Coturnix suddenly can't crow. HELP!!

[Casey224]

All of a sudden one of our males can't crow...
When we aren't breeding, we have the 4 males in a separate coop. Hatchet & Tiny Tim together in one side, and Big Boy & Pink Feet on the other side.
Hatchet is normally the most vocal of them all. And very loud!!! He crows all day and night.
When I went to do my rounds to check on everyone earlier this afternoon, I noticed that he was doing this weird chirping noise. I didn't think much of it, and decided to just keep an ear out for him. He has not crowed AT ALL!! He just keeps chirping. I went in and picked him up, and the front of his neck is all wet. He let out a chirp while I was holding him, and a bunch of slobber flew out. It was really stringy. He's drinking just fine, but I haven't seen him eat. Tiny Tim is acting perfectly normal, as are the other 2. I gave him some apple cider water, made up a sand box with DE, and threw some grit in it.

Is it possible that he hurt himself by crowing so much and loudly?

Is there anything else I can do to help him if he did?

Or is he getting sick and with what?

 

[dotporter]

I'm not really a chicken person. I raise mostly ducks. However, it sounds more like it's either a crop problem or a respiratory problem. Are his wattles darker, does he show any signs of difficulty breathing?

 

[Casey224]

He's a quail, not chicken...
His breathing seems fine.

I forgot to add that we recently (3 days ago) segregated off a section of the coop and put in a brooding pen for our week old chicks. Not sure if that matters...

Also, I just went out and gave them some dried mealworms to see if he would ear them. He did. Everytime he swallowed, he chirped.

 

[Eggs82]

Don’t know about quail but I Had a hen do that. She was one of the loudest in my flock. Then all of a sudden all she could do was make squeaking noises. Not sure what the problem was but she’s perfectly fine otherwise. She’s been like that for about 8 months and is one of my best layers.

 

[Casey224]

I've been watching him now for a few hours. I don't know if he's lethargic or depressed, but he's not acting normal. He's moving around, but not darting around like he normally does. He keeps moving away from the other male if he gets close.

 

[Erkenstein]

Isolate him from the other birds until you figure out what's going on.

 

[Roomi the quail]

I have a friend who had the same problem with two different hens. First time it occured, it was in winter and the hen caught some respiratory problem. All she could do was make weird croaking sounds instead of usual baby-ish chirps. Vet said that lack of ventilation in the room/brooder typically causes this problem and gave some antibiotics. The hen is fine now.

Second time, the hen could only make wheezing, coughing sounds and she vomitted a lot of transparent slimey water more than usual(the hen was chronic vomitter). Only after the hen died that my friend was able to identify a nasty wound on the dead hen's throat, probably caused by her dominant hen.

The fact that your boy is avoiding the other roo makes me think it's a physical prob of some sorts(another roo happen to land a vicious attack on its throat, etc) though it could easily be a crop problem(which you could treat with probiotics, acv in water, coconut oil, massage n such) or a respiratory problem(are your quails getting enough ventilation? You said you had chicks with them- r they making much dust or do you refain from letting in fresh air because you dont want the babies getting cold?)

 

[Casey224]

There's plenty of ventilation.
The babies are in the back where the walls are covered on 3 sides, and they have a heat lamp. We're in Florida, so the lows at night are still upper 70's, and the highs are low 90's. The coop is 5 feet tall. The front where the boys are is secured with hardware cloth, so nothing can get in. Other than that it's open. It's portable, so we move it once a week or so. The ground underneath is mostly grass with just small spots of dirt, so it's not very dusty at all.

An update to add...
This morning he did start to crow again, but it's not as loud and boisterous as normal. It's pretty pathetic sounding. He is also acting more normal.

 

[Roomi the quail]

There's plenty of ventilation.
The babies are in the back where the walls are covered on 3 sides, and they have a heat lamp. We're in Florida, so the lows at night are still upper 70's, and the highs are low 90's. The coop is 5 feet tall. The front where the boys are is secured with hardware cloth, so nothing can get in. Other than that it's open. It's portable, so we move it once a week or so. The ground underneath is mostly grass with just small spots of dirt, so it's not very dusty at all.

An update to add...
This morning he did start to crow again, but it's not as loud and boisterous as normal. It's pretty pathetic sounding. He is also acting more normal.

In that case I think the problem was quite physical and accidental. He will be back to his normal self in no time, I hope! The fact that he's getting ok by himself is very promising.