quail/rutin chicken low energy, head shaking back and forth, stumbles when walking

[bobsand]

Ive got a male and female quail/rutin chicken. the boy was pecking at the girl, so we took him out to trim his beak with a solder. this hasn't caused him issues before. since doing that on Sunday, he has been very low energy, like he wants to sleep and sit in the corner near the eggs all the.time. on Monday, the girl pecked at him, so I separated them. when separated, the boy was very high energy, running around and calling out a lot for her. yesterday, he seemed a little better, eating more food and drinking more water. today though, he falters when he walks. he doesn't seem to want to leave his corner much and his head is hanging low or moving from side to side. An online vet said he was maybe afraid and to just give him some medicine and time to calm down. There are no bird vets near me, so I'm obviously very worried.about him. his poop seemed normal over the last few days.

What is wrong with him and how can we help him recover? he is usually quite timid, doesn't like being touched, and will flinch if you move too close to his enclosure.

 

[Stipenvlerk]

Hi Bobsand, Welcome to BYC! Let me see if I can find a Quail person who can assist...

@Nabiki are you able to assist?

 

[bobsand]

https://streamable.com/tywgzq
this is a video I took today. he's so scared, I can't even get.him to the vet

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Ive got a male and female quail/rutin chicken. the boy was pecking at the girl, so we took him out to trim his beak with a solder. this hasn't caused him issues before. since doing that on Sunday, he has been very low energy, like he wants to sleep and sit in the corner near the eggs all the.time. on Monday, the girl pecked at him, so I separated them. when separated, the boy was very high energy, running around and calling out a lot for her. yesterday, he seemed a little better, eating more food and drinking more water. today though, he falters when he walks. he doesn't seem to want to leave his corner much and his head is hanging low or moving from side to side. An online vet said he was maybe afraid and to just give him some medicine and time to calm down. There are no bird vets near me, so I'm obviously very worried.about him. his poop seemed normal over the last few days.

What is wrong with him and how can we help him recover? he is usually quite timid, doesn't like being touched, and will flinch if you move too close to his enclosure.

https://streamable.com/tywgzq
this is a video I took today. he's so scared, I can't even get.him to the vet

In the video he looks like he's suffering from Wry Neck which is a neurological symptom. This symptom is caused by trauma to the head/neck, sometimes it's due to vitamin deficiency or disease as well.

I'd work on treating him with vitamin therapy. Give 400IU Vitamin E and 1/4 B-Complex daily along with a small treat of egg or tuna for the uptake of E.

Do watch that he's able to eat/drink on his own, often birds with this symptom are unable to do so and you will need to syringe or tube fluids/food into them.

He may have become overly stressed with the beak trimming, I've never used a solder to trim beak, if I find it necessary, the tip can be lightly clipped with dog nail clippers or even just use the fine side of an Emory file and smooth the beak down. The beak has a lot of nerve endings so clipping too deeply and being a bit rough can be very painful.

 

[Nabiki]

Welcome to BYC!

What are you feeding them?
How old is he?

It could be injury, malnutrition or disease.

If it's injury, your best option is to make sure he's getting food and water and see if he heals.
If it's malnutrition, some B-complex and high protein feed may help, but it also may be too late.
If it's disease, he needs to be tested. The one disease that I know of off the top of my head that causes that kind of twisting is Virulent Newcastle's, which is very bad news.

Just a note, but if you leave a brick or a rough rock in their area, they will wear their beaks down on their own so you shouldn't need to trim them. I'm wondering if he may have injured his neck from resisting the beak trim?

 

[bobsand]

https://streamable.com/6whxsd

He had some neurological condition but I've no idea how because he and the girl are kept in the house. we lost him this morning and before he passed, he had spasms or seizures like this. what causes this? we are heartbroken and want to make sure our other bird doesn't get sick like this. she knows he died and she is constantly crying. how can we make her comfortable?

 

[Nabiki]

Please send the body to your state necropsy lab. That could be injury, but it could be disease as well. A necropsy isn't that expensive, and if it is disease, you'll be glad to know.

https://www.heritageacresmarket.com/poultry-necropsy-labs/