Quail Injuries! Need help!

[ludwigvan]

hello everyone!
i have a pair of chinese painted quails. the male is about 3 months old and the female about three weeks. i had this incident about three days ago where i left my male quail loose inside my room and accidentally stepped on it. i felt so terrible to injure the poor thing and it must be painfull for it. he seems to have recovered up to a point but there are 2 problems. well maybe 3.

First, it's body stance doesn't seem right. he walks and sit's like a hunchback. i can help him with my hands to get a normal stance but when i leave him alone he humps.. :/
Second, his poop seem like he is having diaria and the get stuck on his butt. i have to bath him in warm water to get them off..
And lastly, i got the female 3 days ago. the male didn't have any particular smell the whole time i had it but the female does have a bad smell and i think it's spreads to the male as well (it's not the smell from the poop problem, i can tell)

If anyone had any experience with the above problems i would be very gratefull to hear his story. Any advice at all would be very welcomed!!

 

[GrandmaBird]

I hate to sound negative but the best thing to do for your injured CBBQ "button" male would be to take him to an avian vet. If this is a problem then I would suggest that you put him down. if he is not standing well and has poops then hi probable has internal injuries form being stepped on. These birds should be kept in a cage not allowed to roam around the house. hope i do not seem to brash but i think he could have been a very happy "pet" if you had left him in the cage.

And 3 weeks is very young for the female, if it can even be sexed yet and doubt that, to be alone I would look into getting another young male to mate her with. Good Luck.

 

[gorabbitgo]

I agree with the above poster. Take your male to a vet or cull him.

As for your female, it could be the diet at her former home or some kind of internal digestion issue. Some birds, especially the messier birds, can carry bacteria in their gut that can cause illness in humans and may be identified by a particular odor.
When i got my chicks, they were being fed chicken starter that was left outdoors and was stale. They smelled AWFUL. Like, roll the windows down and dry heave on the ride home awful. After a week of good diet and clean water, the smell went away. Thank goodness, because they're indoor birds!

Try putting some apple cider vinegar in her water to foster healthy gut flora and offer chopped greens like wheatgrass, broccoli, and kale. That should help to balance her digestive tract and reduce stink. If she's still reeky or if her poops are runny, she may have a bacterial infection or a parasite and should be taken to an avian vet.
If you have experience with birds and a vet or reliable feed store nearby, you can get Ivermectin for birds which can be used to treat parasites. It's not too harsh so you don't have to stress too much with giving the exact perfect dose amount, but if you're new to birds then you'd be better off leaving it to your vet.
I hope both of your little birds get better soon!

 

[jak2002003]

Oh, so sorry to hear about your quails accident. How long had you had him for? Are you sure he was not sick before you stood on him? I ask this because they are usually really fast birds and very quick to get out of the way.

How is the female? Does she seem healthy? How are her poops? If they both have runny poops and a bad smell, its likely they have caught a disease form each other.

You need to take you male quail to the vet. He may be in a lot of pain. If you have to put him to sleep, then I would advise you to wait until you are sure your female is not sick before you buy another quail.

 

[ludwigvan]

Thank you all so much for your immidiate replies!

Wong (the male) seems to recover significantly day after day. As of today he seems to have no diaria and his walking is getting better and better. he seems to straighten up and he streches his neck too to have a look around! he also continues his activities such as cleaning his feather with his beak, eating and drinking at the normal rate. the only thing is that he stopped 'singing out loud' but i think it's normal since he wouldn't want to make his precence known now that he's injured. he tweets though along with his girl Zhang (the female)

The smell seems to go away as well.

Now another thing i forgot to mention is about the female. when i got her from the pet store she was in a cage with another 2 males of the same age and she was bold from neck to butt (she has feathers to the head, neck, wings and all over her bottom). It must be the other males pecking her right? the feathers would grow back right?

 

[GrandmaBird]

Glad to hear the male is doing better, hope is all we can give sometimes.
The female feather loss could be the males over mating or trying to mate with her. She is still very young to mate but could start laying soon and mating as well. The only problem with such young ones mating is it cuts the life expectancy down a few years. Enjoy your quail.

 

[ludwigvan]

At what age do you suggest she'll be ready?

 

[GrandmaBird]

8-12 weeks

 

[quadchick77]

Feathers take awhile to grow back