Pebble Update - good news and bad-ish news

[chaoticandrew]

Awhile back I posted my concerns for my quail Pebble, who is a bit of a runt, doesn't have all her feathers, and stumbles around. She is now seven weeks old and honestly I think she's going to be fine! Seeing as she's been like this since birth, I think the fact that she eats, drinks, poops, and sleeps fine is indicative that despite her genetic setbacks she is alright and will live a good life. She'll need some TLC but I have plenty of time and lots of love to give.

She did recently suffer a pecking injury to the head, so I moved her into a separate enclosure that she seems to be doing okay in. I spend regular time with her and she likes snuggling with me while I play video games. For a long-term plan, I think I may build a second coop just for her, since I'm worried she'll be the target of more aggression. Once Pebble is healed, I'll probably move Setsuko, one of my gentlest and sleepiest hens, in there with her. I'd hate for Pebble to be lonely... she does love to cuddle with the other hens.

The rooster I think pecked her will probably be cooked in a stew because I'm mad at him and he was useless anyway. (Pebble is my favorite quail, to no one's surprise.) Besides, I have another rooster, so I'll still get chicks. No loss will be felt.

For Christmas I will crochet Pebble a scarf to keep her cozy. If that works I will post pictures. If anyone has any advice on optimal recovery for a pecking injury and/or keeping a runt safe, I'd love to hear it. Anything would help!

 

[Kale the Quail]

Awhile back I posted my concerns for my quail Pebble, who is a bit of a runt, doesn't have all her feathers, and stumbles around. She is now seven weeks old and honestly I think she's going to be fine! Seeing as she's been like this since birth, I think the fact that she eats, drinks, poops, and sleeps fine is indicative that despite her genetic setbacks she is alright and will live a good life. She'll need some TLC but I have plenty of time and lots of love to give.

She did recently suffer a pecking injury to the head, so I moved her into a separate enclosure that she seems to be doing okay in. I spend regular time with her and she likes snuggling with me while I play video games. For a long-term plan, I think I may build a second coop just for her, since I'm worried she'll be the target of more aggression. Once Pebble is healed, I'll probably move Setsuko, one of my gentlest and sleepiest hens, in there with her. I'd hate for Pebble to be lonely... she does love to cuddle with the other hens.

The rooster I think pecked her will probably be cooked in a stew because I'm mad at him and he was useless anyway. (Pebble is my favorite quail, to no one's surprise.) Besides, I have another rooster, so I'll still get chicks. No loss will be felt.

For Christmas I will crochet Pebble a scarf to keep her cozy. If that works I will post pictures. If anyone has any advice on optimal recovery for a pecking injury and/or keeping a runt safe, I'd love to hear it. Anything would help!

Yay!! Petal is ok! Sorry, I don't have advice, but the scarf sounds adorable!

 

[chaoticandrew]

Yay!! Petal is ok! Sorry, I don't have advice, but the scarf sounds adorable!

thank you! <3

 

[Chip76]

Do you have pictures?

 

[chaoticandrew]

Do you have pictures?

of the injury, the "gaming setup" or pebble in general?

(as for the injury, more details: it's not very bad, no scalping, just a bloodied area around the ear. it doesn't reach the eye, thankfully. I cleaned it with warm water and cottonballs, then applied bactine gently to disinfect it. it has since scabbed up and stopped bleeding, although the area is still bloody. I'm holding off on cleaning it again because I don't want to aggravate the injury or interfere with the scabbing process.)

 

[Nabiki]

That injury should heal very quickly. I've had completely scalped birds heal up in about a week.

 

[chaoticandrew]

That injury should heal very quickly. I've had completely scalped birds heal up in about a week.

i'm glad!

 

[Celeste Cannon]

I would LOVE to see a picture of pebble! She sounds absolutely adorable. And I love your birds names!

 

[chaoticandrew]

I would LOVE to see a picture of pebble! She sounds absolutely adorable. And I love your birds names!

This is my darling Pebble lol. (The injury obvs is not shown here)

I'm glad you like the names! Here's the full list of names for my flock in case you're interested, haha:

• Mocha (tibetan)
• Bean (tibetan)
• Aki (grey, probably half tux)
• Summer (white with black markings)
• Setsuko (idek, she's dark brown with barred feathers???)
• Pebble (solid grey, as shown above, and very floofy)
• Miyo (golden)
• Basil (some sort of mutt, maybe a mix of golden, wild type, and grey? who knows)

Mocha and Aki are the roosters, with Mocha being suspected of pecking at Pebble. (he is in big trouble lol.) Aki's pretty chill comparatively. The quail are all such crazy colors because the seller I got them from as chicks had lots of different color subtypes all breeding together. I thought it would be fun to have a rainbow of quail.

 

[hedgemoo]

Aww! Do you have them all in together? Is it a big pen? I'm still trying to figure out how and when two roosters can live together. I want a new wild type next spring so i can get some feather sexable birds, but I also want to keep Oreo my teenage tux who is adorable and far too good for the pot.