Quail with bare breast

[ZedR]

So this is new for me. One of my AMs stayed hunkered down in the straw when I came in to feed them today. (I free range in an 80 sq foot shed with straw on the ground) When she finally did move she looked like she was hobbling so I pick her up to see if she had anything stuck to her foot. Her entire chest was bare...no feathers on either side of the breast bone. No blood. No feathers in the area of the straw and she did eat. Should I be concerned? I immediately thought blu kote but there is no wound.

 

[ChickenGoesRuff]

Maybe she's starting to go broody? Even though most quail have brooding bred out of them, it's still possible and it might also explain her remaining "hunkered down". It seems pretty plausible that she's going broody, but that's just my 2 cents based on the feathers missing without a wound, and the staying down. Good luck!

 

[DK newbie]

As far as I know, quail don't pluck their feathers when going broody. I only have buttons but they certainly don't and none of the stories I've read about broody coturnix mentioned feather plucking, so I'd search for a different reason.
I guess we're looking at 4 options:
1) She plucked the feathers. Only an option if she can reach the entire area that has feathers missing. She could have done so due to feeling irritated by parasites or something internal - like a tumor or an egg that's stuck, for instance. A tumor or egg could also explain har walking strangely - it could be applying pressure to the nerves to her legs.
2) The others plucked her feathers. Can't see why they'd pluck her chest though, unless her chest feathers looked very strange.
3) A predator caught her feathers. She could have hurt her leg when escaping. Only possible if the shed isn't fully predator proofed.
4) She flew/walked into something that caught/scraped of her feathers. As she doesn't fly with the chest first, it would probably have happened during landing if it had something to do with flying. And she could have hurt her leg at the same time. Tro to look for places in the enclosure with lots of feathers.

 

[Binki]

I've never seen that and I've had a broody coturnix, maybe she was hunkered down to protect her base chest from cold/the other quail? Yes watch her to see if she is doing it, I would seperate her in case the other quail go at it cause it could get real bad and bloody real fast :O

 

[ZedR]

Thx all. It appears as though the source of the problem is her leg. She can't seem to walk on it. She's eating but I think being gobbled she's losing feathers because she's kinda dragging herself in the straw. Not sure what to do :-(

 

[DK newbie]

I'd separate her and put her in a warm place on soft bedding with food and water just beside her so she won't have to walk to reach it. And try to give the leg a good feel to make sure nothing is broken or badly swollen or dislocated.

 

[Binki]

I agree, a small cage maybe with a few inches of sand? With food and water close?

Maybe one of those plastic critter carriers/cricket raisers if it's ventilated enough for bird poo