Sick or injured quail

[flg8r]

One of my females does not look good. She's sitting very still with her head hanging down, her beak touching the ground and her head twitching occasionally. She doesn't hardly move but if she gets scared she will flail around, run into walls and then flop down. I separated her and gave her water. I didn't check them yesterday (long work day) but she was fine Monday night. She is missing a few neck feathers but it just warmed up here and the boys are frisky. I don't see or feel anything else wrong with her.

Any ideas?

 

[TwoCrows]

She might have boinked her head on the ceiling causing a brain injury. If she is missing some feathers, it is possible she was trying to get away from another bird and hit the ceiling. And acting really unstable and droopy can be some symptoms of a head boinking.

I would separate this bird out. If it is at all cold in your area, get her under some heat. Infra-red bulb preferred. Feed her what ever she will eat. Sick quail do not eat their gamebird food. And sick birds need calories. So hard boiled eggs, saltine crackers, mealworms, warm oatmeal, just anything she will eat. Dip her beak in the water a few times a day. I think if you leave her just as I described for a few days, she will probably make a full recovery.

 

[flg8r]

I think you're right, likely a hard head boinking. I separated her out and gave her water but didn't try to feed her since I was stressing her out and she was thrashing, hurting herself more. She was hopping around this morning like nothing happened and fine with being held and put back in her cage.

Then when I put her back, another girl was all fluffed up and limping badly. She scooted herself into the back corner so I left her alone until I got back and now everyone is fine. I can't even tell who was limping and all feet look fine. These quail are going to give me gray hair.

 

[TwoCrows]

LOL...Make sure you are giving these quail enough space. I like to offer Coturnix quail 2 square feet per bird instead of the 1 foot rule. 1 foot causes too much stress. And things like this head boinking happen if they get aggressive. Cramped quail go after each other. You can also put some fake or real foliage in the pen, propped up in the corner so not only do they have hidy places to get away from each other, but they are less likely to fly straight up. This also gives them a more natural relaxed atmosphere and will not bother each other as much.

Good luck!

 

[flg8r]

They are not overcrowded, I don't think. They're at about 4 birds to 6sf for each section. I think a few of them just spook really easily.

I had another one do the head boinking thing as it was doing the same head shake, sideways walk as the first but by the time I had made my rounds doing water and food and went back to her she was already shaking it off. I'll have to be sure to talk to them from a distance so I don't scare them when I walk up since both must have happened right before I got there. They're usually more calm once they realize it's me and food time.

 

[ThaJuicyJuice]

The females really get abused from the males. There are some roos that consistently mount the females. This could be seen as a poor trait, and it may be time for the frying pan for him. There can also be rival females that frequently peck at each other. I've seen plenty of females literally dripping in blood from these kinds of interactions.

 

[flg8r]

I don't think this has anything to do with male/female interactions. The first female looked completely fine other than not being able to pick her head up and shaking. I never said anything about missing feathers or blood or aggressive males.

I think TwoCrows was correct that it was a head boinking issue. It's scary to see them shaking their head side to side the first time, it kind of looks like a seizure, but once they could shake it they were completely fine.