dull eyes. There were no sick looking quail yesterday. I picked her up and she continually spit water. Her eyes were dull, no nasal drip. I felt about her crop and it felt like a balloon--just full of water. I decided then I'd probably have to euthanize. When I returned to do the job she had perished.

I tested the bird for life then removed the head to try to see what had killed her. I carefully cut the skin around her crop and yes, it was absolutely full of water. The poor thing, she had been drinking and drinking. The water is replaced daily to every other day and there was plenty of it both yesterday and today.

I continued looking and heart, liver, lungs seemed normal.

When I examined her digestive tract though I found that the outside seemed normal but there was material inside much more firm then what I find in quail I butcher for food. The effected area was an inch to an inch and a half long and the material inside was light golden in color and the consistency of a thick paste of dried out porridge. It had a bad smell, rotten grain? It wasn't flesh and wasn't attached to the wall of the intestine, so I doubt it is cancer. No blood was found inside the intestine, and there was none of the bright yellow foamy nastiness I associate with coccidiosis.

I did feed them a few extra things the last few days. It is Sunday today Day before last (Friday) they were given baby mealworms. I am raising them for my birds as a treat and this was the first small batch (left over from changing the insect's homes). The mealworms are kept in wheat bran and some of the bran did end up among them. Could she have eaten it and gotten blocked up?

Thursday I made them a small trap of green lettuce, a few mashed up blueberries, and a handful of oat groat. It was devoured. I've never given them the oat groat before but with the amount I gave she could have only had 5 or so grains unless she was very fast and greedy. I've read now that it isn't great for birds so I will stop, but could it have blocked her intestine?

Thank you for reading this. Please let me know if you have an idea what killed my bird! Also let me know if there's anything else I should check for before I dispose of the body.

 

[Dakota8472]

sorry for ur birdo.

 

[muddy75]

It does sound like an intestinal blockage. Age? Do they have access to grit? Do you give any oyster shell?
Birds can eat complete feed and digest without grit, but it is necessary for digestion of fruits, veggies, and scratch grains.
I typically offer some chick grit at 2-3 weeks old and sprinkle some in the aviary occasionally
I asked about oyster shell because I’ve had a couple rare occasions that pieces were too big and caused blockage

 

[MontiSage]

This post describes my attempt to determine the cause of a death of a quail, so it has lots of gross details! Please do not read if it will bother you.

I went outside this morning to take care of my girls (three month old quail) and found a dying quail. She made no reaction as I reached for her in the hutch and had dull eyes. There were no sick looking quail yesterday. I picked her up and she continually spit water. Her eyes were dull, no nasal drip. I felt about her crop and it felt like a balloon--just full of water. I decided then I'd probably have to euthanize. When I returned to do the job she had perished.

I tested the bird for life then removed the head to try to see what had killed her. I carefully cut the skin around her crop and yes, it was absolutely full of water. The poor thing, she had been drinking and drinking. The water is replaced daily to every other day and there was plenty of it both yesterday and today.

I continued looking and heart, liver, lungs seemed normal.

When I examined her digestive tract though I found that the outside seemed normal but there was material inside much more firm then what I find in quail I butcher for food. The effected area was an inch to an inch and a half long and the material inside was light golden in color and the consistency of a thick paste of dried out porridge. It had a bad smell, rotten grain? It wasn't flesh and wasn't attached to the wall of the intestine, so I doubt it is cancer. No blood was found inside the intestine, and there was none of the bright yellow foamy nastiness I associate with coccidiosis.

I did feed them a few extra things the last few days. It is Sunday today Day before last (Friday) they were given baby mealworms. I am raising them for my birds as a treat and this was the first small batch (left over from changing the insect's homes). The mealworms are kept in wheat bran and some of the bran did end up among them. Could she have eaten it and gotten blocked up?

Thursday I made them a small trap of green lettuce, a few mashed up blueberries, and a handful of oat groat. It was devoured. I've never given them the oat groat before but with the amount I gave she could have only had 5 or so grains unless she was very fast and greedy. I've read now that it isn't great for birds so I will stop, but could it have blocked her intestine?

Thank you for reading this. Please let me know if you have an idea what killed my bird! Also let me know if there's anything else I should check for before I dispose of the body.

It seems your birds are outside on the ground? And you're providing some fresh food, not just a commercial feed? They'll need a source of grit to process fresh foods.