Grey-ish matted oily feathers?

[the plot chickens]

Not my quails, but I was looking at buying some new ones today at a local breeder's and saw their feathers looked all grey and gross (mainly at the back). Also quite a bit of feathers had no actual 'feather' bit, just the white stick from the feather. I thought maybe they were molting but there weren't any feathers in their coops and apparently they were all laying. He (the breeder) let me hold one and its back feathers felt oily to the touch. I asked the breeder why they looked like this and he had no idea. I didn't end up buying any cause I thought they looked sick, but now I'm curious. Do you guys have any idea what was wrong with them?

 

[Green Bean Quail]

Not my quails, but I was looking at buying some new ones today at a local breeder's and saw their feathers looked all grey and gross (mainly at the back). Also quite a bit of feathers had no actual 'feather' bit, just the white stick from the feather. I thought maybe they were molting but there weren't any feathers in their coops and apparently they were all laying. He (the breeder) let me hold one and its back feathers felt oily to the touch. I asked the breeder why they looked like this and he had no idea. I didn't end up buying any cause I thought they looked sick, but now I'm curious. Do you guys have any idea what was wrong with them?

I’ve seen from what I looked up that it is a result of oil buildup from being unable to dust bathe/shavings bathe/cleaning in general. I’d assume the quail aren’t given a way to roll and prevent oil buildup, then? That would make sense for the buildup on the back at least, where they wouldn’t be able to easily access to groom.

 

[the plot chickens]

I’ve seen from what I looked up that it is a result of oil buildup from being unable to dust bathe/shavings bathe/cleaning in general. I’d assume the quail aren’t given a way to roll and prevent oil buildup, then? That would make sense for the buildup on the back at least, where they wouldn’t be able to easily access to groom.

Oh yeah, that's probably it. They were in pretty small cages and there weren't any dust baths. But why did some of the feathers have just the stick?

 

[Green Bean Quail]

Oh yeah, that's probably it. They were in pretty small cages and there weren't any dust baths. But why did some of the feathers have just the stick?

If it’s just the stick, they might be getting pecked at by the others because of stress, or rubbing on the cages in an attempt to clean themselves. That’s sad I hope the breeder only kept them in small cages temporarily

 

[the plot chickens]

Aw, that sucks. I hope so too. I'll email the breeder and let them know about this, hopefully they'll be getting moved to a big cage with a nice dust bath soon. Thanks for your help!

 

[Green Bean Quail]

Aw, that sucks. I hope so too. I'll email the breeder and let them know about this, hopefully they'll be getting moved to a big cage with a nice dust bath soon. Thanks for your help!

I love that! Thank you! Hopefully the breeder just was out of room or something and plans to fix it soon! Thanks!