Quail Hen Not Standing

[Vampiric_Conure]

One of my hens is not standing. She struggles to get up and lays on her side, kicking out. I'm setting up a hospital cage for her. She doesn't seem to be eating or drinking. Any ideas as to what would cause this? She's between 11 and 16 weeks old.

 

[le_bwah]

Dang, sorry that's happening. Is this the only bird having trouble? Pictures? What do you feed her? You can dropper her some water, but I'd have to double check how and how safe.

How developed is she muscularly. As in does her breast feel full (no sharp keel sticking out) and her thighs aren't bony? I had a hen with a chronic wasting issue and that's what her symptoms were. But without knowing more, it's hard to say what exactly would cause this. Hope it's something recoverable.

 

[JesusisGod]

tick? not sure

 

[Nabiki]

If you could take a video, post it to YouTube and post a link here, that would really help. What are you feeding her? Are any of your other birds showing any symptoms at all? Lethargy, puffed feathers?

 

[Vampiric_Conure]

Lock looking miserable. Her keel bone is very prominent. She's not puffed out and doesn't seem overly lethargic. I'm feeding her a 28-30% protein game bird formula that is made here locally.

 

[Nabiki]

If her keel is very prominent, that implies that she hasn't been eating for a while. I'm so sorry, but here are what I see as your choices:
1 - take her to a vet
2 - take the time and effort to feed her by hand every hour until she dies or gets better
3 - cull her and end her suffering

I did have a bird like that, and I spent 3 weeks nursing her, she got a little better, but the moment I stopped nursing her, she would relapse. I ended up culling.

 

[le_bwah]

I would just cull, honestly. No need to stretch it out. Poor thing.

 

[Vampiric_Conure]

By culling, you cut off their heads with a pair of scissors, correct? Any other methods people use?

 

[le_bwah]

By culling, you cut off their heads with a pair of scissors, correct? Any other methods people use?

Scissors is a pretty sure bet. Some people just grab the heads and shake hard but I've always been too weak to try that one

I thought @Nabiki (hope that was you) actually wrote an article on processing that involved the killing part in good detail.

 

[Vampiric_Conure]

Scissors is a pretty sure bet. Some people just grab the heads and shake hard but I've always been too weak to try that one

I thought @Nabiki (hope that was you) actually wrote an article on processing that involved the killing part in good detail.

I'll have to see how sharp my scissors are. Poor Lock. She's not doing so well :'(

Thank you for the the suggestion of the article! I'll have to check it out!