Button Quail: neck tilt, head wound, vent gunk

[Jen'sCityHens]

I am new to button quails and need some help! The female in one of my pairs is either sick, injured or both. Ok so i'm just going to follow the format of the pinned post...

1) Button quail/chinese painted quail, female, aprox 2.5 months old, not sure her weight but she seems thinner than my other females. She has not laid eggs yet, and as far as i can tell i dont think she is egg bound as i feel nothing in her.

2) What is the behavior, exactly.
- her head is tilted to the left and remains in this position at all times. This morning i found a wound on the top of her head, feathers missing and tiny amount of dried blood.

3) How long has the bird been exhibiting symptoms?
- the head tilt has gone on for a few days, i have added extra calcium but no change.
- the wound on her head is new as of today. (Tuesday)

4) Are other birds exhibiting the same symptoms?
- her mate has a very very small spot on the top if his head where he is also missing feathers. However there is no dried blood or sign of torn skin. Much smaller than female's. No other similar symptoms.

5) Is there any bleeding, injury, broken bones or other sign of trauma.
- what appears to be a small amount of dried blood on the top of her head.
- There is also what looks like dried blood, or something else dark, that is crusted around her left ear hole. It is not runny, just a circular chunk of something on her ear hole.
- there is also some crusty yellow stuff around her vent.

6) What happened, if anything that you know of, that may have caused the situation.
- i thought she may have injured her neck from 'boinking'. but now that her head is scalped and i see her ear and the gunk on her vent, i have no idea.

7) What has the bird been eating and drinking, if at all.
- i have not seen her eat or drink today

8) How does the poop look? Normal? Bloody? Runny? etc.
- when i was holding her she pooped and it looked normal.

9) What has been the treatment you have administered so far?
- nothing i have no idea what to do, pease help

10 ) What is your intent as far as treatment? For example, do you want to treat completely yourself, or do you need help in stabilizing the bird til you can get to a vet?
- would like to treat myself, i am a student with limited funds and do not wish to pay pricey vet bills.

11) If you have a picture of the wound or condition, please post it. It may help.
- no picture of ear hole or vent, but one of top of head

12) Describe the housing/bedding in use
- will post pic of coop
- bedding = aspen shavings with timothy hay nesting space.
- the ceiling of their coop is 18 inches tall.
- FEED = duck starter crumbs with large amount of crushed egg shells (boiled to remove germs or bacteria)

 

[JaeG]

@DK newbie any ideas?

I'm pretty new to them myself and I'm not sure what to suggest. How long has the pair been together? They may not be getting along if she's getting injured. Hopefully DK newbie can help.

 

[Jen'sCityHens]

They have been together since I got them, when I purchased them all 3 pairs were together in a cage with 1 cotrnx quail and 3 doves. I separated them all immediately and put all the quails in a large rabbit cage. Once the personalities stated to come out, this male because the most aggressive, so I separated him, and waited to see which mate was calling out to him. She was calling back and forth with him so I put them together. They have been fine up until now, and even now they are not showing signs of aggression toward one another.

 

[Jen'sCityHens]

UPDATE:
Last night I cleaned the wound on the female's head with 1 part hydrogen peroxide diluted in 1 part warm water. I used the same solution to gently wipe the scab on her ear. Eventually I got the scab off and was able to clean the area. There was dark discharge coming from her ear. I happened to have a recent Rx of antibiotic ear drops for myself (ciprofloxacin + dexamethasone), so I put approx 1/2 drop in her ear. The other ear is fine.
I also cleaned the her vent with warm water.

WEDNESDAY UPDATE:
Checked on the pair today and noticed the males head wound was worse. The wound was much larger and blended. So I cleaned with the same solution I used last night on the female. I also put an antibiotic ointment (taro-mupirocin 2%)(that was prescribed for my cat) on the wound. I also checked his ears and vent. Ears were fine. But his vent was all red and had what looked like cooked egg whites coming out, also he was missing feathers on his tail. I will upload a pic!

I also cleaned the female's head wound and ear this morning with the peroxide/water solution and applied the same antibiotic ointment. Her vent was clean today.

Had both birds wrapped in towel to do this and did my best to keep them calm.

 

[Jen'sCityHens]

The male today. Hard to see, first pic is his tail, second his vent.