Sick quail!!! Help please!

[laceylyle]

I went out to check the coop and found her laying on her right side. I took her out and put her in a temp cage to watch her. She can move her head and feet a bit just cannot stand up. She also looks like she is silently screaming, keeps opening and closing her beak but no sounds.

It is hot out, 92 degrees with a light breeze, so I brought her in the house. Tried to give her a drink of water and some food, she pecked at it a little. She peed a few times and pooped once, the feces had little urate and the rest was hard and pebbled.
Not sure what the normal amount of poop is but this glob is about the size of a dime. When she pooped she picked herself up and leaned over to do it. Then kind of fell over again.

All the other birds seem fine. I keep checking on them though to make sure. Did notice that one of the others has some missing feathers on it head. (girl, i think)

Any help is appreciated, thank you.


***We are new to quail so please excuse my ignorance. We have 11 coturnix mixed sex flock all will be 6 weeks old on Saturday. Coop is on the grass, they have construction sand for grit and dust baths. Feed holder and water container cleaned daily.**

 

[da1goth2]

Hi, is it possible that the bird has flown up and hit its head? Someone posted a similar post not too long ago and the cause was a head injury. The gasping had something to do with nerves.

 

[DK newbie]

I don't see any head injuries, but I agree she could have hit her head without getting visible injuries. However, with a hen that's above 5 weeks old and is breathing with her beak open, I'd always consider egg binding as well. Try to feel the area below the vent for anything egg-ish. If that doesn't yield any result, I'd just make sure to feed her as much good stuff (hard boiled eggs + ground up egg shell, probiotics, electrolytes and so on) as possible and make sure to keep her comfortable.

 

[Robert C R]

I had a similar issue. I bet you are feeding pellets. Mine where getting the pellets whole in their stomach and then when they doing the pellets become swollen. Similar to issues with feeding them rice. I have stopped feeding the pellets and had no issues since. I use wild game purina chow 30% protein crumble. They love it and no issues. Seems they are gasping on pellets and it can according to my vet kill them.

 

[laceylyle]

We have this crumble from the feed store.

 

[laceylyle]

I didn't feel anything in the vent area. Can they eat chicken eggs? Could I grind up their feed, mix it with water and feed with a syringe?

 

[DK newbie]

Chicken eggs are fine. I guess you can grind the feed and mix it with water, if the problem is that it swells up, yes.

 

[Robert C R]

That's the same crumble I use now. Is the bird still doing it? Try using a small syringe and giving her water. And do the egg with she'll in her food for a few days. Make sure it is blended well. Has she eaten anything other than the crumble? Grass? Salad? Anything you can think of?

 

[laceylyle]

I'm sure she ate some grass or at least pecked at it because the coop sits on the ground. I have been giving her water with a syringe and last night I did grind up some of the crumble to make a paste and fed it to her with the syringe. It seems to really piss her off because she thrashes around. I also gave her some tiny bites of boiled egg, again she was not happy about this. Here is a video of her eating with the syringe. Should we be force feeding her? Is it hurting her?

 

[laceylyle]

I guess what I really want to know is will she ever be able to walk again and rejoin her flock or should we put her down.