2 month old quail won’t eat or drink and can’t walk

[Alice_yu14]

I have a female quail and on Sunday I put my quail outside and I thought it went missing but I found it in the neighbours surrounded by 3 cats. The cats didn’t harm her. But yesterday when I went to my quail it had trouble balancing itself and now this morning it can’t walk properly and refuses to eat. Last night it ate and drank but this morning it stopped. Instead it keeps chirping. I don’t know what’s wrong with it. At first I thought it was the cats but the day I found it surrounded by cats it was still happily finding food in the grass and running and walking well but suddenly the next day it just had trouble moving. I realised that every time I move my quail t keeps chirping as if in pain?? I’m currently hand feeding it water but it still refuses to eat. I’m also keeping it warm under heat lamp. But for the past few days it’s always been under a heat lamp. Now I don’t know what to do.
Please help!

 

[Alice_yu14]

Good news. i fed it some dandelion and now it‘s starting to eat and drink by itself. starting to walk a little but still likes to rest more than usual. It’s poo is no longer white. It looks more brown with slight green.

 

[Nabiki]

Good news. i fed it some dandelion and now it‘s starting to eat and drink by itself. starting to walk a little but still likes to rest more than usual. It’s poo is no longer white. It looks more brown with slight green.

I'm so glad to hear that she's improving. Keep us posted!

 

[Nabiki]

I don’t know how to post a picture. But thank you so much for replying.

I don’t think it’s egg bound.. do quails lay at 2 months old?

It’s poop is white and I think there’s a tiny bit of blood. It’s making me more worried. It was completely fine and suddenly it didn’t want to move anymore.

Right now it’s just huddled in a corner fluffing it’s feathers.

Thank you so much for replying.

I've had quail start laying as early as 5.5 weeks. They usually start laying around 6 weeks if conditions are ideal.

It still doesn’t want to eat and I don’t know how to force food down without harming her

I wouldn't force food into her, but rather offer her water with a pipette or dropper that has Nutri-drench or Save-a-chick in it.

The stool with blood is worrying. @Wyorp Rock has given some sound advice, and I would try that. I'll admit, I don't know much about disease, since I haven't had to deal with it ( ). I'm also only good with basic first aid, which has been enough for everything I've encountered with my birds so far (for which I'm grateful).

I am worried about internal injuries since this happened after the cat encounter. With internal injuries your choices are pretty much wait and see or a vet.

 

[Vickischics]

Im sorry to read about your quail. As you already suspect, your lil quail is injured. Since you haven't seen any visable signs of injury, it must be internally since it's displaying the inability or increased difficulty in walking and has stopped eating.
You are doing the right thing by keeping it warm but, it must have an area to move from the heat lamp. I don't know if you have any Hydro hen electrolytes to give it. Or give it Gatorade. It needs the electrolytes. The other thing is mixing up some mash. Cook an egg and crumble it up.
See if that will intince its appetite.
How old is your quail?
Take pictures of its poop,
A video of how it trys to walk is helpful too but, you need to upload it to YouTube first I think.

Try these things.
Your doing the Best you can with your Quail right now.

 

[Vickischics]

I'm going to tag @Nabiki.
I believe you can receive quail specific help from her. I think she's on here now.

 

[Nabiki]

It's possible that she has internal injuries, but it kind of sounds like she might be egg bound. Is she pooping? If not, can you feel an egg stuck in her vent? Is a vet an option?

If she's not eating, I would try to get some Save-a-chick or Nutri-drench into her to keep her energy up. If you can examine her for any swelling or hidden wounds.

If you have pictures, that might help.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Also @Wyorp Rock can also perhaps help you too.

I don't know much about Quail, so tagging Nabiki was the right thing to do!

 

[Nabiki]

It's getting late for me, so in case you think she might be egg bound, the treatment for that would be to soak her vent in warm (just a couple degrees warmer than quail body temp) water and gently massage her vent. A bit of vaseline may also help her get it out.

If it is injury and a vet isn't an option, keep her warm and try to get some nutrition into her.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I don’t know how to post a picture. But thank you so much for replying.

I don’t think it’s egg bound.. do quails lay at 2 months old?

It’s poop is white and I think there’s a tiny bit of blood. It’s making me more worried. It was completely fine and suddenly it didn’t want to move anymore.

Right now it’s just huddled in a corner fluffing it’s feathers.

Thank you so much for replying.

It still doesn’t want to eat and I don’t know how to force food down without harming her

Looking at my notes. I would tend to go with instructions that were posted by @007Sean in this thread. Read the whole thread, but huddling, ruffled feathers, white poop with blood...I would treat with antibiotics and Corid. I don't have Quail, but if I did, that's what I would do.
And yes...my understanding is that Quail start laying eggs quite young compared to chickens, so she could be in lay at 2 months of age. If I'm wrong, hopefully the Quail Folks will correct me - I'm Always willing to learn!
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/so-much-water.1330462/post-21720206

Editing to add, work on getting her hydrated, she needs fluids first, then you can fiddle with getting her to eat. Wet feed might be enticing or bits of scrambled egg.

You may find this article helpful as well. I wish I knew more...I hope you can find a solution for her and she gets better.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...-issues-and-keeping-your-quail-healthy.67379/