Liquid Food to Dropper Feed a Quail?

[Quailfluf]

Hey I have a coturnix quail who won't be able to eat food anymore and was wondering a good liquid to buy/make to dropper feed her. And I am very willing to dropper feed her, it will not be a waste of my time because I only have quail for enjoyment and I am homeschooled so I am home 24/7. She means quite alot to me because my sister who breeds quail for a living gave her to me and my sister recently was diagnosed with Lupus so I don't want to give up on my bird easy. Please give me some ideas or something because I don't know any good things to give her that will sustain all her needs. Thanks

 

[JaeG]

We had a quail attacked by something. I suspect he went to sleep right by the wire netting of his cage and a rat tried to grab him. (We are in New Zealand so we have very few predators to worry about). There was a big patch of feathers in one spot just outside the cage and, although there was no blood it must have damaged a nerve as he couldn't even stand. I didn't hold out much hope for him but we dropper fed him and within a couple of days started to see an improvement. He's still a bit off balance now but he can walk and feed himself etc.

Anyway we kept him hydrated by using a dropper to give him water and sometimes sugar water for energy. We also used fruit baby food from the supermarket to feed him using the dropper and really mashed up (with water added) hard boiled quail egg. Try and feed your quail every couple of hours. It will only need a very small amount and you can tell when they've had enough as they will stop eating what you're squeezing out.

Good luck!

 

[PirocaKeeper]

You can mix chicken starter feed, if you find mash even better if not crumbles. Mix them with water to the point that it is very liquefy. Find yourself a good size (good nozzle size), syringe without the needle. You can find those some times in the pharmacy, is what Mom's use to give infants liquid medicine. You can use that syringe and suck up the liquid food. Open the quails mouth and insert it straight down her throat, a little deeper than the beak, but don't go way down and push the syringe content into the bird. Little at a time, because you need to give her breathing breaks. you will need to do this until the crop is full and you will need to fill her crop at least 3 times in a day. If you don't mind me asking, why can the quail not eat? Do you have pictures of the quail that you can post. It may be easier to judge by looking at a picture. From my part you will not hear, it is a waste of time, we all try things like this every now and then. Really sorry to hear about your sister, if you are of the praying kind (I am), prey away, miracles happen every day.

 

[Quailfluf]

Thank you! I will be sure to get right to this! And I do not have any pictures of my quail, but her beak seems to be rotting in some way on the edge so she can't peck. I asked people if they knew anything but I have gotten no feedback on it. And thank you for your support with your prayers.

 

[JaeG]

You could try fermenting whatever pellets you would usually feed her as she may still be able to eat the soft wet food. It's very easy and if you search on google there's heaps of information about it. Sorry I can't be any help about what's wrong.

 

[Quailfluf]

I feed her birdseed, so softening will not work, but I am going to move her to game bird mash ad liquefy that. Thanks for the ideas guys!

 

[dc3085]

Seeds are an inadequate diet for a domestic quail. She really needs to be on game bird food for complete nutrition. Dove and quail mix is intended to be a supplemental treat for wild birds, not a mainline feed for domestics.

 

[Quailfluf]

Seeds are an inadequate diet for a domestic quail. She really needs to be on game bird food for complete nutrition. Dove and quail mix is intended to be a supplemental treat for wild birds, not a mainline feed for domestics.

I did not come her to get yelled at. I know that normal birdseed is not enough. This is a SPECIAL bird seed that my sister mixed up that fits their needs. But it still can not be softened.

 

[Invision]

dc is not yelling, he is just stating that the bird will not survive on seeds alone, he also knows more than most here so I would probably just give him the benefit of the doubt. Seeds can be softened, that's what I do when i sprout them for my quail, but that's not all they receive.

Fermenting the food is probably your best bet if you are really considering feeding by syringe... But think about if the bird is suffering. birds that can't feed them self's are suffering... They are stressed particularly game birds because they aren't the most friendly of the birds. If the beak is rotting away there is a possibility of the infection spreading into the blood, causing more issues then you can see and possibly leading to death. (not trying to be a jerk just putting it out there)

 

[James the Bald]

Hey I have a coturnix quail who won't be able to eat food anymore and was wondering a good liquid to buy/make to dropper feed her. And I am very willing to dropper feed her, it will not be a waste of my time because I only have quail for enjoyment and I am homeschooled so I am home 24/7. She means quite alot to me because my sister who breeds quail for a living gave her to me and my sister recently was diagnosed with Lupus so I don't want to give up on my bird easy. Please give me some ideas or something because I don't know any good things to give her that will sustain all her needs. Thanks

I'm kind of curious. How did you quail injure it's beak? I read some of your earlier posts, and you've never mentioned any beak issues before. You've also stated in another post that you asked about this and didn't get any answers... did you post any questions here??? There are many bird lovers there that will be better equipped to answer any questions and give you more assistance that we can. If you provide a picture, it will better help any prognosis/diagnosis any other "-osis" that I've never heard of.
James
Edited to add: Sometimes what's best for an injured animal isn't always what you want.