Urgent help needed please!!! unwell quails!!!

[Birds1243]

My male coturnix quail seems to be unwell. He isn't his normal self. Has a sad face on too. He has slight redness under his eye/above nose. He keeps itching that red area and his body too. Cries sometimes as well. Has lost a slight bit of weight but not significant . Eyes seems to be swollen. He just seems upset too (recently lost his best friend quail . I have given VetRX to him. and energy powder into their water. feathered are not ruffled up which is good. walking, running, cleaning, bathing as normal
One of the females is also looking unwell. she seems quite sleepy and hasn't laid any eggs yet (the other female has, day 6 now). Heat/light lamp provided. She also seems quiet. On the 11th of Jan she weighed 275g. on the 20th of Jan she weighed 350g and still is 350g. 3rd quail (other female) seems fine, no issues, laying eggs. would appreciate a lot of help/advise please. I want to help them recover quickly in case it escalates. @Nabiki @007Sean
Pictures of eyes is the male (paragraph 1). picture of quail sleeping is the female

 

[Nabiki]

I would start by separating your sick birds out in case they have anything contagious. Is a vet an option to run tests for the common diseases?

Keep the sick ones warm and in a dim enclosure if you can. If you have some Nutri-Drench, I would give them some in their water to help them keep their energy up to help fight off whatever this may be.

It sounds like your birds are young. How old are they? What are you feeding them?

 

[Birds1243]

I would start by separating your sick birds out in case they have anything contagious. Is a vet an option to run tests for the common diseases?

Keep the sick ones warm and in a dim enclosure if you can. If you have some Nutri-Drench, I would give them some in their water to help them keep their energy up to help fight off whatever this may be.

It sounds like your birds are young. How old are they? What are you feeding them?

Will do. No vet here for birds sadly, no one qualified. What other things are similar to Nutri-Drench as I cannot find it here (UK). The females are now around 7 months and male is similar but I don't know exact. eating layers pellets

 

[Birds1243]

Any ideas why the female isn't laying? and what the redness around the male's eye could be?

I would start by separating your sick birds out in case they have anything contagious. Is a vet an option to run tests for the common diseases?

Keep the sick ones warm and in a dim enclosure if you can. If you have some Nutri-Drench, I would give them some in their water to help them keep their energy up to help fight off whatever this may be.

It sounds like your birds are young. How old are they? What are you feeding them?

 

[Nabiki]

I'm not sure about the disease. I have been fortunate enough to have never had to deal with it. @007Sean might have some ideas there.

This might be malnutrition, however. Quail need more protein than chickens and have a few other differences. If you can find a game bird crumble and give them calcium on the side, it may help.

How much light are your girls getting? As a general rule, they need at least 14 hours of light per day to lay, and since the UK is pretty far north, your days are not long enough for them to lay. There are exceptions, for example I have about 3 hens that continue to lay all winter even without extra light.

 

[Birds1243]

I'm not sure about the disease. I have been fortunate enough to have never had to deal with it. @007Sean might have some ideas there.

This might be malnutrition, however. Quail need more protein than chickens and have a few other differences. If you can find a game bird crumble and give them calcium on the side, it may help.

How much light are your girls getting? As a general rule, they need at least 14 hours of light per day to lay, and since the UK is pretty far north, your days are not long enough for them to lay. There are exceptions, for example I have about 3 hens that continue to lay all winter even without extra light.

Do you think it is a disease or maybe just vitamin etc deficiency? I do add grit for calcium into their food. Yes sadly no sun here so I bought them a heat/light lamp for winter. I turn it on when they wake up around 5am and switch off around 6/7pm.

 

[Nabiki]

Grit is not the same as calcium. You can add calcium to their diet by crushing up egg shells or you can buy oyster shell and crush it into quail sized pieces.

If you have been feeding them chicken feed since they were chicks, I will say it is most likely malnutrition and that you've been lucky that they haven't fallen ill before this.

Keep us posted on how they're doing. I'm not sure what would be the equivalent of Nutri-Drench in the UK, but here is the ingredient list for reference.

Ingredients:propylene glycol, molasses products, calcium carbonate, choline chloride, DL-methionine, l-lysine, Vitamin E supplement, Vitamin A supplement, Vitamin D-3 supplement, thiamine mononitrate, niacin, zinc sulfate, ethylenediamine dihydroiodide, magnesium sulfate, manganese sulfate, iron sulfate, copper sulfate, sodium selenite, cobalt sulfate.

 

[Birds1243]

Grit is not the same as calcium. You can add calcium to their diet by crushing up egg shells or you can buy oyster shell and crush it into quail sized pieces.

If you have been feeding them chicken feed since they were chicks, I will say it is most likely malnutrition and that you've been lucky that they haven't fallen ill before this.

Keep us posted on how they're doing. I'm not sure what would be the equivalent of Nutri-Drench in the UK, but here is the ingredient list for reference.

Ingredients:propylene glycol, molasses products, calcium carbonate, choline chloride, DL-methionine, l-lysine, Vitamin E supplement, Vitamin A supplement, Vitamin D-3 supplement, thiamine mononitrate, niacin, zinc sulfate, ethylenediamine dihydroiodide, magnesium sulfate, manganese sulfate, iron sulfate, copper sulfate, sodium selenite, cobalt sulfate.

Ahhh right. I can’t believe I’ve not realised. Will crush up egg shells. The person I had bought the quails from had been feeding them layers pellets and I thought that would be good for them. He said that was good for laying bird especially. I will keep you updated hopefully the best of news. Thanks for the help. Much appreciated!

 

[Nabiki]

I hope your birds get better soon!

 

[007Sean]

I agree with @Nabiki , I'd increase their protein, calcium, and other minerals and vitamins per a better feed. Chicken feed/pellets do not contain the right portions of those minerals or vitamins and the protein in all chicken feed is too low for gamebirds.