Molting?? What is going on with my birds feathers?HELP!!!!!!

[Pumpkan]

Ok My male used to be the fluffiest one in the group but now he is the ugliest looking one !!What is going on with his feathers!!! I noticed once that his mate pulled out his feather and then ATE IT!!!!! She she eating all his feathers??? Or is it something else?? He has not changed his habits he is eating mating pooping etc!!! Nothing has changed that I've been doing and none of the others look this this at all!! SO CINFUSSED He's a disaster area and he looks worse eveyday!!

 

[TheRealTimShady]

does look like a normal molt, tho usually they don't mate during this time(i think, not sure about males but i know females will stop laying)

is his skin discolored at all where the feather loss is, or are new feathers popping out like normal. How long has he been doing this, just a few days, or is this after 2 weeks?

 

[Pumpkan]

it seems like just a few days hes still mating with her she hasnt laid an egg today "YET" it might be the end of a her cycle though??? His skin on his chest looks yellow (see pictures) but it looks like he has some new feathers trying to come in but none of the others are going through this!! So I'm not sure why he looks like this!

 

[TheRealTimShady]

well I've never seen the skin of a button quail, but yellow might not be so well. When i butcher my cots their skin is a nice purple pink flesh color. Yellow might be an indicator of jaundice, tho that's for humans, no idea if it could correlate over to anything related to quails. Liver is usually the cause. No way at all am i an expert on this. but thinking out loud.

I'd honestly just observe for the next week. As long as he is eating and drinking like normal i wouldn't worry to much. If anyone else starts to show signs of the same thing don't be afraid to post more pics.

keep an eye on feather regrowth, probably just molting, I've seen some chickens that just look god-awful during molt. I personally haven't had the experience with my cots b/c i keep them lit year round.

 

[cva34]

well I've never seen the skin of a button quail, but yellow might not be so well. When i butcher my cots their skin is a nice purple pink flesh color. Yellow might be an indicator of jaundice, tho that's for humans, no idea if it could correlate over to anything related to quails. Liver is usually the cause. No way at all am i an expert on this. but thinking out loud.

I'd honestly just observe for the next week. As long as he is eating and drinking like normal i wouldn't worry to much. If anyone else starts to show signs of the same thing don't be afraid to post more pics.

keep an eye on feather regrowth, probably just molting, I've seen some chickens that just look god-awful during molt. I personally haven't had the experience with my cots b/c i keep them lit year round.

X-2 On that .I have heard that you can stop and or speed up completion of the Molt by feeding high protein 28%++++...never tried it.Man at feed store told me the other day....cva34

 

[jbobs]

This is definetly not a normal molt - he's getting feather pecked big time. I've had some coturnix hens that look like that if they take a lot of abuse from the males but never a male. I have butchered a couple button quail (don't ask lol) but I can't remember if they had yellow skin or not. The hen who is with him is doing it? Is he alone with her or are there other birds in the cage? I'm not sure but it kind of sounds like to me that you have some social imbalance going on, based on your other posts about your buttons' behavior. I have heard of this "feather eating" complex but I don't know anything about it, only that i suspect that it's a stereotypical or compulsive behavior. Is this the same bird that was not letting her mate go near the food? I would suspect that perhaps these two birds are just not made for each other - they might be mating but, so to say, there isn't any love anymore LOL Does he seem timid around her? Does he look like he kind of tries to avoid her in the cage? How big is their cage?

 

[Pumpkan]

Well see that's the thing he will stay close by her especially if she is sitting on an egg or just resting he shows her food (hey look at what I have for you) !! None of the others look like this at all!! I have a 3x2 cage and it's seperated in two halfs the others in the other side haven't problems !! He is so sweet to her !!! And there are no feathers in the cage at all not one!! So it's a bit crazy...... He is like the "nice guy" and I guess if she's eating his feathers she's the"mean girl" who's acts nice and loving and will clean your feathers just so she can eat them!!!! Lol so what to do???

 

[jbobs]

That is a really good question. There are bitter sprays you can buy for parrots who mutilate themselves, I wonder if they would work on quail at all (from what I have seen they don't really work that great on parrots either, and I have tried using Stop-pick on my chickens with little success too) I would be tempted to separate them just to he can have a chance to grow his feathers back, but both of them will likely freak out if they are separated.

 

[MobyQuail]

just a thought...

with fast growing coturnix japonica, some feather picking and feather eating is a sign the birds could need more protein, or some micronutrient they are finding in the feathers.

we feed even our chickens 30% purina GBS, the chickens have beautiful feathers, no feather picking.

low protein diet may also delay laying, imho... your hen needs more protein and/or other micronutrients.

 

[Pumpkan]

Ok well their diet consists of a mix ( I mix myself for them) 50% chicken crumble, 30% quail seed,10% freeze dried mealworms, 10% grit oyster shell, and then everyday they have millet sprays, and fresh grown greens that I grow myself for them from the quail seeds and millet. And a feeder that is full of grit an oyster shell as we'll, and sometimes they get a treat of fresh veggie if it's on hand I used to feed them crushed boiled chicken eggs shell and all but I stopped because I finally was able to get the oyster shell... So I guess I'll just trow them a few more mealworms in their dish for protein and see what happens ?????? Do you think this will work or should I boil her an egg???