Emergency, woke up to sick quail!

[the-greenest-thumb]

Woke up this morning to one of my favourite coturnix hens being sick. I've moved her to a hospital cage for now. She's super puffed up and seems to have poor balance so she's just squatting, any time she tries to move she starts to fall over. She's breathing a little faster but not panting, so I assume it's from pain or discomfort. She was shaking a little when I was looking over her, she's usually quite hand tame.

I felt around the vent and I didn't feel any egg, plus we've already got the eggs as scheduled so I don't think she's eggbound. Also her vent seems pretty clean and I've seen her poop so no blockage.

No injuries that I can see or feel but there are some loose feathers in the cage. Some of the birds were panicking last night, while I can't be sure I thought it was just the 5 week olds I have. There are 2 other hens in the adult cage and I haven’t seen them fighting before, they're generally very chill hens.

Tried listening to her chest, didn't hear anything abnormal. She seemed active and fine last night. They're kept indoors with climate control so no predators or fluctuating temps etc.

She's taking treats (dried soldier fly larvae) from my hand, eating her pellets and drinking.

https://imgur.com/a/htU6mWn

 

[Nabiki]

It sounds like you've done a very good examination to eliminate the standard issues and start her care.

If your birds were panicking last night, it may be possible that she flushed and hit her head. The facts that she's eating, drinking, and pooping are all good signs, which make me think she has a very good chance of recovery if it is an injury.

Quail are very good at hiding pain, and head injuries aren't obvious, so you may not be able to find it with a non-intrusive examination.

I would continue what you're doing with the hospital pen, making sure she's warm and has plenty of food and water nearby. Watch to make sure her poop continues to look normal, and watch for other symptoms. If it is injury, quail heal fast, so she will start showing signs of improvement within a day or two.

Let us know how things go during the day and in the next few days as well, please.

 

[the-greenest-thumb]

It sounds like you've done a very good examination to eliminate the standard issues and start her care.

If your birds were panicking last night, it may be possible that she flushed and hit her head. The facts that she's eating, drinking, and pooping are all good signs, which make me think she has a very good chance of recovery if it is an injury.

Quail are very good at hiding pain, and head injuries aren't obvious, so you may not be able to find it with a non-intrusive examination.

I would continue what you're doing with the hospital pen, making sure she's warm and has plenty of food and water nearby. Watch to make sure her poop continues to look normal, and watch for other symptoms. If it is injury, quail heal fast, so she will start showing signs of improvement within a day or two.

Let us know how things go during the day and in the next few days as well, please.

Ah I'm glad to hear I've been doing the right things.

Thank you very much. I'll definitely update.

 

[the-greenest-thumb]

It sounds like you've done a very good examination to eliminate the standard issues and start her care.

If your birds were panicking last night, it may be possible that she flushed and hit her head. The facts that she's eating, drinking, and pooping are all good signs, which make me think she has a very good chance of recovery if it is an injury.

Quail are very good at hiding pain, and head injuries aren't obvious, so you may not be able to find it with a non-intrusive examination.

I would continue what you're doing with the hospital pen, making sure she's warm and has plenty of food and water nearby. Watch to make sure her poop continues to look normal, and watch for other symptoms. If it is injury, quail heal fast, so she will start showing signs of improvement within a day or two.

Let us know how things go during the day and in the next few days as well, please.

Update: she developed a little bit of loose poop yesterday which is green . She's been unable to move away from her waste so I've been cleaning her with a damp cloth (and drying her) and I trimmed the feathers around her vent.

She's still drinking but not really eating her pellets, but I think that's mostly because she can't move to the feeder as she'll eat when I hold food for her.

I discovered last night I can give children's motrin so I dropper fed that and some electrolytes last night. At around 11pm she perked up a bit, turned around and ate some scrambled egg. Then about midnight she moved across the cage. About 6am she hadn't moved but was looking around very alert which is a huge improvement.

This morning I dropper fed her more motrin and electrolytes then had to soak her in some warm water with epsom salts to clean her because she was completely covered in dried poop. She seemed to enjoy the bath.

This afternoon I gave her a selection of scrambled egg, dried soldier fly larvae and some pellets and she ateeagerly.

She's now standing but still leaning forward. Overall aside from the green poop she seemed to have improved at least a little.

https://imgur.com/a/nOVddsJ

 

[Nabiki]

The loose, green poop is normal for a bird that isn't eating. If you can, move the food closer to her.

 

[the-greenest-thumb]

The loose, green poop is normal for a bird that isn't eating. If you can, move the food closer to her.

That's good at least, that it's not something worse.

I have tried moving it closer but she keeps end up staggering away from it then not wanting to move again.

 

[Nabiki]

There's not much else to do at this point. If her symptoms change, that will be a different story. Quail are quite hardy and heal quickly, so I hope you see improvement soon.

 

[the-greenest-thumb]

Another update on my girl, it's the 4th day now and she's improving a little everyday (her name is Shit btw, because she's a shit-disturber ).

She's started taking some wobbly steps yesterday and more today, and this morning she preened herself for the first time since falling ill! She's only taking scrambled egg and soldier fly larvae, I think I'm going to crush some of the pellets to mix into the scrambled egg so she's getting the proper nutrients.

I think it's an injury to her ribs maybe, she's flapped her wings and has stood briefly, and kicks at me pretty strongly when I'm checking if her vent is clear.

I'm optimistic abour her recovery since there's improvement each day. She's such a strong girl.

 

[Nabiki]

I'm very glad to hear that she's recovering!