Prolapsed quail vent - Please help! I have tried putting it back 3 times but it is not working! (PHOTOS)

[EmilyBerry]

Hi there,

My young female quail (around 10 weeks) has had her vent prolapsed which I noticed as she was not laying any eggs.
I have separated her from the rest of the group and put her in a warm, quiet room with scrambled eggs and quail mash. I tried to use saline solution to clean the area but the prolapse has what I believe to be dried urine stuck to it which I cannot get off and I don't want to rip the tissue.
I have tried three times to put the prolapse back in - each time it would fall back out after a minute or so. After putting it back in I held it in place and applied honey the second time and it has still prolapsed again.
Before I realised she was acting fine in herself and still eating although now after trying to push the vent back in three times she seems uninterested in food. I am not sure whether this is because she is trying to sleep or her condition has worsened.
It is still out now and I am not sure what to do next as its late at night now.
I would really appreciate some advice on what to do next please.


Here are some photos below of the prolapse. They are not the best as I did not want to disturb her so late at night. I can post more photos in the morning.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I'm sorry about your Quail. Is she pooping at all?

What I have done with my Quail when they had a prolapse is get a small tub of water with Epsom Salts in it. Depending on where you are keeping her and how warm it is, the water can be warm to room temp. Since Quail are so small, I take a cloth and wet it with the Epsom Salts water and hold it to the prolapse like a compress for a few minutes, then rewet the cloth, hold again, etc. for a several small sessions.
Blot dry, then apply an anti-inflammatory cream or ointment to the exposed tissue to keep it from drying out. If you have Raw Honey, that will work or you can also use oil (coconut oil, mineral oil, etc.). Just so the tissue is coated is fine.

Extra Calcium is very important for helping with a prolapse. For Quail, I'd give her 1/2 tablet Calcium Citrate +D3 this would equal approx. 150mg+/_ You can crush the tablet and mix it with her feed or her water. If she's not eating, then it may be better to dissolve the 1/2tablet into a small amount of water and give her drops of the Calcium water, you want to try to get as much of the Calcium into her as you can. I know they can be hard to work with, so just do the best you can. Give the Calcium for 5 days.
(IF you don't have Calcium Citrate+D3, give her 1/2 TUMS).

She may have another egg on the way if she's unable to retain the prolapse. The Calcium may help her expel the egg and it can also help with contractions and retention of the tissue.

Work on hydration and see if she will eat. Sometimes you have to wait for the swelling and inflammation to go down before the tissue will stay in, so I'd just keep the tissue coated and try the epsom salts compresses. I understand we do want the prolapse to go back in, but pushing back in and it coming back out can be exhausting for them, so give her a break and see if it will slowly go back in within the next day or so.

If it's cold where you are, if possible, I'd provide a heating pad for her to get on if she wants too.
Cover in a towel then a puppy pad if you have one. Alternatively, if you have a brooder plate, provide that, but raise it up high and put in on a couple of blocks of wood or bricks so it's quite a ways above her, but she can get under there and warm as she sees fit. If that makes sense.

Placing her on puppy pads will also be easy clean up for you and hopefully the tissue with stay a little cleaner. If the tissue gets soiled, then just use your epsom salts water to gently clean her up.

You are right, the white material is like urates, it will likely get thicker and it's very hard to come off. I've found that just rinsing to help keep the tissue relatively clean then recoating with ointment/oil/cream that the urates will eventually slough off as the prolapse heals.

I hope she's doing o.k., keep us posted.

Below are examples of the Calcium and Anti-inflammatory cream that I use.