I'm having issuues with a hen jumbo coturnix quail.
She suffered an injury to her lower jaw, the skin at the side sort of is peeled back & gashed. We noticed immediately & removed her from her new pen (we don't know whether the pen was the cause or nearby chickens which are still having their run built.
So, I brought her inside yesterday & cleaned her injury. Then I popped her down on the floor while I sorted out a cage for her & she promptly found the only cigarette filter on the floor under the sofa (those white cotton ones for rollups).
I spotted it & dived for her & she raced away & just gulped it down. The first bird to ever eat a bloody cigarette filter.
Now today I went outside to check her & she is more lethargic this evening, she laid her first egg this morning though in the house. She's doing white runny poops with a little bit of "poo" & won't eat & is wandering around puffed up.
I've checked her crop & it feels empty, but she's so puffed up I couldn't tell if it was swollen or not. Both sides look the same size. I felt her crop & couldn't feel anything.
So now I don't know what to do.
She won't eat even soft food. She's puffed up with her eyes closed sometimes looking like she's going to sleep & is easy to pick up. But, again, she was in the house last night & she was awake late, so I don't know if she's just tired also!
She was eating yesterday.
Is her beak / jaw hurting her too much to eat?
Is her crop impacted with a filter?
Is she very tired?
Is it all three?
I couldn't even watch her today to see if she passed the filter, I had to get all the other animals into shelter due to flooding.
Any advice?
I've tried giving her oil, she won't eat. But she DOES show an interest in food, comes over, looks at it for ages, then wanders off.
The beak injury is to the lower jaw, like a nasty tear to the skin at the side of the beak which pulled back the skin. It bled badly & looks very tender.
She suffered an injury to her lower jaw, the skin at the side sort of is peeled back & gashed. We noticed immediately & removed her from her new pen (we don't know whether the pen was the cause or nearby chickens which are still having their run built.
So, I brought her inside yesterday & cleaned her injury. Then I popped her down on the floor while I sorted out a cage for her & she promptly found the only cigarette filter on the floor under the sofa (those white cotton ones for rollups).
I spotted it & dived for her & she raced away & just gulped it down. The first bird to ever eat a bloody cigarette filter.
Now today I went outside to check her & she is more lethargic this evening, she laid her first egg this morning though in the house. She's doing white runny poops with a little bit of "poo" & won't eat & is wandering around puffed up.
I've checked her crop & it feels empty, but she's so puffed up I couldn't tell if it was swollen or not. Both sides look the same size. I felt her crop & couldn't feel anything.
So now I don't know what to do.
She won't eat even soft food. She's puffed up with her eyes closed sometimes looking like she's going to sleep & is easy to pick up. But, again, she was in the house last night & she was awake late, so I don't know if she's just tired also!
She was eating yesterday.
Is her beak / jaw hurting her too much to eat?
Is her crop impacted with a filter?
Is she very tired?
Is it all three?
I couldn't even watch her today to see if she passed the filter, I had to get all the other animals into shelter due to flooding.
Any advice?
I've tried giving her oil, she won't eat. But she DOES show an interest in food, comes over, looks at it for ages, then wanders off.
The beak injury is to the lower jaw, like a nasty tear to the skin at the side of the beak which pulled back the skin. It bled badly & looks very tender.
Last edited:
