Please Help -- Quail Seizure or Illness?

[alee61]

Hi,

My 7 week old coturnix quail suddenly began acting strange yesterday. It seems after he gets excited, whether it be from treats or a sand bath, he sometimes starts running backwards with his head/neck scrunched closer to his body -- lasting for around 10 seconds to about a minute with pauses. He did sustain a neck/head injury last week with no noticeable damage but seemed to recover (if this information helps). I was wondering if anyone has any insight to what issue is going on and possible solutions? Could this be some form of encephalitis or effects from the injury? Thank you so much in advance!

 

[alee61]

Thank you everyone for your helpful insight -- it definitely gave me a peace of mind! I'll update in a few days if anything changes.

 

[alee61]

Update -- the quail is doing great and there is no more issue! Thank you everyone so much for your insight and help!

 

[Nabiki]

This sounds like a head injury to me. I've seen this type of behaviour in birds that have either hit their heads or who have gotten pecked a lot.

All of the birds that I've had this happen to have recovered. Keep an eye on it, and if it doesn't improve in a few days, you may want to give him a thorough examination and post pictures for us.

 

[shrimpsilkies]

Quail also just run backwards like that when they bump into something they don’t like or feel uncomfortable for a moment, sort of like when you’ve got to sneeze or have an itch. Some are more prone to it than others, but I’ve seen every single one of my very healthy quail do it at least a few times. If it’s extremely common he might’ve bumped his head or has itchy pin feathers somewhere in which case it ought to go away soon.

 

[LJHC]

Thank you for this thread. I have one quail that does this everytime she takes a sand bath. I was really beginning to get concerned.

 

[alee61]

Thank you so much for your response! I will definitely keep an eye out and post a video of this when I get the chance. He is eating and drinking fine so hopefully he will heal soon!

 

[alee61]

Quail also just run backwards like that when they bump into something they don’t like or feel uncomfortable for a moment, sort of like when you’ve got to sneeze or have an itch. Some are more prone to it than others, but I’ve seen every single one of my very healthy quail do it at least a few times. If it’s extremely common he might’ve bumped his head or has itchy pin feathers somewhere in which case it ought to go away soon.

Thanks for your insight! He does have some feather loss on his lower back and preens quite a bit. Could this itchiness be sign of ticks as well? I am very new to quails.

 

[the3quail]

?What kind
Not on topic- haha-
But I love to hear what kind of quail others have!

 

[ButtonBag]

One of my button hens does this, a quick backwards scoot then springs off in another direction kind of like a pull-back toy car!

But OP said their's lasts from 10 seconds to a minute I'd definitely guess it's from the head injury and will hopefully clear up as he recovers fully