Sick quail?

[teamfreewill]

Hello again,

I have a pair of Coturnix Quail, a male and female. Recently the female began losing weight and becoming weak. The male, on the other hand, is perfectly healthy. The pair are housed inside, and I have isolated the female. I've seen her eating and drinking normally. Her feathers are fluffed up and she's lost quite a bit of weight.

I'm very new to quail, so I'm not quite sure what to do at this point.

Advice?

Thanks.

 

[TwoCrows]

Sorry you are having issues. This could be a few things....Coccidiosis, Worms or possibly he is over mating her. How old are these quail?

If he is over mating her, this can literally kill her. So make sure this is not the case. The preferred ratio of male to female coturnix is 1 roo to 5 to 7 hens.

Cocci can cause massive weight loss and dehydration and eventually kills them. The bird tends to sit in the corner all fluffed up and not interested in anything. You will need some Corid or something with Amprolium in it. You can get this at the feed store. Cocci is a protazoa that lives in the intestines and ulcerates the walls of the intestines. Many times you will see blood in the poop.

She could also have worms. Round worms eat all the food that the quail eats and thus starves them to death. If you are or were noticing her eating tons of food in the past but continued to lose weight, worms could be the issue. They can also have a lot of diarrhea with worms. Some Wazine in the water for 24 hours will take care of Round worms.

 

[Sill]

Since they are housed indoors they probably do not have worms.

If she is of egg laying age she may be egg bound. There are some excellent threads here on treating an egg bound hen so search them out.

Yes on getting more hens. One hen to one quail roo will cause the poor hen to be over bred. Get more hens.