Clementine the Quail hen is sick :( plz help

[Celeste Cannon]

My poor coturnix quail Clementine was very obviously sick when I got home . She was super low energy, usually scrambling with all her strength to get away from me, she only did a little run before I was able to catch her yesterday. She’s lost a lot of color, very skinny, stinky and has a crusty vent. She also seems to be cold, always having ruffled feathers when I check on her. I’ve separated her from her only partner Maurice, a male quail who is usually 2/3 the size of her. She was completely fine last week. Does anyone know what she might be sick with? Any recommendations to help her? I am going to give her some chick boost in her water and some bugs right now. Below are some pics, including one of her a couple weeks ago.

 

[Isaac 0]

I'm very sorry to hear about Clementine. I don't have any experience, but will tag @TwoCrows , and see if she can help further.

Could provide us with some additional information?

How old is the bird? Where did you acquire her? Is she laying, are you providing a calcium source? What is she being fed? Have you had any problems with your quail in the past? Is she eating and drinking well? Do you have any photos of her feces? If a grey-ish color, that may point towards quail ulcerative enteritis. Do you have any pictures of your/their pen area? Have you done a full physical examination on the birds, checking in her mouth for any plaque deposits such as canker, or look around her body for signs of any ectoparasites? Here is a good link regarding performing physical examinations in poultry,

https://www.merckvetmanual.com/exot...ltry/physical-examination-of-backyard-poultry

As with any sick bird, you should really think about moving her into a warm, quiet, stressful free area with a feed and water dish provided. Dripping a few drops of a poultry vitamin along her beak, or offering her mashed scrambled eggs may help.

Her vent area is definitely a concern, and is something I would take action on immediately. If she was mine, for now, I might slather an antibacterial ointment like Neosporin or Preparation H over the vent, to help keep the area moist, and ward/kill off any bacteria present. Do that a few times, or as needed to keep the area moist.

Often times when there is excessive fecal matter buildup around the vent area that can indicate internal problems, such as a bacterial, or a worm infestation that is causing the good flora in her body to be out of wack, and produce stinky, runny poops that easily accumulate on the skin.

That being said, you could try worming her with a broad spectrum wormer such as SafeGaurd or Valbazen and starting her on an antibiotic such as Amoxicillin which can be found online in Fish, and birds form. Or, if you live near a vet, collect a few poop samples from her, and have a fecal floation, and gram stain done. Hopefully, Two Crows will share her input.

 

[Celeste Cannon]

Thank you so much this is so helpful and interesting, I’ll answer the questions as best as I can.
How old is the bird? 6 months old
Where did you acquire her? Local egg seller, hatched her myself
Is she laying, are you providing a calcium source? She doesn't lay much, but when she does they're healthy eggs. I think she doesn't lay much because of stress, she only lives with 1 male since other attempts of getting her friends have failed.
What is she being fed? Food for quail/ pigeons from my feed store i'll attach a pic tomorrow
Have you had any problems with your quail in the past? No illnesses, she's been inconsistent with egg laying and been aggressive with the male but that's all
Is she eating and drinking well? I believe so, I definitely saw her drinking and eating a bug today, i'll try catching her eating her feed tomorrow

All of these questions I can answer tomorrow:

Do you have any photos of her feces?
Do you have any pictures of your/their pen area?
Have you done a full physical examination on the birds, checking in her mouth for any plaque deposits such as canker, or look around her body for signs of any ectoparasites?
Photos of food?

Should I try wiping the excess poo off with a wet towel? Or will that stress her out? As for the Neosporin, I've had a bad experience with fly strike so would I have to worry about that happening with her? I know flies want to lay eggs in warm/moist areas.
Once again thank you so much for your help, let me know if any other info will help you.

 

[Isaac 0]

Thank you so much this is so helpful and interesting, I’ll answer the questions as best as I can.
How old is the bird? 6 months old
Where did you acquire her? Local egg seller, hatched her myself
Is she laying, are you providing a calcium source? She doesn't lay much, but when she does they're healthy eggs. I think she doesn't lay much because of stress, she only lives with 1 male since other attempts of getting her friends have failed.
What is she being fed? Food for quail/ pigeons from my feed store i'll attach a pic tomorrow
Have you had any problems with your quail in the past? No illnesses, she's been inconsistent with egg laying and been aggressive with the male but that's all
Is she eating and drinking well? I believe so, I definitely saw her drinking and eating a bug today, i'll try catching her eating her feed tomorrow

All of these questions I can answer tomorrow:

Do you have any photos of her feces?
Do you have any pictures of your/their pen area?
Have you done a full physical examination on the birds, checking in her mouth for any plaque deposits such as canker, or look around her body for signs of any ectoparasites?
Photos of food?

Should I try wiping the excess poo off with a wet towel? Or will that stress her out? As for the Neosporin, I've had a bad experience with fly strike so would I have to worry about that happening with her? I know flies want to lay eggs in warm/moist areas.
Once again thank you so much for your help, let me know if any other info will help you.

Thanks for providing us with additional information.

You may try wiping the poop off her vent, but judging from the photos it looks pretty stuck on, so may require a day or two for the ointment to "loosen" the poop off. Normally, I would suggest soaking her bottom in warm water, but since she's sick, I don't think that would be the best idea.

Is she doing any better today?

 

[Celeste Cannon]

Thanks for providing us with additional information.

You may try wiping the poop off her vent, but judging from the photos it looks pretty stuck on, so may require a day or two for the ointment to "loosen" the poop off. Normally, I would suggest soaking her bottom in warm water, but since she's sick, I don't think that would be the best idea.

Is she doing any better today?

about the same, i'll update you

 

[Celeste Cannon]

She didn't want to eat egg today, but she is crazy for mealworms. When felt around, I found 2 little bumps on her. One on her head, one under her tail. While the tail one looks like an ingrown feather, i'm a little worried about the head bump. I've attached pics of both. Nothing going on in her mouth, feet, eyes or legs, but her skin looked a little red too. I provided her with calcium today, thank you for reminding me that the food might now have it.

pics include:
Coops (small one is where she is now, big one was previous home)
Poo
Bumps (head and tail)
Red skin
Food she eats