Care for Quail that lost feathers

[_Jay_Bird_]

So a week or so ago rats managed to get into our quail enclosure. Only 3 of them survived and one of them has lost a significant amount of feathers. Many flight feathers seem to be missing but there's been no bleeding.

What I’m more worried about is her back. Her entire bottom up to where her wings meet her back is completely plucked bare of feathers, and the skin there is very dry and leathery. By the looks of it, new feathers are starting to push through, but the area around those points is so dry and thick, it’s almost crusty. Is there anything I should be worried about? My instinct would be to find some way to moisturise the skin but I have absolutely no idea where to start with that and I don’t want to cause any further harm.

Should I be worried about diseases getting to the exposed skin? I’m certain that the others aren’t bullying or pecking her, and for the meantime they're spending their evenings inside until we can find a way to rat proof their enclosure for good.

 

[JustAChickenLoverOverHere]

So a week or so ago rats managed to get into our quail enclosure. Only 3 of them survived and one of them has lost a significant amount of feathers. Many flight feathers seem to be missing but there's been no bleeding.

What I’m more worried about is her back. Her entire bottom up to where her wings meet her back is completely plucked bare of feathers, and the skin there is very dry and leathery. By the looks of it, new feathers are starting to push through, but the area around those points is so dry and thick, it’s almost crusty. Is there anything I should be worried about? My instinct would be to find some way to moisturise the skin but I have absolutely no idea where to start with that and I don’t want to cause any further harm.

Should I be worried about diseases getting to the exposed skin? I’m certain that the others aren’t bullying or pecking her, and for the meantime they're spending their evenings inside until we can find a way to rat proof their enclosure for good.

Any pictures?

 

[Quailobsessed]

Welcome to BYC!

I'm sorry about your poor quail. I have had ongoing rat troubles in my aviaries, so I understand how difficult it is.

Do you have any pictures you could post? If there's pin feathers, that's a good sign. Quails generally take pretty quick to recover.

 

[_Jay_Bird_]

Any pictures?

Welcome to BYC!

I'm sorry about your poor quail. I have had ongoing rat troubles in my aviaries, so I understand how difficult it is.

Do you have any pictures you could post? If there's pin feathers, that's a good sign. Quails generally take pretty quick to recover.

Thank you! Here's the pic.

 

[JustAChickenLoverOverHere]

View attachment 2512535
Thank you! Here's the pic.

She actually looks pretty healthy, her back is healed up well and I don't think she'll get any infections. I doubt you'll have to moisturize her back, it is a little dry, but I'd wait until the feathers grow back to check on her again. She does look pretty good though, and I don't think you'll have to worry about infections. Let her grow them back out and if you see she's having any problems, check the area again. Looks good!

 

[Nabiki]

She looks good, aside from being plucked. He skin looks pretty healthy, so I think you just need to wait for the feathers to grow back.

 

[shrimpsilkies]

If you can give her some protein-rich treats like mealworms or egg and keep her out of the cold, she should grow those feathers back in a few weeks.

 

[Quailobsessed]

Besides missing feathers, she looks good.

 

[_Jay_Bird_]

Thank you everyone for replying , her feathers new feathers did actually start budging 2 days after I sent this photo, turns out the reason the skin felt so thick was because the new feathers were right underneath it! unfortunately she's been plucking the new ones out, either because they’re itchy or she's stressed, but since we've stopped keeping them inside most of the day that seems to have stopped completely.