Quail crop injury? What should I do?

[Ashley Hutsell]

My husband found one of our female quails with a nasty wound on her chest yesterday and I'm getting increasingly concerned it's a crop injury and her crop is possibly ruptured. It now looks like some yellowish gunk is coming out and it looks awful all around She is still behaving totally normally and eating and drinking normally. She's resting in a bin and is isolated from my other quail. I watched her eat some food just an hour ago and when she drinks I don't see any moisture dribbling out of her or anything. If she is in a lot of pain, she isn't behaving like it at all.

It seems like kind of a waste to take a $5 quail to the vet but I'm getting pretty worried here. I definitely don't have the nerve to euthanize her with scissors as other people have suggested. Just not sure what to do here, so any help/suggestions would be appreciated!

 

[Little Chicken Girl]

Ouch! Poor girl...

If you are really not wanting to cull her and she is thus far acting well, here's my advice/opinion on medical treatment:

Keep the wound clean.
Apply Vetericyn (If that is not readily obtainable, raw honey +
powdered goldenseal herb is an alternative I have effectively used).
Keep her separate from the others and don't let her have access to dirt (she might try and take a dust bath... which would be very bad).
Monitor her carefully and frequently to ensure she shows signs of infection (lethargy, redness and swelling that stems from the wounded area) and she is healing.

However, I am NOT a veterinarian. This is my personal opinion on medical treatment based of experience and research done on my own time.