Common quails - bloody and protruding anus?

[sandy321]

Hello. I was advised to post in this thread for help.

I am new to raising quails, but I have these baby quails for a few weeks now.
They are eating the starter feed and have clean water.
They were all fine until this 3rd week when they have just started to get feathers at the tip of their wings.

Recently, some are getting a bloody anus. It isn't bad until one of the other quails keeps pecking at it. The anus protrudes and is really red. Their poop is just a brown splat (or thicker, almost a pellet but more watery).

They, the ones with a red and protruding anus, hardly eat and drink, so I hand feed them, but even then, they don't eat or drink. They just stand there with their eyes closed and wake up to walk around every few minutes, but they never touch their food. After about 3-5 days, they die.

I have read some threads here and there. Some have suggested to put the ones with a bloody anus in a warm bath for a few minutes. They have also suggested to separate those with the normal ones. My quails still die after some days.

I don't know what to do and how to prevent it from happening.

 

[Binki]

Welcome! Okay what are you feeding them? This is an unusual problem so either you have a crazy anus hunting chick or they're ill :/

 

[sandy321]

I am feeding them Nature Wise Chick Starter Grower.

I am not sure. The only time I'll see a chick pecking another's anus is when it already has a red anus.

 

[Binki]

I looked up the food, it says it has 18 percent protein - unfortunately that's a bit low for growing quail chicks as they have a higher protein requirement than chickens, and seems like that's chicken feed so get yourself some proper game bird feed with about 22% protein or more for growing chicks and hopefully that should fix your problem as they could be pecking each other trying to get more protein - cannibalism/picking at each other occurs when they aren't being fed properly

Please get them game bird feed ASAP!

 

[sandy321]

Thanks, Binki! I'll check out some game bird feed later today.

Do you have any recommendations?

Oh, I also read that a blue or red light works better than the normal (yellow) lights? Do the lights matter for quails?

 

[Binki]

Thanks, Binki! I'll check out some game bird feed later today.

Do you have any recommendations?

Oh, I also read that a blue or red light works better than the normal (yellow) lights? Do the lights matter for quails?

No problem! I get mine from a local feed store, I'm in Canada and our TSC doesn't carry game bird feed but I hear the ones in the states do.

You're looking for at least 23% protein, non medicated game bird chick starter feed. People use turkey feed when game bird feed in high enough protein isn't available around them but it needs to be UNmedicated.

When they're young they need the feed to be crushed or blended up for about two weeks til they can handle regular sized crumble.

Minimize any treats to no more than 10% of their food intake to keep their protein ratio up, probably best to not give too many treats when they're growing since they need it so much to develop their feathers and stuff.

Oh I should have asked what light you were using, sorry - using a red heat lamp allows the quail to rest more and also hides any red blood which birds find irresistible... So getting only 3/4 of their protein needs along with 24/7 bright light that doesn't hide blood could definitely be your problem.

Thinking about it, the bum has pink flesh so that's probably where they would start pecking if they were to go cannabilistic :O

I use a dimmable red heat lamp so I just turn the dial to increase or decrease the temperature. Handy when you don't have to keep raising/lowering it over the brooder - petsmart may have some.

Please try and get the red light bulb and game bird feed today so they can recover ASAP... Can only imagine how it must feel to have your ******** pecked at

!!! LOL awwww....

*edit* lol I didn't use the bad word for what I meant and it still bleeped it out xD

 

[Binki]

Also, I have used Tropican hand feeding formula for chicks that aren't thriving - mix it with water and dribble a little syringe drop on the side of the beak and wipe it up to the edge of the mouth should stimulate swallowing the slurry.

They are tiny things and just a little bit every hour or few hours can perk them up - especially if what we are dealing with here is a nutrition problem.

You can also use the leftovers as treats for he quail or for any other baby birds with similar protein requirements. The Tropican is at petsmart.

*edit* you could try doing the same using the game bird feed instead of the Tropican, I feel Tropican has a *lot* more detailed nutrition, better quality

 

[sandy321]

Thanks again! Very helpful.

I didn't buy the red light bulb yet, but I did buy game bird feed and crushed them smaller. They are eating again, so that's a start.

Lol maybe gotta use more complex names next time.

I went to PetSmart today, but they didn't have a blue/red light and they didn't have game bird feed. Had to go to FleetFarm for the feed. The one I bought has 24% protein.

They haven't pecked at any butts until now, which is 5 hours from the time I gave them the game bird feed. I have seen only one chick pecking though.

I didn't see Tropican at the PetSmart I went to today. I will look for it though. Thank you.

 

[Binki]

Thanks again! Very helpful.

I didn't buy the red light bulb yet, but I did buy game bird feed and crushed them smaller. They are eating again, so that's a start.

Lol maybe gotta use more complex names next time.

I went to PetSmart today, but they didn't have a blue/red light and they didn't have game bird feed. Had to go to FleetFarm for the feed. The one I bought has 24% protein.

They haven't pecked at any butts until now, which is 5 hours from the time I gave them the game bird feed. I have seen only one chick pecking though.

I didn't see Tropican at the PetSmart I went to today. I will look for it though. Thank you.

Oh that's so good!!! hopefully they're on the mend and "But Hunter" settles down

!!

 

[kempla]

sorry for the jump in but i could not help myself with the but hunter comment. now that it has settled down the comment

was tooooo funny.

thanks for the info.