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- #19
I think today is a week since he started acting strange. He was fine , I had him out of the quail area and he was with me visiting and I put him up. I can't back about 30 minutes to an hour later and he was backing up fast and jumping forward. I was alarmed because he was fine before. I separated him and had him in and out of a separate cage for a few days. He eats and drinks fine. He even lounges,dusts ,and preens his feathers. the only probably is he has these episodes where he shakes his head ,runs backwards, and acts strange. I have a heat lamp for him that he lays under and I let him go back with the others so he doesn't feel lonely. They have soft bedding and they typically lounge all day and sometimes walk around and pick at the ground. I've noticed they are alot less active than chickens and lower maintenance. Yesterday I gave my hens a boiled egg and he came over very quickly and ate the egg like he was craving it. I give him electolyte water as well or acv. He eats gamebird/showbird food mixed with bird seeds and this supplement called kicking chicken drizzled on top. He is the least active of the rest but he is alot older. My other birds are just turning 2. I got him when he was 2 weeks old. he is loved beyong belief. He gets baths when it's summer and he does get privilege to get out of the quail area and come to our area . He's very well behaved. He sometimes sits in his own pet bed on the couch. I think that's absolutely amazing u had a 7 year old! It's so hard to find fellow elderly quail owners! Most people I've talked with have one no older that 2 to 3 years. I'm so sorry your little guy passed! If you don't mine me asking, how was his health? Did he act like anelderlyy quail? Meaning was he slower or like you would imagine a regular elderly person to be? Did he pass suddenly or did he have signs? I always want all the advice and info I can get about elderly quail since it's such a rarity. If he does have a spinal cord injury or concussion will that heal on its own with supplemental care? As in the things I'm doing will he just heal on his own?@Wyorp Rock is right, MS has no neurological issues. What has most likely happened is the bird flushed up into the ceiling of the cage and boinked his head. He has either damaged his spinal cord or has a concusion. This is so common with quail and I urge people to use fake or real foliage in their pens and aviaries for cover. Quail prefer to hang out and linger all day as they would in the wild under brush. When danger approaches, they dive for cover. Without cover they flush up and hit their heads.
As for your little guy, separate him out for a couple of days. Use a heat lamp on him to keep him warm. Use soft towels or bedding and you may need to help him eat. Hand feed him and if he can't drink, dip his beak in the water several times a day. Many times these brain issues have them off poultry feed, so warmed chopped hard boiled eggs is the perfect emergency food to sustain and keep him healing. Eggs have all the vitamins, minerals and building blocks of life in them. This type of injury can take several days to a week to recover from. The thing that usually kills them is dehydration and starving to death so make sure to intervene and help him eat and drink.
And wow, 6 yrs old is old for a quail, you must be giving him a lot of love!! I recently lost a male Bobwhite of 7 years, 5 months and 11 days, died of old age. Hatched him myself, he sure lived a long time. Gosh I miss that bird!
Keep us posted on his progress!