Female button dying ... why?

[selfsuffally]

On Saturday I cleaned the cage (change bedding every 1 - 2 weeks), my only female was fine. Sunday morning when I looked at them she was on her eggs, thought "Great she's finally sitting." Went home at lunch today to grab some things I forgot and looked at her.

She hadn't moved, eyes closed. I opened the cage and rubbed her back, she didn't move. So I picked her up and she didn't try to get away, just opened her eyes and then closed them. I fixed some water with electrolytes/vitamins and she drank a couple of drops. She has plenty of food and water. I looked over her for injuries, gently felt her bones and checked her vent for a bulge, but I didn't see any. I didn't see any issue with poo.

The male with her is fine. She can't boink in her cage as I have thick padding on the top and a safety net before the padding. What could have happened? This is her first clutch (11 eggs but one broke), I wanted her to hatch them rather than incubating them. Main feed is 20% protein, all my quail get meal worms as treats and finch seed. They have a bowl of sand to dust bathe in.

Is there anything that can be done to save her?

 

[JaeG]

I'm sorry! The only thing you haven't mentioned is calcium supplements - do you give them oyster shell grit? So often there's nothing we can do, other than our best, and we are left wondering why. But there isn't that much research done into small birds so there aren't many answers out there. Are you going to incubate her eggs? I hope some hatch for you.

 

[selfsuffally]

I haven't been giving any calcium supplements, I wasn't sure I had a female until she started laying. I left work early, but she has died. I'm heartbroken. She had moved from her spot to the food/water. I have my incubator set up and will try to hatch her eggs.

If none hatch, I'll have three males that cannot be together and there aren't any button quail near me to get a female. Other than Ebay (which I'm not buying eggs from again) where can I find button quail? I'd like to buy grown ones instead of eggs.

 

[DK newbie]

I'm sorry your female died.
As boinking is not an option, you give no calcium supplements and you mention that an egg broke (happens very rarely for my birds, so I think it's a symptom of a slightly thinner than usual shell), I find it likely that egg binding is the cause of her death, even if you couldn't see any bulge.
I don't have any personal experience with egg binding, but I think the egg is sometimes stuck so far up you don't see anything and might not even be able to feel it.

Are you sure your males can't be together?
If there are females present, you usually can't have multiple males together, but with her gone, if you introduce them to each other in a cage that is new to all of them, usually it should be okay. I have even thrown males together in a cage some of them already lived in, but it's more of a 50/50 chance whether that'll work or not - if the more dominant one is put in the cage of the less dominant your chances are best, but it can be hard to tell who is more dominant before you do it ^^

If you're in the US, people talk about craigslist as a possible source of live birds. Pet shops are another option.

 

[selfsuffally]

I had to separate my males due to fighting, but that was prior to my females death. I may have to reintroduce a male to her mate as he's looking for her like crazy. The egg that broke was due to human error when changing the bedding. I wish I had an x-ray machine to see if she did become egg bound.

 

[DK newbie]

Well, if you really want to know, you could get a sharp knife and see it for yourself.. Or you could take the body to a vet and have them do it.
It you only have 3 males, it probably won't be enough to introduce one to her mate - the one left alone will start calling and pacing and possibly stressing itself to death. So you'll need all of them to live together.
Unless the other two aren't together now?

 

[Rustyspokes]

....polluted water/soil...distance the infected ASP by at least 20 ft from any poultry, ducks... whatever. Bring them in house or whatever you think you need permissible. Quail of any species don't fair well living in close proximity of any poultry/duck, ect. Off ground is the standardized norm. You can bring it back around.... be patient. All you need is a few viable breeders to pull it off. Feed them a 23+ protein medicated feed for 6 wks. If fortunate in the end you will have a better, stronger stock. In the end, worst case scenario, don't give up! Try again. Experience is everything!!!