Help there is something wrong with my 2 week old button quail

[Eva Ry]

so I noticed that one of my chicks had their feathers puffed up an was walking strangely. I don’t know what this is or what to do. If you might know please comment I’m very worried.

 

[JaeG]

At two weeks old they can be very active, jumping up to play. They are prone to hitting their heads and we've had a Button quail that looked like he was going to keel over and die on the spot and that's the only thing I could think of. Half an hour later he was just fine. Do you think that could be the reason?

 

[Eva Ry]

Yes, you are most likely right

 

[Eva Ry]

it’s also been having diarrhea :/

 

[JaeG]

@DK newbie has lots of experience with button quail. I've tagged her so hopefully she'll be able to offer some insight.

 

[DK newbie]

(Un?)fortunately my experience with sick buttons is next to nothing. I've never had a bird older than 1 week show any signs of sickness - I've had a few injuries though, but I haven't experienced diarrhea in buttons at all. You could always try Apple Cider Vinegar in its water though - it might help. The acid helps prevent bacterial growth in the water and the beneficial bacteria in the ACV could be just what his stommach needs.
If you search the forum for 'acv dosage' or something like that, you should find threads telling you how much to use. I can never remember, so I just mix a bit in some water, taste the water and add more water if I can taste the vinegar. Any other kind of probiotics might help as well - if you can get him to eat yogurt for instance.

 

[Eva Ry]

Thank you! My button quail is doing a bit better. It’s acting normaly but has some diarrhea now and then. I’m guessing he was just cold and decided to puff out his feathers. I’ve been giving them fruit to try to get them to pass whatever is in their systems. Any more tips if you have any?

 

[DK newbie]

Well.. What do you feed them other than fruit? Mine eat gamebird feed and nearly nothing else. Right now it's 19% protein but usually I buy 24% protein - the 24% is only produced in the summer around here, because it's intended for pheasants that are raised for release and noone raises pheasants for release in the winter. I feed this to adults and chicks alike and they all do well on it.
If it has an upset stommach you might be feeding it something that's not really good for it, so keeping the feeding simple could be better than trying to add extras to fix the issue.
Make sure you keep the cage and water very clean as well, as long as the problem persists - the cause could be some kind of micro organism that lives in the gut and the bird could be reinfecting itself by eating/drinking its own poo.