Rescued Quail chick - severly malnourished

[DK newbie]

Oww Sounds like he has some kind of skin infection? Poor little guy. Wonder what it is.. No discharge from the skin?

 

[nchls school]

New symptom - stinky, flaky skin. And I mean SMELLY. Its feathers are dull and crusty. The vet it's been seeing isn't in today, and the only other avian vet I could find reccomended a 3rd vet who can't see us till tommorrow and charges $75 for an exam, which is more than any of the other places we've spoken to... I don't know how much more of this I can honestly afford.

Some times, the kindest thing to do, is end the suffering.

 

[TeePants]

Oww Sounds like he has some kind of skin infection? Poor little guy. Wonder what it is.. No discharge from the skin?

No discharge from the skin, I think it might just be from lack of grooming. I gave him a dust bath and he smells 100% better and his skin looks much better too - I used some pumice based chinchilla bath stuff.

Some times, the kindest thing to do, is end the suffering.

I am worried that this will end up being the case, but he's still eating, with a pretty decent amount of enthusiasm. I made him a new batch of food, this time with kale and oatmeal added into the boiled egg/gamebird mix, and he really likes it. We're going to get a second opinion on him tomorrow I think and go from there. I hope he can pull through. None of the vets I spoke to think it's Marek's, they are still sure it's a vitamin deficiency of some kind or possibly a genetic issue (actually, vitamin deficiences can be genetic I think?).

 

[TeePants]

Saw second vet. His temps are normal, skin is reasonable (the dust bathing is really helping, and she wants me to continue), heartbeat and lungs sound great. He's also put on a good amount of weight (he's gained 1/4 the weight he was last week). She agreed that he was extremely energetic and alert. She suspects the joint swelling is mycoplasma synoviae, and has put him on Tylan and a pain med/anti inflamatory. She doesn't suspect any broken bones, and suggested a corrective harness to prevent his legs from coming in uneven or short due to sitting on his hocks for extended periods.

She thinks in spite of everything he's been through he might still make it since he's very active (he preens, glares at us/watches us when we talk, attempts to flap and get around) but wants an update Friday AM- if he hasn't responded to the Tylan the only other thing she could think of would be localized staph infections, but the TMS is a broad spectrum antibiotic and is effective against staph infections so that likely eliminates it.

Oh, and he is definitely a HE. She was able to vent sex him during the temperature-taking part of the exam, poor little dude.

Here's some photos of him in his corrective sling, watching videos of quail (mostly for the sounds, I don't think poultry can make out what's on the screen? not sure)

http://imgur.com/a/1mcP6

 

[DK newbie]

Lol! He's a spoiled quail for sure! He looks really cute, sitting there watching TV, food and water right in front of him and a blanket on top ^^
Sounds good that he's gaining weight. And it also sounds like the vet knew what she was doing. Good job keeping him alive and kicking this long. I'm worried that he won't be able to walk, but I'm rooting for him

 

[nchls school]

Saw second vet. His temps are normal, skin is reasonable (the dust bathing is really helping, and she wants me to continue), heartbeat and lungs sound great. He's also put on a good amount of weight (he's gained 1/4 the weight he was last week). She agreed that he was extremely energetic and alert. She suspects the joint swelling is mycoplasma synoviae, and has put him on Tylan and a pain med/anti inflamatory. She doesn't suspect any broken bones, and suggested a corrective harness to prevent his legs from coming in uneven or short due to sitting on his hocks for extended periods.

She thinks in spite of everything he's been through he might still make it since he's very active (he preens, glares at us/watches us when we talk, attempts to flap and get around) but wants an update Friday AM- if he hasn't responded to the Tylan the only other thing she could think of would be localized staph infections, but the TMS is a broad spectrum antibiotic and is effective against staph infections so that likely eliminates it.

Oh, and he is definitely a HE. She was able to vent sex him during the temperature-taking part of the exam, poor little dude.

Here's some photos of him in his corrective sling, watching videos of quail (mostly for the sounds, I don't think poultry can make out what's on the screen? not sure)

http://imgur.com/a/1mcP6

Glad to read there's improvement. Has he started to crow yet? If not, you'll know he's really getting better when he does? Any thoughts as to what you'll do with him when his health returns? Quail do best in pairs...

 

[TeePants]

Not sure what to do once he's better. I have read males will overbreed females if they aren't at at least a 4:1 ratio? We are also still not sure yet how much mobility he will have compared to a normal quail. I don't want him to get trampled or picked on.

 

[DK newbie]

There is a thread on here about bobwhites being kept as (single) house pets. And I know it can be done with properly tamed (very much human contact since hatch) buttons as well. So if buttons and bobwhites can do it, I'd say it can be done with a coturnix as well. But I'm unsure whether this guy might be too old to 'bond' properly with people..

 

[TeePants]

Hmmm. Yeah. He seems OK with us, but I don't know if I would call it a bond, lol. We are home all day most days and I try to sit with him, talk to him, and "groom" him so he doesn't feel lonely.

 

[Kherome]

That photo of him watching tv is hilarious! How's he doing now?