I think my 4-week old quail is sick?

[zxasqw112]

I just got this female coturnix quail. I've been feeding her Dumor grower/finisher unmedicated with grit.
After having her for one day i was watching her eat and it looked like she was choking. She was able to get it down but he kept shaking her head and making coughing like motions and sounds. Later she hacked up a little of her food. After this when she finished eating she was really tired for a while and stayed this way until her crop went down. The head twitching and coughing hasn't stopped. Then later that day when I had her sitting outside she spat up a bunch of foamy water.
For the rest of the day she was just making the choking/coughing motions and her head was twitching but otherwise she was acting perfectly fine.

Does anyone know what this is, or what I could get her to help her get over it? I really don't want to lose her.

 

[1000yearoldeggs]

I had a chicken chick that did that a lot, it looked like she wanted to throw up. She did it all the time, and was fine other than that. She's 12 weeks old now and is doing fine, rarely does that anymore. I did switch to fermented feed though, it's soft and is easier for her to eat.

You could try some fermented feed, but as long as she seems active and alert, I wouldn't worry too much. Fermented feed's easy to make, you basically just add water to some feed in a covered container and stir it at least once a day. After a few days of soaking, it should smell a little sour, that's when it's ready. I make some for both my quail and chickens. They really seem to like it.

There are a few threads on fermenting feed, just do a search of the site if you're interested. By the way, I don't know if you have another quail or not, but quail like to have some company.

 

[dc3085]

It could be as simple as something stuck in her throat or it could be something nasty like gapeworm. It's also possible for head wounds from flushing to cause odd behavior, so check it over for wounds around the head.

Listen to it's breathing to see if you hear rasping or any other respiratory problems.

Try holding the bird upside down and gently massaging the crop for a second, if its something stuck this may dislodge it.

Take a q-tip and gently swab the back of the throat of the bird. If it has worms they'll most likely show up on the q-tip. Worms will be red and about an inch long.