New Button Quail Owner... need help!

[playingdead]

Hi guys, new here, I'll have to make an introduction post after this.

I have owned a lot of birds in my life, parakeets, lovebirds, cockatiels, conures.. but this week I finally got something I've been wanting for months. Button Quails!

I have one male and two females, attached is a picture of my very round lady of which I have a concerning question.

She has been completely healthy and walking around since I got her, a little sluggish today but tonight she laid her first egg since she's been here with me and now she won't put any weight on one of her legs and is stumbling around. She seems determined to get around and isn't lethargic or anything, but won't walk on the leg at all. When I picked her up to inspect, it was completely limp. Suggestions on what to do?

She is currently housed in a 60 gallon breeder aquarium with a screen lid, it has pine bedding and the only thing she could have possible injured herself on is her food and water dish.

 

[playingdead]

 

[playingdead]

edit: added a picture of the leg + size of the egg she layed.

 

[DK newbie]

Well.. That's a new one. She is able to raise the leg, so the hip and possibly knee should be okay but if the leg is limp it must be either broken, dislocated or have some kind of nerve damage - that's the only things I can think of that would cause it to be limp, at least. Nerve damage could be consistent with the fact that the problem seemed to occur while she was laying an egg - the nerves to the leg could have been squeezed by the egg. Though I'd have though this would affect the entire leg so she couldn't even raise it.. I'd probably try to pick her up again and get someone to help you hold her while you carefully feel both legs for any differences - do they have the same temperature? Are there any swellings? Do all joints bend in exactly the same direction on both legs? Is the resistance to bending the joints about the same in both legs? Does she respond like something hurts when you bend/touch any parts of the legs?
If this doesn't reveal anything, perhaps it's worth a try to gently pull at the leg to se if you could get something to slip back in place. Otherwise, I'd probably jut leave her alone for a couple of days, see if there is any change. Make sure though, that the others are not bullying her - bullying could have caused the damage, but even if it didn't, a bird that's hurt is way more likely to be bullied by the others. So be prepared to remove her.

 

[playingdead]

Took her out and inspected her closer. No visible swelling that we could see. legs felt the same and she didn't seem to be in discomfort. No noise when it was touched and shifted around a little. Still completely limp on that one side though.

 

[playingdead]

small update, she managed to lay another egg but still wont walk on the one leg. This egg was smaller than the first. the one of the left is the one she laid today, the picture doesnt do it justice but a lot smaller than the first and less speckled and has streaks through it. Should I be worried about that at all?

 

[DK newbie]

A single egg with a strange pattern doesn't mean much. It has probably passed through certain parts of the production line at a different speed than it should. If it keeps happening, it could mean that she has trouble laying the eggs though, and that could eventually be her death, if an egg gets stuck. It might be related to the leg issue, but I'm pretty much out of ideas on that one..