Older quail hen that walks tail up

[Quailmomma56]

I found one of my older quail hens on her side in the aviary which is the size of 2 big bedrooms outside.The quail live on the ground with quail friendly foliage. She had a very dirty rear end which I cleaned up and found no injury. Possibly foam from the male? I brought her inside and tried worming, mite spray, vitamin/ electrolyte water, extra ground calcium on the food. She eats well and drinks, poops normal, but tends to go rear end up when she walks. Looks like a duck in a pond drinking water. Then she rights herself and does some more normal steps to get around. But the normal steps aren’t normal. Does anyone have any ideas to try? She laid a little this year, but eggs have always been a little squished in one one side. Is a pet, one of my original birds. Not sick enough to be done living, but would love to improve her quality of what’s left if anyone has ideas.

 

[PoultryCQ]

Sounds like she may be egg bound, I know how to treat it for chickens, but I am not too sure for quail.. @FloorCandy

 

[Quailmomma56]

Sounds like she may be egg bound, I know how to treat it for chickens, but I am not too sure for quail.. @FloorCandythank you for your input. I thought about that, but figured she would have died by now. It’s been 5 days. What do you think?

 

[PoultryCQ]

I had a hen die from something like this before. It was a reproductive disorder, lasted about a week from the start of her symptoms to death. Unfortunatley, I dont know as much about quail. How old is she?

 

[FloorCandy]

One of my original double silvers had developed a wobbly gate at a few weeks old, it quickly progressed to her laying on her side, kicking and unable to get up. I started to give her vitamin e directly, and nutridrench in the water, and in a few days she could get up, but was walking like you describe, butt in the air, head down, like a wheelbarrow. I continued the vitamin e and she could get around, and even stopped the wheelbarrow, but fell a lot and would kind of run and let her momentum carry her, and then flop onto what she was aiming for. I switched the food coincidentally and she began to improve. I was able to cut out all supplements after a couple weeks. The feed I switched to is Hudson feeds gamebird pellets, from chewy.com.

She did not relapse in the remaining time I had her, but she later broke her beak badly and I had to cull her when it failed to improve, but it was at least 4-5 months that she was pretty normal. She had underlying issues, I’m pretty sure. I feel like there was some kind of malnutrition due to her body not processing stuff correctly. Yours could be suffering some kind of malnutrition due to an internal issue, or feed problem, or there could be a neurological cause from hitting their head.

 

[Quailmomma56]

I had a hen die from something like this before. It was a reproductive disorder, lasted about a week from the start of her symptoms to death. Unfortunatley, I dont know as much about quail. How old is she?

I don’t know for sure, at least 3. She was gifted from a man who raised them for eggs. That was 2 years ago

One of my original double silvers had developed a wobbly gate at a few weeks old, it quickly progressed to her laying on her side, kicking and unable to get up. I started to give her vitamin e directly, and nutridrench in the water, and in a few days she could get up, but was walking like you describe, butt in the air, head down, like a wheelbarrow. I continued the vitamin e and she could get around, and even stopped the wheelbarrow, but fell a lot and would kind of run and let her momentum carry her, and then flop onto what she was aiming for. I switched the food coincidentally and she began to improve. I was able to cut out all supplements after a couple weeks. The feed I switched to is Hudson feeds gamebird pellets, from chewy.com.

She did not relapse in the remaining time I had her, but she later broke her beak badly and I had to cull her when it failed to improve, but it was at least 4-5 months that she was pretty normal. She had underlying issues, I’m pretty sure. I feel like there was some kind of malnutrition due to her body not processing stuff correctly. Yours could be suffering some kind of malnutrition due to an internal issue, or feed problem, or there could be a neurological cause from hitting their head.

that sounds a lot like my bird! How did you administer the vitamin e and how much did you use?
I will look into that feed.
I have wondered about hitting her head, but she doesn’t tend to fly, and the aviary is 8 feet tall. I was wondering about a head injury from the male. Most the hens have been sitting or raising young, so she was the available gal.

 

[FloorCandy]

I don’t know for sure, at least 3. She was gifted from a man who raised them for eggs. That was 2 years ago

that sounds a lot like my bird! How did you administer the vitamin e and how much did you use?
I will look into that feed.
I have wondered about hitting her head, but she doesn’t tend to fly, and the aviary is 8 feet tall. I was wondering about a head injury from the male. Most the hens have been sitting or raising young, so she was the available gal.

I used Walgreens or cvs store brand vitamin e gel caps. They were the 400iu I believe. I poked a hole in the tip of the pill and I pinched open her mouth, and squirted it in. I did this 2-3 times per day, depending on how much she got down each time lol.

 

[Quailmomma56]

I used Walgreens or cvs store brand vitamin e gel caps. They were the 400iu I believe. I poked a hole in the tip of the pill and I pinched open her mouth, and squirted it in. I did this 2-3 times per day, depending on how much she got down each time lol.

Thank you!!!!!!!
I ordered the vitamins. Tomorrow I will look at the label on my Purina starter and compare to the one you mentioned, order if it seems better. I know for my horse feed, vitamin e isn’t stable. I’ve only had 6 quail so it takes forever to go through a 50 # bag. So I probably need to supplement.

 

[Quailmomma56]

Thank you!!!!!!!
I ordered the vitamins. Tomorrow I will look at the label on my Purina starter and compare to the one you mentioned, order if it seems better. I know for my horse feed, vitamin e isn’t stable. I’ve only had 6 quail so it takes forever to go through a 50 # bag. So I probably need to supplement.

Thank you for the vitamin e suggestion. I gave some last night and this morning and my hen can now turn her head without falling over and is moving better. My vitamins come tomorrow