Help! Quail doesn't like to move, seems sickly

[MaureenR]

I took my quail to the vet because she doesn't like to move all day (though she can move quickly if frightened). She just sits almost all day, and this has lasted three weeks. We thought she was lonely so we found a friendly quail and they became roommates today. I noticed though, she still just sits and if she goes in the sun she pants, even though it is cool outside today. The vet said it would take lots of lab tests to find the cause and perhaps hundreds of dollars that I don't really want to spend -- he said it is hard to find out what is ailing birds because they hide symptoms so well. One cause could be the quail's old food seems lighter than it used to be -- I think it got a little moldy, though you can't actually see mold, just an overall lighter color. I bought new food which looks a bit darker. Does anyone have advice that could help a quail that may be sick from moldy food? She's been on the new food about a week, no improvement yet. I did buy antibiotics to put in her water and I may go ahead with that just in case it helps.
Thanks for your great advice!

 

[joe125]

Quote:
Sense you admitted to feeding your (UNDISCLOSED SPECIES) of QUAIL, rotgut feed...Then that is my ZERO dollar assessment of your currently unknown stock.

Can you be more specific?

 

[galanie]

Quote:
Lots of people say not to give antibiotics unless you know they need them but I see no harm in trying. There's others here though that know an awful lot more than I do about them.

 

[MaureenR]

My quail is a courtunix quail and she is small, white, and has little spots of black on her. We took her in after her eye got attacked by the males at her former home. She then got attacked by our male but now has recovered. The feed does not show mold or smell but I was keeping it outside in an air-tight bin and I think it got too hot it it does look lighter in color than the freshly bought feed, so I'm assuming it has a little mold. I'm keeping the new feed inside my house. Thanks for advice.

 

[gamebirdboy]

It could be the feed, or it could be something else. Is she around any other type of fowl? Any new cage mates in the last few weeks?

 

[MaureenR]

Hi Robert,
Thanks for your reply. She was attacked pretty badly by her male companion and she almost died. I nursed her back to health by giving her syringes of antibiotics and also Exact baby food for about 10 days. Then she was peppy again and seemed healthy. We found the male a good home. Gradually she got more and more sedentary and we assumed she was very lonely. Now she has a new companion, a female this time. She isn't exactly perking up so I took her to the vet again and it is really hard for him to see anything wrong with her but we guessed maybe it was the food or maybe loneliness. I have been putting timothy grass in her cage, but I read that is O.K. to do. She also has some non-scented wood chips in her cage, but I don't see her trying to eat them. She has access to dirt baths and grit and good food and water. Anyway, probably more than you wanted to know. I thought maybe she's just got some bacterial thing going on so I got antibiotics I could add to her water, I'm thinking of doing that at a low-moderate does for a week.

 

[gamebirdboy]

How long has it been since you put the other female in the pen?

 

[MaureenR]

It has only been two days since I put the other female in the pen. Maybe my little quail will perk up over time. When she wants to move, she really can move quickly. She just doesn't usually want to move. Right now my little quail (Quaily) and the new female (Alfonza -- don't laugh, my children named them) are figuring out territory and not too chummy. Maybe over time they'll get more friendly and Quaily will move about more. Thanks very much for taking an interest. I never raised quails before and we're really trying to do well by them. We took this quail on because it was being so beat up in its former home.