I stepped on my quail

[aquint5554]

I recently stepped on my quail and she’s been walking around with a limp. She won’t let me touch her and it’s been three days. Any suggestions on what can be done to help her recover

 

[SilverBirds]

Did you step on her hard? Quails are pretty fragile, so it's possible you broke some bones or did some internal damage. How does her poop look? Has she been eating and drinking okay?

The bottom of her foot looks very swollen and/or infected from the pictures. Possibly bumblefoot. Can you get clearer pictures of her feet?

 

[SilverBirds]

Yes, eating and drinking and sleeping a lot. She usually either sits flat or stands on one leg and hips around. Her poop is normal. Not runny and solid.

Her foot does not look good. She probably had bumblefoot or another infection before you stepped on her, so she couldn't move out of your way fast enough because of it. I would start soaking her foot in warm Epsom salt water at least twice a day for a few days. Depending on how it's looking, you may need to preform a surgery.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

She had a few cuts likely from the force in which I stepped on her. If we try to pick her up she’ll panic and fly off

Right, I understand she may be panicky. Take a light piece of cloth or dishtowel and gently swaddle her in the cloth to capture her wings and lightly cover her head, this will help her calm down. Take care not to squeeze her.

You're going to have to treat her leg and feet, so she's going to have to get used to you handling her. While you have her wrapped and clean the feet and the leg, get someone to take clear photos.

Does the leg and foot have a bad odor???

The hurt foot/leg. It's very hard to tell if it's broken or if it's just badly injured. With the leg becoming discolored, it may be dying due to a break or even infection.
The foot pad has infection or pododermatitis, this is not related to being stepped on, it's been there for a while.
Treat the cut on the leg by cleaning well with chlorhexidine or betadine, then apply triple antibiotic ointment.

As for the foot pad on the injured leg, I would not lance or mess with that very much since it looks like the cut or break to the leg looks bad enough and you don't want to compound the issue further. I'd just clean it well each time you tend to the leg. Hopefully the hardened material will start to soften and you'll eventually be able to work it loose.

As for the other foot, I do agree the nails need to be trimmed. She has a few raised scales and the bottom of the foot from what I can see looks to have some pododermatitis as well. Just soak that foot when you are doing the other one. Apply a bit of ointment to the foot pad and see how it goes. For now, again, I would not attempt to do surgery or remove much material, see if it will eventually come off.

Quail get extremely stressed when handled, they don't seem to be able to take a lot, so I'd provide her with vitamins a couple of days a week to give her a boost.

Not sure how you are housing her, if she's on wire or what, but I'd provide her with either bedding, puppy pads to stand on. Some bedding to snuggle into and perhaps a little box to hide in. They like to hide/hunker down.

 

[SilverBirds]

The foot may be dying. Have you been soaking it in Epsom Salt?

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I know she's tiny, but it would be good to get someone to hold her so you can get some clear images of her leg and the bottom of the foot.

What's going on with the leg? Is it cut, broken, did she have a band?
The bottom of the foot doesn't look very good either.
What's the other foot and leg look like?

 

[SilverBirds]

The yellow ish lump is the bottom of her foot. Her other foot appears fine

Her nails need to be trimmed badly. Do you have any pet clippers?

 

[SilverBirds]

Is she an indoor quail?

 

[aquint5554]

We started cleaning her foot more and submerging. She didn’t mind her foot being in the water and were slowly seeing the extent of the damage. She’s an indoor quail. Right now has a low pile carpet and keeping her a smaller enclosed space to ease of reach of water and food

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Poor little thing!

The leg may be broken and is dying off, hard to tell at this point. I'd keep it cleaned like you are doing and continue applying triple antibiotic ointment.

Access her quality of life and overall demeanor daily, as well as the wound. If she seems to be in a lot of pain or is not thriving, then it may be time to let her go.