Paralyzed Quail

[clmckinley]

I have a quail that appears to be paralyzed in the legs. She can still flap her wings and move hear head without problem though.

I found her this way on Thursday afternoon and she has been segregated from the flock since. She still isn't walking, but I have placed her close enough where she can eat and drink from where she is sitting and she eats and drinks fine. In fact, other then apparently not being able to walk she doesn't seem to be in any discomfort or distress. There was an egg next to her before I segregated her, I believe it was from her because the birds virtually never lay the eggs where she was. The egg appeared normal, but she hasn't layed another one.

I am trying to figure out what might have happened/be wrong with her and how to help or what to do with her. The rest of the flock seems to be OK, but she doesn't seem to have a head bonk (the ceiling is ~12 inches above and is mesh wire above where I found her (though there is an inside area with a wood roof.

Thanks for the help, I want to do what is right for my little quail.


tl;dr: Quail has had paralyzed legs since thursday, but otherwise seems ok. What do I do?

 

[DK newbie]

What kind of quail and what are you feeding her? Does she have access to calcium?
I would suggest you try feeding her hard boiled eggs, including the shell (finely ground) if she doesn't have another calcium supplement. And possibly mix some vitamins in her water, to make sure she has everything she needs.

 

[clmckinley]

We feed a mix 50/50 mix of southern states game bird feed and soy meal (which brings it to about 50% protein). We add oyster shell to the food trays, and also have a dish of oyster shell, but to be honest i am not sure how much they eat, i worry that it is too big for them. We occasionally give them vegetable scraps (most apples) We give them meal worms once or twice a week and they always have access to sand baths which they seem to pick at (for grit?) . We add vinegar with live mother to their water.

Other then that we don't give them any supplements.

 

[GrandmaBird]

just a quick note: the seeds of apples are toxic to quail and other birds. Be sure you remove them from your apples, I also remove the skin just to sure there is no pesticide on them. Sorry about your bird, hope she is doing better now.

 

[DK newbie]

I only have button quail, I feed them oyster shell as well, but I ground it up so it's almost powder. You might want to consider doing that as well - I've heard that an old blender does the job well. Lack of calcium could be the cause of her situation. At least I have seen several different species of poultry with symptoms similar to hers and all that were supplemented with calcuim got better within a week or so, where as all that were not died within a few months. If she doesn't get direct sunlight, you should also make sure there is vitamin D in the feed you give them. And perhaps reduce the soy meal a little, 50% a LOT of protein, though I don't think it's actually causing the problem.

 

[clmckinley]

Sorry, I forgot to say that she is a coturnix quail. I am giving her the hard boiled egg right now. I hope she gets better because she seems otherwise happy and healthy, but not being able to walk is no life for a quail .

The breeder I got the quails from recommended the mix (the base feed is ~24% protein), but his goals might be different then mine. I do want eggs, but i want happy, healthy quail above all else.

 

[clmckinley]

Unfortunately she never got any better and she was starting to get sores on he chest from flapping around. We decided that not being able to move he legs was not a good life for a quail and put her down, on Saturday. It was the hardest time i have had doing that, but it was the right decision.

I still wish I knew what happened because the rest of the flock seems normal. I think it must have been a head bonk that broke her neck.

 

[Kazi_syd]

I came to this thread to know about the solution of my paralysed quail. However I couldn’t find any simple solution anywhere on the Web so I decided to let her be in such condition until miracle happens. I took a great care of her and helped her in feeding and drinking and even dust bathing throughoutthe day. She's been in such condition for more than a few months and one day I've noticed she was able to stand on her legs but couldn't walk. I was so happy to see her standing and as days goes by she became almost normal. Now she can't run but at least able to walk throughout the cage (I have a 4sqm ground cage only for a couple of quails). So I'd suggest to keep patience if you can and try to comfort your bird as much as you can. Hope this helps.