Quail feeling under the weather!! :(

[Birds1243]

Female quail not looking like her usual self

Some things I’ve noticed:

• White spot in her mouth and at the back of mouth/throat area.
• Excessive drinking as well.

She is eating:

• quail feed
• Has grit with feed too
• Egg shells and also egg for protein and warmth (1 egg per day )

I have given her:

• VetRX
• Critical Care Formula

I will add that other than the above observations, she is still her active self. Still loves to run around and keeps her self clean, bathes herself nearly everyday and is still laying everyday too

(Also she keeps getting small pieces of food stuck in the tip of her beak but don’t think this is related to her being unwell. However what is the reason/solution to this?)

We are in the UK

 

[Huntmaster]

Is this okay? I can order this, it says for quail.

I have never seen this but did a quick search and it looks like still 16.50% which is still low, and a high fat 4.50%. And the nutrition info is limited, from what I seen it wouldn't be a feed I would use.

 

[Nabiki]

Is this okay? I can order this, it says for quail.

I looked that one up, and it only has about 16.5% protein as well. Since you're in the UK, you might find some good feed sources mentioned here.

 

[Birds1243]

She definitely shouldn't share food or water with your healthy birds. I have to admit, I don't have a lot of experience with diseases, so you want to read the instructions on the medication. I do know that quail heal quickly, so I would expect to see a difference within a few days.

@007Sean will probably have a better idea of how long to treat for, and he might have a better medicine recommendation.

Quick update: she’s looking better than she did yesterday. I did administrate the medicine as soon as it came yesterday. She still has 3 or 4 cankers. She did start to have some flem/saliva in her mouth. I did help her clear it. Sometimes she gets it but I help her. She is still active, talkative, is eating and drinking, still playing so all good. Will keep everyone updated with progress of medication. Thanks so much for all the help

 

[Nabiki]

I'm glad she's doing better. I look forward to hearing how she's doing.

 

[Nabiki]

Do you happen to have the nutrition information for her feed? I would stop feeding her the egg, but the eggshell is okay for extra calcium. One full egg for three birds is going over the no more than 10% treats rule for healthy birds.

Do you have pictures of the white spots?

It sounds like she may have something irritating her throat, which is causing the excessive drinking. If her poop looks normal and she's active, I wouldn't start worrying yet.

 

[Birds1243]

Do you happen to have the nutrition information for her feed? I would stop feeding her the egg, but the eggshell is okay for extra calcium. One full egg for three birds is going over the no more than 10% treats rule for healthy birds.

Do you have pictures of the white spots?

It sounds like she may have something irritating her throat, which is causing the excessive drinking. If her poop looks normal and she's active, I wouldn't start worrying yet.

Oh, I didn’t know that egg was under the treats. I had read online several people had recommended to add 1 egg per day into their diet.
I’ll try get some pics but she doesn’t really like me opening her mouth haha. Do you think it could be an infection? Yes I thought as well it could be irritating her as she also tries to like wipe her face if that makes sense, when she like ‘cleans’ it with her foot. If you get what I mean.
I wouldn’t say poop is entirely normal, like I said there have been some white in poops. Not entirely white.
Will try get pics in the morning of her mouth and also food

 

[Nabiki]

Oh, I didn’t know that egg was under the treats. I had read online several people had recommended to add 1 egg per day into their diet.
I’ll try get some pics but she doesn’t really like me opening her mouth haha. Do you think it could be an infection? Yes I thought as well it could be irritating her as she also tries to like wipe her face if that makes sense, when she like ‘cleans’ it with her foot. If you get what I mean.
I wouldn’t say poop is entirely normal, like I said there have been some white in poops. Not entirely white.
Will try get pics in the morning of her mouth and also food

Some white in the poop is normal.

If you're feeding a good, balanced feed, they shouldn't need anything else, so more than 10% of other food can throw off the balance and cause malnutrition.

 

[007Sean]

@007Sean - Any idea what the spots in her mouth are?

That feed is not sufficient for quail. It's only 16% protein and made for chickens. Can you get a turkey feed for her?

Looks like canker, to me!

 

[Nabiki]

Brilliant, Thanks. Will order right now, and administrate tomorrow. Can i also just ask, should i give it to her and keep her separate, or give it to all 3 girls? (The other 2 have 0 symptoms and no cankers.)
How could she have got this because I read online its very common in pigeons and doves and that is she were to share water with a wild bird she can pick it up from there. However she has not done anything like that (plus she is indoors)

I would separate her while she's on the medication. Keep a close eye on the others and treat if they start to show any symptoms.