Coturnix Quail dead in the pen.

[Foodfromhome]

Went to check on the ladies this morning and had one of my quail dead in the cage. Their cage is I size a locked coop and the bird wasn’t damaged at all so I know it wants a predator. Any idea why one would seem just fine and just die? Hoping something isn’t wrong with them they all seem to be doing fine had plenty of eggs this morning etc

 

[mdees88]

She may have got frightened and flew up, hit the ceiling, and broke her neck.

I had one of my twelve 5 week old males mysteriously die the other day. I assumed that's how he went. He's the only adult bird I've had die so far out of 40.

Keep an eye on the other ones but sometimes they do randomly die....

 

[Acre4Me]

How old are they? We’ve had this happen s few times. Twice, the bird was likely sick but it’s was hard to tell - we realized after the deaths that they had been less active and sitting with eyes closed for some periods of time for a few days before death. These deaths occurred in 2 different cages at least 2 weeks apart,a young bird (5 months) and a 10 month old bird. We’ve had at least one other drop dead (found in morning) with no signs of attack or illness. They live in a garage with no predators.

 

[Foodfromhome]

They were hatched August 17.

 

[FirstTimeClucky]

General reasons quail can be found dead unexpectedly:

1. They can die very quickly from infection. I had one start to act lethargic one evening, the next morning she was dead with no sign of injury. Some infections like botulism can kill within hours. They can also die from toxins or spoiled food.

2. They can break their own neck, either by flying up and hitting the roof or sticking their head through the bars of the cage, panicking and forgetting how to pull their head out. Sometimes when they hit the roof their head goes up through the bars and they hang themselves. I rescued a button quail I found hanging this way.

Anything their head fits through, they can get caught in and panic. I had two cages side by side and they'd put their heads through the bars to get at the food and water in the other cage. There was plenty of space between the bars. One of them panicked in the middle of the night with her head stuck through and broke her neck. I've since put netting on the bars to prevent another accident.

3. They only live to about 2 years old, after that they can die at any time.

 

[Foodfromhome]

Thanks for all the replies. Must have been a freak incident all the others are doing great laying like crazy.