Quail hen won't stand or drink, listless

[lorastorm]

This afternoon I found our little quail Ozzy laying down, fluffed, eyes closed, listless. She had an egg stuck to her tummy feathers; apparently she laid it, but was unable to stand enough to get away from it, so it dried to her.

She allowed us to pick her up (unusual for her, shows how ill she is), and we removed the egg (it was not near her vent, it was fully out) and oiled her vent. The egg was intact, except for some dents where she must've knocked it about trying to move.

We also set her on a heating pad on low, which she tolerated briefly, then dragged herself off of it, and resumed laying away from it. I am at a loss what to do next for her. I have tried dipping her beak in water (with calcium additive), but she keeps her eyes closed and will not tilt her head to swallow (I am not sure if she can). Occasionally, she will flick her neck about, sort of in the way they do when they preen under their chins, but this is of course not preening and much less controlled.

We will take her to the vet in the morning (she is very dear to us), but I would love any thoughts on what we might be able to do for her this evening (especially to get her to drink), and what might be causing this. I have of course read through lists of sicknesses...perhaps egg yolk peritonitis? She is currently resting.

Thank you all so much,
Laura

 

[Alizey]

she is breathing fast?

 

[lorastorm]

Thank you, Alizey, good question -- no, not breathing fast, just at a normal pace.

 

[lorastorm]

Hi all,
Just an update if helpful!
1. Flicking her head: My husband was smart enough to realize she might have something in her throat. I gave it a little palpate/massage, and that got her interested enough to drink some water! He then noticed she had the tiniest tab of something white coming from the corner of her mouth and stuck flat to the side of her beak. We realized it was the corner of a strand of tissue she'd tried to swallow; once pulled out, she was notably encouraged, and became interested in eating! Yay!

2. We decided based on her other symptoms (fluffed up, lethargic, difficulty standing, droopy wings, runny/smelly poop with a yellow tint, minimal vocalization, avoidance of heat [likely fever]) that it was probably septic peritonitis (ie, egg yolk peritonitis; I discovered there are 2 types, sterile and septic, septic is obviously the more serious).

We were able to get some Baytril from a dear friend that same night (Friday). The dose was .02 ml per day, mixed with an equal amount of juice, since Baytril tastes nasty (we did white grape). We put it in a tiny nipple tip (like what you'd use for a baby kitten/squirrel/etc), held her, opened her mouth (poor girl, of course she hates that), put the nipple at the back right of her throat, and gave her the dose. She's supposed to have it once a day, for 5 to 10 days.

We kept her inside & monitored her closely. By the next morning (Sat), she had really come full circle: she was walking, hopping up on things, taking dust baths, vocalizing, eating, drinking -- she thought she was good as new! Her poops were still unformed and smelly, and I could tell she was operating at a slower speed than normal, but she was feeling SO much better!

On Sunday morning, she was lively and calling for her mate, so we returned her to her flock, but will continue to dose her with the Baytril for at least 5 days, and continue to watch her poops. They have already become nearly fully formed and almost smell-less, great signs!

Best wishes,
Laura