I need help my quail is walking backwards

[Kelsey859]

So 5 days ago I had come home and my quail had a pecking injury I have been treating and I also separated her from the other one but yesterday I was checking my camera and seen that she has been running backwards and has had like a small head tremor since yesterday and I don’t know what to do she is around 4 months old. And from what I’ve seen online I don’t know if it is a neurological injury or if it is possibly a vitamin deficiency. I am thinking about taking her to the vet but i wanted to see if anyone could help first I do have videos of her running backwards. I am also a first time quail owner. I thought I had myself prepared for everything.

 

[Nabiki]

It's possible that she hit her head, but here are my usual questions:

What are you feeding her?
What is her home like? (Bedding, height, size, number of hiding places, etc)
How many quail do you have?
Is she eating, drinking, and pooping normally?
Is she laying?

 

[Kelsey859]

I’ve been feeding her 28% game bird feed I’m not sure of the measurements of her home I’ve been using wood shavings and 2 hiding places I only have one other quail but I don’t think she has been eating or drinking well and I’ve inspected her home and it don’t look like she’s pooping At all and she stopped laying after her pecking injury

 

[Kelsey859]

The first pic is what I looked like when I found her and the second was a few days later

 

[Nabiki]

It's likely that stress has caused her to stop laying, but just in case, can you feel an egg around her vent? The lack of poop may mean that she's egg bound.

If she is egg bound, you want to get some calcium citrate into her as soon as you can and give her a warm (quail body temp or a couple degrees warmer) epsom salt bath. If she is egg bound, it will kill her quickly, so it's important that she pass the egg as soon as possible.

Is she fluffed up at all? Is her activity level normal other than walking backwards?

Is there a chance that the other quail is a male? This sort of injury is usually male on male or over breeding, but that doesn't mean that hens won't peck and cause injury, it's just less likely.

Have you been providing calcium on the side?

This isn't related to her symptoms, but at 4 months, she should be transitioning over to an adult feed in the 20-24% protein range.

 

[catesquire]

That looks like scalping by an overeager rooster--is the other quail a male? Because the boys that do that to their girls are, unfortunately, not keepers (and the usual recommended ratio is 1 boy to 5 or more hens, to reduce the chances of injury).

If you haven't already, make sure to get some Neosporin on that wound. I would re-apply once a day until it's visibly on the mend. One of my girls was injured similarly; it should heal relatively quickly if infection doesn't set it.

There's not much you can do if she's not eating, drinking, pooping, OR laying--the laying is probably from stress, but the rest are obviously not great signs. You can try tempting her with some boiled egg yolk and wet food (just mix a little water into her regular feed)--my birds go nuts for that as a "treat", and it gets them water at the same time.

Otherwise, this seems very much like a wait-and-see situation. You could try a vet, but unless you think she needs serious antibiotics, I doubt there's much one could do. This seems like a pretty clear case of "hen got chased around, and probably hit her head trying to escape".

I hope she starts eating and drinking for you again! She stands a good chance of recovery if she does. Mine was fully healed and refeathering by around two weeks.