sick quail please help

[debbie1985]

Hi i have been breeding Japanese quail for a while now but recently have suffered a number of fatalitys. I've been going in the aviery to find a number of birds dead. Previously they all seem to be in good health happy eating and drinking as normal then by morning they are dead, i found two who were barly alive there heads laying to one side not being able to hold themselves up i took them inside gave them drink but they were to far gone and passed away shortly after. I have lost over 10birds now ranging from 4weeks upward in age and am at a lost as to what i can do as there is no obvious signs of what is wrong, we inspected the bodys but found no injury marks anywhere so dont think its due to fighting as we have never witnessed this while observing the birds. If anyone can shead some light on this problem for me id be most greatfull as where i live we dont have a decent poultry vet and they seem to be dying to quick for me to take them.

 

[J-Sanders]

Sorry, you have some form of infectious disease moving through your flock. I am not very knowledgeable on quail diseases so I cannot help much with the diagnosis and tx of your birds. Some will survive usually and they will have resistance to the infection but also may be carriers of the infection. If you are having rapid onset then death it would seem to indicate a viral infection but could be a strain of bacteria that produces toxins.

If you don't have a vet then your best bet would be to bag a dead bird and send it off to the state lab and have a post mortem pathology done on it to determine what caused it.

Jim

 

[debbie1985]

Thank you I was thinking it was some sort of infection thankfully the deaths have stopped for now so im hoping that is the end of it as everything has been scrubbed down and cleaned inside out. Do you know how i contact this state lab as id like to know what it was for future referance?

Cheers
Debbie

 

[J-Sanders]

Call your local extension agent and they will have the number for you and may even be able to provide you with the procedure to submit a bird for pathology.

Glad it has stopped. Make sure you leave no traces of the old flock in your pens after they have been harvested. Sometimes you will get recurrent infection from trace amounts of fecal matter and such. There is a very good disinfectant called DC&R about 23 dollars per gallon. Follow the directions exactly. I use it after the soap and bleach scrubdown and hose off while the surfaces are still wet. Let it sit for seven days before introducing any new birds into the pen.

Jim