Quail not putting foot down

Quail4Fun

Chirping
Apr 20, 2020
50
79
50
I have a 3 month old Bobwhite who stopped putting his right foot down. I have him in with a group of coturnix that he was raised with from day old hatchlings. 3 females and a male. There is no fighting and I haven't witnessed any fighting. They are inside birds with a solid bottom cage with pine shavings. I just went to do evening feedings and notice he is favoring his right foot. He will put it down when forced but definitely limping. It doesn't look red or swollen. No visible injury. No open area or bleeding. He is a bit flighty (literally) so getting him to cooperate for a photo was almost impossible but I tried. Whe he puts it down, it seems at a bit of an odd angle so wondering if it is a broken leg or toe. I'm not exactly sure how that would have happened but animals do some crazy things. I have him separated within the same cage. Should I just watch and wait? I feel like I will traumatize him more by trying to catch him and closely inspect him... he only likes one person to handle him and they are not home for 2 weeks due to a COVID exposure. Any advice is appreciated!
 
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Hopefully if he’s putting weight on it, it’s not too bad... and it doesn’t look scary from your pics. It really sounds like you already know the best way to handle it, so I don’t have any original advice, just agreement with what you’re already doing.
If he’s not comfortable having you handle him you probably just want to watch him for now. A flighty bob can hurt himself worse (ugh, I’ve had that happen) if you try to get him for a closer look. If he can’t walk at all or it swells then you do want to do an up close inspection.
 
Hopefully if he’s putting weight on it, it’s not too bad... and it doesn’t look scary from your pics. It really sounds like you already know the best way to handle it, so I don’t have any original advice, just agreement with what you’re already doing.
If he’s not comfortable having you handle him you probably just want to watch him for now. A flighty bob can hurt himself worse (ugh, I’ve had that happen) if you try to get him for a closer look. If he can’t walk at all or it swells then you do want to do an up close inspection.

Thanks for the emotional support! I'm a nurse and so I always feel like I'm not doing enough but sometimes with animals, not doing more is better. He is eating and drinking and preening so besides putting the foot down, acting himself. He can still see his friends without having them jumping on him. I guess we will see what happens over the next couple days. I'm hoping for a sprain or bruised foot from jumping around. Like I said he is a typical Bob and spazzy so I wouldn't be surprised if he landed wrong or got caught on the edging of the cage. I should have included that when I noticed the foot injury he also had a few feathers on the back/tail area that were askew so I definitely am leaning toward an injury over the start of bumble foot or something. Thanks!
 
Little Bob's (my bobwhite male) foot seems better after a week of rest. I reintroduced him to his cotrunix flock yesterday. All seemed ok. A little rustling. But today, I've witnessed one girl being a bit of an instigator and the 2 are biting at each other periodically. I've never seen this from either before. Noone has gotten hurt yet and they are not avoiding each other. How do I know if this is reestablishing pecking order due to the week of separation or if I should separate them again?
 
Little Bob's (my bobwhite male) foot seems better after a week of rest. I reintroduced him to his cotrunix flock yesterday. All seemed ok. A little rustling. But today, I've witnessed one girl being a bit of an instigator and the 2 are biting at each other periodically. I've never seen this from either before. Noone has gotten hurt yet and they are not avoiding each other. How do I know if this is reestablishing pecking order due to the week of separation or if I should separate them again?

I can't tell. Reorganize a flock is always unpredictable.
It can happen, that they are establish a new pecking order and all be fine, but it can also be bloody drama.

I experienced both.
 

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