Lost a Quail who was seemingly having trouble passing eggs

[Grags26]

Hi I recently lost on of my 4 female coturnix, and I'm worried my others may suffer the same fate. I am guessing it had something to do with being unable to pass the egg. Apologies if this is a bit graphic, but I want to make sure I'm doing the right thing for my birds. I noticed a couple things that are probably related. The dead bird had much of its feathers on its backside pulled out. I am not sure if it pulled its own feathers out or if the others did it to her. I also noticed her underside was bloodied, which lead me to believe it was trouble passing the eggs. I noticed some blood on the underside of the other girls as well. I immediately turned off the lamp in their coop in an attempt to give them a break from laying. They had not been laying. Let me know what you guys think...Thanks all!

Feeding them a millet based quail food. They get artificial light 14 hours a day.

 

[TwoCrows]

Sounds like this hen indeed had trouble passing an egg. She may have prolapsed, (pushed out her insides) and the others picked at her, possibly until she died. Yes, they can be cannibalistic.

Egg binding can be caused from several reasons. First, never force lay young layers...any bird younger than one year. They are not ready for high production and can become egg bound very easily. So if your birds are less than one year, turn off the lights and let them lay when their bodies tell them to lay, not the light.

Never let them run out of water or have to compete for water. Dehydration always causes egg binding. If they are cramped in a cage and are competing for food and water, some will be bullied away from the water. So make sure they have enough space and several places to get a drink if you have a lot of them in one pen.

Calcium...hens need calcium not only to put on a hard shell, but for the contractions to push that egg out. If they are lacking calcium, thin shelled eggs are not going to pass and they will not have the uterine and oviduct contractions to push any egg out. So ALWAYS keep crushed oyster shell on the side for all layers. Make sure it is small enough for quail.

If you find a hen struggling to pass an egg, lube up her vent and up to the egg with some vaseline or ky-jelly and soak her lower half in warm water. Not cool and not hot, but warm enough to allow her to relax her abdomen muscles and pass the egg. Many times if you catch this before prolapse, and get her soaking for 10 or 15 mins, she will pass the egg. Let her then rest for a couple of hours away from the flock and make sure she is eating and drinking. And never leave a bird with prolapse in with the flock. They will kill her.

 

[Grags26]

Wow thanks so much for the information. I have oyster shells that i will ground down small enough for them. They are over a year old. I'll check back in if anything else happens. Thanks again!

 

[TwoCrows]

They can eat oyster shell the size of a millet seed or a tad bigger with no issues. It doesn't have to be powder, but if it is too big, they can't eat it.

Make sure they are on a good diet of quail food too. 30% protein is a bit high for most quail. 20% protein can be a bit low. Some sort of good formulated quail food with all the necessary vitamins and minerals and with 24% to 26% protein is fine.

Good luck with your birds!

 

[Grags26]

and I hate to even ask, what do you recommend if they prolapse besides keeping her away from the others? The one bird that is showing similar symptoms seems to have had this happen...Agh i feel terrible.

 

[TwoCrows]

The best thing you can do is keep this bird in a place with ONLY 8 hours of daylight. The rest of the time in complete darkness. The daylight hours should be fairly low light. A bird with prolapse needs to stop laying to heal. And this will help to stop her laying. She will no doubt go into a molt and this will allow her the time she needs to rest from laying.

Then you need to stuff her insides back inside. Apply some preparation H to her vent, the prolapse and the entire area that is swollen. Put this stuff on several times a day. And each time her insides come out, stuff them back inside. If she is dirty, clean her off first before you put her back together each day. You might keep her on a towel or something clean.

Sometimes you can save a prolapse bird, sometimes you can't.

I am so sorry you are going through this.