Quails running backwards!?

[Machi]

Did you give your chicks vitamin E and did it help afterwards?

I gave my quails lots of sunflower seeds (rich in vitamin E) after they startet running backwards, but some of the birds still run backwards... maybe they just don't like sunflower seeds!?

Prehaps I should try extra vitamin B too.

The vet is on summer vacation, but I'll ask him to check the quails when he gets back.

 

[Machi]

Has anyone had quails 1 - 2 weeks old (at least 6 birds), NEVER running backwards!?

 

[TwoCrows]

Quail should never run backwards. If they do, there is a definite problem.

 

[LeafBlade12345]

Take them to the vet. There is probably something genetically wrong with them, though it could be avian flu...

 

[Machi]

Thank you for the answers! It has been so frustrating, not knowing how "normal"/common this is...!!

I have raised my birds with great care, they are very tame and self-confident; I made them a bigger cage, and I chose a proper rooster - I wanted to keep the best birds for breeding. But this behaviour, and not getting answers, has made all the effort quite doubtful!

The birds are now well, I have seen only one bird walking backwards this week (the one that started later than the others, at the age of 2 - 3 weeks). I think they did it only few weeks!? So many people that buy quails at the age of one month or older, may not even know this phenomenon has occured. But that still doesn't mean, that there is nothing wrong with them... I will show them to the vet!

 

[LeafBlade12345]

Good. Hope they get better! Please keep us posted!

 

[Machi]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/802051/pheasant-likes-to-run-backward

 

[Machi]

I talked about this problem with a person that grows thousands of pheasants every year. He had the same problem twice: once he lost a big amount of chicks after they had feed with mould toxins. The feed caused chicks to run backwards, and die in many farms around Finland. The manufacturer took back what was left from the 18 000 kg feed. So poisoning is one reason, but it conserns all of the chicks, and the chicks die soon.

The other time was when he was new at the bisnes, and had 300 chicks: many of them had the problem, not all, and it was only in a certain age - just like my birds! After they grew up, no sights of any problem!

The uncontrollable backrunning could be caused by the following reasons:
1) Genetical issues. As a starter, he might have bought eggs that are not from genetically good hens/roosters.
2) Problems in incubating, when not much experience.
3) If the eggs get too cold before incubating (for example, last May we had minus degrees one night!!) it might do damage in the egg at some level.

So without testing, I can't know if the problem is genetical.
I will not use the birds for breeding.

 

[Machi]

Jikken Dobutsu. 1988 Apr;37(2):137-44.
Back-drawer: a behavioral mutant in Japanese quail.
Tsudzuki M1, Wakasugi N.
Author information
Abstract
The behavioral mutant "back-drawer" of Japanese quail is characterized by crouching and back-drawing action with the neck bending ventrally and occasional forward rolling. The abnormal behavior appears from hatching to 8 weeks of age. Back-drawers were classified into three types: (1) those showing the abnormality at hatching and dies within 5 days; (2) those showing the abnormality after 2 weeks of age and dies shortly thereafter; and (3) long survivors suffering from abnormal behavior, and showing gradual recovery. Back-drawer males are infertile when showing the abnormality, but can produce progeny after recovery. In contrast, the females tend to have a short life span and lack reproductive ability. Genetic analyses have indicated that this mutant character is controlled by 2 pairs of autosomal recessive genes.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/3396630

 

[dc3085]

If this is what your quail are suffering from its a recessive trait so the breeder who sold you your birds is selling these to everyone else. You may want to alert the breeder if you havent.