Sick Quail? Help?

[WinterRoseFarm]

I have about 40 coturnix quail and in the past 2 weeks I've lost 5 of them. Individuals seem to maybe have a cold? They make a weird little noise sort of like coughing or sneezing and some seem to have fluid around the mouth. I just gave them some Ornacyn-plus (erythromycin + vitamins) because it's the only thing I could find and is an antibiotic for respiratory illness in birds. One that died last night had a sort of bubble of liquid pooled in his neck.... I'm thinking pneumonia? Update: I just found another one with a sort of bubble on the neck over one shoulder, seems to be filled with fluid.

The quail are inside so not in a draft and they don't get rained on. I have a light in each cage to add light and warmth; maybe I should put the heat bulb back in? I totally clean out their cage once a week and spray with a disinfectant and spot clean all week. I wash their dishes in water with bleach and once a week I also spray those with disinfectant. I'm removing any that seem to be sick to a separate cage as well. I also add a power to fight parasites to their food once a week. I can't think of anything more to do to keep them healthy.

Any advice would be most welcome,
Nancy

PS: I see some put a small bit of bleach in the drinking water and wonder if any of you do that for quail; where I read it was for chickens. I also notice that most of the medications say 'not for egg producing birds' soooooooooo.... can I never eat the eggs again? just not while being treated?

Update: After doing a lot of research I think they may have Quail Bronchitis which is not good. I'm inspecting each bird and putting those I believe are infected into a different pen with an extra heat lamp and medicated water. I hope they don't all die... seems the death rate is high with this disease : ( .... well now I don't know because it says only bobwhites get this but all the symptoms match.. the search continues....

Sulmet? I see a lot of ppl recommending Sulmet but it says not to give to birds that produce eggs for human consumption... I eat and sell the quail eggs so that would be a problem. Any advice on that? I did find 10 days for sulmet on another thread here... so I'm wondering about the bottle saying NOT to use it for egg producers but others saying you can eat the eggs 10 days after they stop taking the medication. Is that the company just covering their behinds?

I've been searching everywhere and can find very little info on when various medications leave the body so that eggs can be consumed. Specifically for erythromycin but for others in general. I called the manufacturer of Ornacyn and they would not tell me anything about egg consumption after taking this medication. He did 'hint' at it being 12 days.

 

[WinterRoseFarm]

There were no new deaths overnight so I'm hopeful. I'm keeping the quail I think are sick in a different cage and continuing to give them antibiotics. They seem pretty chipper this morning. I've been scouring these forums and the internet about this and have really learned a lot so those little deaths have made me a better quail keeper.

I will be adding the ACV treatment to my daily watering routine. I wonder if a stickied thread about various medications/treatments and the length of time one has to wait to consume meat and eggs after medication stops might not be a good idea for this forum?

Nan

 

[Livi]

What might help regarding when you may eat your egg again is to find the name if the active ingredient in your medicine and then search "name" + "withdrawal" or "egg".

Or more easily, call your vet and ask

Hooe the rest of your quails survives now!

 

[WinterRoseFarm]

Thanks. Looks like one more may die she's looking pretty bad at the moment but you never know.

 

[TwoCrows]

When poultry have what you think is a cold, generally it is MG, Mycoplasma Gallisepticum or CRD, Chronic Respiratory Disease. Both are difficult to treat and unless you use a very potent antibiotic like Baytril for long term, you will never get rid of it. Many flock owners cull everybody and start over at that point for this reason. You would also need to THOROUGHLY disinfect everything these quail have come into contact with. Any quail that do survive will be carriers for the rest of their lives.

 

[WinterRoseFarm]

Haven't had any deaths since last Friday so I'm hopeful that this has passed. The 5 I put in another cage seem perky and fine and today is the last of the 5 days of antibiotic. I don't have the others on medication and they all seem fine so far. I'm going to keep the 5 separated for another week and see how things go.

 

[bfrancis]

When poultry have what you think is a cold, generally it is MG, Mycoplasma Gallisepticum or CRD, Chronic Respiratory Disease. Both are difficult to treat and unless you use a very potent antibiotic like Baytril for long term, you will never get rid of it. Many flock owners cull everybody and start over at that point for this reason. You would also need to THOROUGHLY disinfect everything these quail have come into contact with. Any quail that do survive will be carriers for the rest of their lives.

L, I think it's MG as well, from the description of fluid from the mouth..snorting, sneezing, etc. That is one that is not curable. They might stop showing symptoms, but will always be carriers and transmitters. MG is a very bad, contagious disease. Two choices as I see it...one cull everything and start over; disinfect like no tomorrow, wait 7 days and disinfect again. Two, if you don't have the heart to cull, segregate from every other bird you have and NEVER incubate the eggs (MG can pass into the eggs and embryos too)

"How did they get that?" you ask. Several ways, infected bird(s) that you brought in. Unsanitary living space, especially poop build up where they have to walk in it or breathe in the decomposing fecal matter that destroys lung membranes and allows vectors for transmission. Wild bird poop, ingested..the list continues.

Hope we're wrong, but do the research, google the med terms...good luck!

 

[De Wet]

I have a female bobwhite quail when I pick her up their came some fluid out of her mouth can this also be a cold? I did inject her with tylo 200 today will see how she goes tommorow

 

[TwoCrows]

Picking her up and fluid coming out of the mouth would be fluid in the crop. Tylan is useless in this case and will only make things worse. She has either eaten something that has slowed up the works, she has a yeast infection in her crop, or she has something else going on that the crop issue is a secondary thing to. She may even be egg bound and is stopping her intestines up.

I would separate her out from the others and take away all food for a day. Make sure she has plenty of clean water to drink. If she is all fluffed up and looks sick, get her under a heat lamp. First, check her vent area to see if an egg is at or near the vent and maybe stuck. Feel up the abdomen to her hips, (on the outside of her body) and see if you feel an egg. After 24 hours, feel her crop area and see if it is still bulging. If it is, you might lean her forward a bit and give her a tiny squeeze to see if you can get more fluid out of her. Only hold her like this for a few seconds. Offer her up only soft, water soluble foods for the day. Things like hard boiled eggs, mashed potatoes or even wet gamebird food. Nothing that needs to be ground up by the gizzard. If the crop is empty, you can get her back on food.

If by chance she is egg bound, soak her lower half in warm water for about 15 mins and see if she will expel the egg.

 

[De Wet]

Picking her up and fluid coming out of the mouth would be fluid in the crop. Tylan is useless in this case and will only make things worse. She has either eaten something that has slowed up the works, she has a yeast infection in her crop, or she has something else going on that the crop issue is a secondary thing to. She may even be egg bound and is stopping her intestines up.

I would separate her out from the others and take away all food for a day. Make sure she has plenty of clean water to drink. If she is all fluffed up and looks sick, get her under a heat lamp. First, check her vent area to see if an egg is at or near the vent and maybe stuck. Feel up the abdomen to her hips, (on the outside of her body) and see if you feel an egg. After 24 hours, feel her crop area and see if it is still bulging. If it is, you might lean her forward a bit and give her a tiny squeeze to see if you can get more fluid out of her. Only hold her like this for a few seconds. Offer her up only soft, water soluble foods for the day. Things like hard boiled eggs, mashed potatoes or even wet gamebird food. Nothing that needs to be ground up by the gizzard. If the crop is empty, you can get her back on food.

If by chance she is egg bound, soak her lower half in warm water for about 15 mins and see if she will expel the egg.

thanks for the advise sir what is interesting I have a ringneck male a month ago with the same symtoms If I pick him up the fluid was coming but I will follow your advice and to all this step by step