HELP!!!!!!!!! Quail was acting funny (neurotic), hours later she had both eyes shut tight, huddled..

[Binki]

This is what she looks like today, I'm pretty sure her left eye is no longer there. It looks awful.

That does look very bad :/ is that her eye open on the right side?

I believe you can also use Visine *without* pain reliever but please double check that. You may want to check out if saline would be suitable for washing her as its sterile but not sure if it's safe for quail.

It doesn't look like she will be able to eat or drink until she can see so she'll need your TLC again.. I don't have experience with wounds like this but have read of some incredible recoveries when they thought the eye was lost - not sure where this grades with that.

As for Ricky, it's possible he thought they were now strange intruders, not a part of the group anymore and possibly males - this is much more likely to happen if when they were seperated it wasn't by partition, and if it was in a different cage then the cage was far and/or out of sight which can make them no longer part of his group and therefore an intruder being plopped in on them with no way to escape.

About two hours ago, I walked in on the most docile of my pet hen group bouncing on and pecking the heads of 2/3 of the other girls - first time she's ever shown any aggression, and she's even been more laid back the past few days, keeping to herself mostly.

I seperated her for about half an hour and put her back in and observed them, two minutes later she suddenly targeted one of the hens and I physically held her back and deeply scolded her. Incredibly it seemed to snap her out of it, so far!

I'm thinking maybe the quail she mostly targeted was going through her "I want to lay an egg so I'm going to ram the other hens for about ten minutes to try and snuggle into them to drop my egg" thing she does and it upset my docile hen to the point where she snapped? Only thing I could think of, like I said she's never done anything aggressive before.

But as for your Ricky those are some brutal wounds and I'm not sure if I would be able to trust him again unsupervised with other quail because it looks like he can do a good amount of damage in a short amount of time :/

 

[Crazy_Quail_Lady]

That does look very bad :/ is that her eye open on the right side?

I believe you can also use Visine *without* pain reliever but please double check that. You may want to check out if saline would be suitable for washing her as its sterile but not sure if it's safe for quail.

It doesn't look like she will be able to eat or drink until she can see so she'll need your TLC again.. I don't have experience with wounds like this but have read of some incredible recoveries when they thought the eye was lost - not sure where this grades with that.

As for Ricky, it's possible he thought they were now strange intruders, not a part of the group anymore and possibly males - this is much more likely to happen if when they were seperated it wasn't by partition, and if it was in a different cage then the cage was far and/or out of sight which can make them no longer part of his group and therefore an intruder being plopped in on them with no way to escape.

About two hours ago, I walked in on the most docile of my pet hen group bouncing on and pecking the heads of 2/3 of the other girls - first time she's ever shown any aggression, and she's even been more laid back the past few days, keeping to herself mostly.

I seperated her for about half an hour and put her back in and observed them, two minutes later she suddenly targeted one of the hens and I physically held her back and deeply scolded her. Incredibly it seemed to snap her out of it, so far!

I'm thinking maybe the quail she mostly targeted was going through her "I want to lay an egg so I'm going to ram the other hens for about ten minutes to try and snuggle into them to drop my egg" thing she does and it upset my docile hen to the point where she snapped? Only thing I could think of, like I said she's never done anything aggressive before.

But as for your Ricky those are some brutal wounds and I'm not sure if I would be able to trust him again unsupervised with other quail because it looks like he can do a good amount of damage in a short amount of time :/

Yes, the eye that looks open is the one I'm pretty sure is damaged, because she still keeps trying to open it yet can't see. I think she can see light and possibly shadows, but she can't see well out of it. She's not eating or drinking on her own and just huddles till it's feeding time. I've been feeding/watering 3 times a day but wondering if it should be more?
I've had to put her back with the rest of the hens while I separate Ricky from the flock periodically, because he has been so aggressive.
But he crows/cries incessantly and I can only handle that for so long before I put him back with the hens and replace Phoenix in the small cage again... Lucy still being targeted so when she's had enough of him I take her out and put her with Phoenix for a break. This is becoming a ft job with them.
I'm going to give Ricky some more time to calm down, but next week they are going to a farm for a month while I pack to move, and if he hasn't calmed down I may have to ask her to prep him to eat. I prefer not to, as fertilized eggs are much lower in cholesterol than non fertilized.. but this will be too much work for the lady at the farm if he hasn't calmed down.

 

[DK newbie]

If you place him right beside the hens - perhaps by placing a wire mesh separator in the original cage - so he can still see them and somewhat interact with them, that might keep the crowing down. That way neither you nor the lady at the farm would have to constantly move him back and fourth.

 

[firestomp]

Yes, the eye that looks open is the one I'm pretty sure is damaged, because she still keeps trying to open it yet can't see. I think she can see light and possibly shadows, but she can't see well out of it. She's not eating or drinking on her own and just huddles till it's feeding time. I've been feeding/watering 3 times a day but wondering if it should be more?
I've had to put her back with the rest of the hens while I separate Ricky from the flock periodically, because he has been so aggressive.
But he crows/cries incessantly and I can only handle that for so long before I put him back with the hens and replace Phoenix in the small cage again... Lucy still being targeted so when she's had enough of him I take her out and put her with Phoenix for a break. This is becoming a ft job with them.
I'm going to give Ricky some more time to calm down, but next week they are going to a farm for a month while I pack to move, and if he hasn't calmed down I may have to ask her to prep him to eat. I prefer not to, as fertilized eggs are much lower in cholesterol than non fertilized.. but this will be too much work for the lady at the farm if he hasn't calmed down.

Hi, I have both coturnix and bobs. I am guessing it is spring in your area right now as in Indiana. The hormones are flying and even the females will act out on a weak bird/birds. I have 1 right now that is going through this, these are on their 3rd year and I won't replace the coturnix quails. The bobs are wilder but live much longer and are hardier in my opinion. I will wind up putting this female down i imagine, I am taking it day by day. it's part of captive bird raising. DON'T let the animal suffer, it's kinder to put them down. Do what's right for the animal, not for what you need from the animal. Best of luck to you.
I just hatched out 67 of 74 bob whites and have them in two large brooders. Nearly an 86% hatch rate. I will use part to start a new large group, release some and let the others call them back in the evening when they are mature. It works well and is fun. The rest will be divided and given to 2 coworker who will go through the long process of reintroduction on their land. Habitat loss has forced most of the native birds out. These birds will have ideal conditions (provided by the owners, cover, natural feed, and water) and will be supplemented with feed and grains on their land. If it works great, if not. Well it was worth the effort and cost me nothing to hatch them out. If any survive, it will also help the wild gene pool become more diverse.