Is this normal?

[Jenquail]

My female quail that I just brought home on June 30 2019 is stretching her neck out and gaping her mouth. She's only done it once today for the first time. She did this for probably 30 seconds in short succession. She's not doing it anymore, but I'm wondering if she's just adjusting her crop or if it's something more menacing. I started researching and gapeworm came up. Does anyone have any input on this behavior? Thank you in advance for your time.

 

[007Sean]

Most likely just adjusting her crop. Not very common for quail to get gapeworm.

 

[Jenquail]

Thank you! That's a relief! She's only 7 weeks old, I'd be heartbroken to loose her so young. My family had a parrot before he passed from old age. I'm familiar with hook bills behavior, but I know that these guys can sometimes get parasites and got paranoid. I'll definitely be keeping an eye on it. I should have stuck with my gut and not laid awake until 1am. I just transitioned her from a very fine starter crumble to a chunkier grower crumble and I'm giving her grit/sand, oyster shells and mealworms in the last few days. Her crop is probably pretty full. I really appreciate your response and hope to learn a lot more from the knowledgeable people on this site.

 

[Bluemonster107]

I think it’s “burping”???

 

[Ebony Rose]

You didn't specify if that's chicken feed or game bird feed you're giving her; will definitely need to be the game bird feed as quail require quite a bit more protein than chickens need. Same holds true on the 'no more than 10% of their diet may be treats', and try not to let it all be mealworms, they're yummy yummy and full of protein, but oh so fattening; not a good thing for a laying hen. I raise both chickens and japanese coturnix quail. I find the quail tend to be much healthier overall and exceptionally easier to care for.

 

[Jenquail]

I think it’s “burping”???

Thank you! So, she's a little piggy ☺

 

[Jenquail]

You didn't specify if that's chicken feed or game bird feed you're giving her; will definitely need to be the game bird feed as quail require quite a bit more protein than chickens need. Same holds true on the 'no more than 10% of their diet may be treats', and try not to let it all be mealworms, they're yummy yummy and full of protein, but oh so fattening; not a good thing for a laying hen. I raise both chickens and japanese coturnix quail. I find the quail tend to be much healthier overall and exceptionally easier to care for.

Thank you for the tips. I've got her on a poultry starter crumble, but it's 21% protein. I thought that was decently high if I we're to continue with some mealworms too. Would you think that 6 small to medium worms a day is sufficient? I'll definitely make sure that if she seems to be putting on some weight to look into other sources of protein. I've heard of people offering a little egg as well. I also have an option to supplement her with a 39% game bird feed as well. I could mix it with the poultry crumbles as well. She's in the process of growing in a large patch of feathers that was badly plucked by a male. She'll definitely need the extra protein for that. Poor thing. Thank you, I really appreciate your help very much!

 

[Ebony Rose]

The balance of amino acids differs between the two. Posting two links that highlight the differences of the nutritional needs of chickens and japanese coturnix quail to help you start your research on the topic.
Chickens: http://agritech.tnau.ac.in/animal_husbandry/ani_chik_conventional.html
Japanese Coturnix Quail: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7433362

 

[Ebony Rose]

Thank you for the tips. I've got her on a poultry starter crumble, but it's 21% protein. I thought that was decently high if I we're to continue with some mealworms too.

The protein issues isn't all about PROTEIN, it's about the amino acids available in what makes up that protein.

I'll definitely make sure that if she seems to be putting on some weight to look into other sources of protein. I've heard of people offering a little egg as well.

That's a good plan about the mealworms, problem that arises from a fat laying hen is that it encourages reproductive disorders and fatty liver disease. Egg is an eggcellent source of protein and the amino acids that she'll need, afterall, that's the food she started with Feeding a hard boiled egg at the first sign of difficulty laying, can often help your hen with contractions, thereby making it easier for her to expel a difficult egg.

I also have an option to supplement her with a 39% game bird feed as well.

I recommend to totally switch her to the game bird feed, full time, and supplement whatever source of calcium you prefer in a dish on the side. If you want to treat her WHILE supplementing her calcium, consider offering her chopped, raw kale, spinach or other dark leafy greens. It's very high in calcium and my quail love it. I'm so jealous of your 39% feed! The best the stores offer here is 21%, and although they sell it as LAYING QUAIL FEED, there's a serious lack of some important amino acids and no calcium whatsoever in it. I'm constantly having to reinvent the wheel to take proper nutritional care of my flock. To make it more difficult, they periodically change their formula without notice. That's what I get for choosing to live in a third-world nation.

 

[Jenquail]

The balance of amino acids differs between the two. Posting two links that highlight the differences of the nutritional needs of chickens and japanese coturnix quail to help you start your research on the topic.
Chickens: http://agritech.tnau.ac.in/animal_husbandry/ani_chik_conventional.html
Japanese Coturnix Quail: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7433362

Thank you very much! I usually have 6 months of research under by belt before taking on a new pet. This little one kind of fell in my lap.