Watery Coturnix Poop

[takeo808]

Can someone please help me with this problem. I have one coturnix that appears to be tibetan-colored and two regular brown-colored. The tibetan has no problems and actually laid a double-yolker the other day. The two brown (pharaoh) one have some wet, wet poops. I don't know what the problem is. I feed them the same. No change. I tried to segregate them. No change. I don't know what to do. They drink SO much water and make such watery, wet, poop. I still see some regular poop (formed kind), but whereas the poop tray under the tibetan is normal, the poop tray under the pharaohs is super wet -- the wood is soaked. The poop is so wet that it soaks through the pine shavings. I tried to switch to pine pellets. HUGE mistake. the pellets swelled so much due to their extremely wet poops that I can pull the trays out without spilling a large amount of the swelled pellets. I've heard of hyperuria (sp?), but never about what causes it or what to do to cure it.

Is there something wrong with my coturnix(es)? I get eggs almost daily from all three. None of them appear to be in distress. They all appear to be healthy.

Any comments, questions, or answers would be greatly apprecitated. Thank you.

 

[TwoCrows]

Watery poop can come from several things. Being over heated, not eating enough, some intestinal bacteria or worms. If they have not been wormed recently, do so....watery poop is usually the first sign. If that does not clear it up, it is possible you need to treat them with antibacterial medications. Start with the worming first.

 

[takeo808]

Would I be able to see the worms in the poop? Worms has crossed my mind as a possible reason for the watery poop. Are the eggs still safe to eat, if the quails have worms? When I am worming them, do I have to stop eating the eggs? What do you use to worm the quail? I have had all three quail together and I am almost positive that it is only one of the quail that is making the watery poop. Would all have the worms if one was infected/infested? Or can only one have the worms?

So many question....sorry.....but, since I'm asking....how do you make sure your game bird starter is not medicated? I bought Purina Game Bird Startena. I ordered the unmedicated one, but it does not SAY "unmedicated" on the bag. I have looked at the label, but I don't remember what the medication is called so I really don't know what to look for. The bag does not say "medicated", but does this necessarily mean "unmedicated"?

 

[TwoCrows]

You would not be able to see the worms with the naked eye in the poop unless you were dealing with tape worms. The most common of intestinal worm is the round worm, which nearly every outdoor bird on the planet has. They are only visible under a microscope, but they cause all sorts of havoc on your birds and will eventually kill your quail by sucking the life right out of them. Your birds need to be wormed once or twice a year depending on the quails environment. The eggs from a quail with worms is safe to eat. But not during the worming process or for a period after the worming as the medication gets into every cell in the quails body. So you would want to wait until it has been all expelled from the quail.

Every quail's environment is different, so different worms will affect quail in different situations. I only worm my quail for round worms, which a product called Wazine will take care of. One ounce in a gallon of water for one full day. It paralyzes the worms and they are pooped out by the quail. If you think they are really loaded with all sorts of other worms, you can use Safegard liquid goat wormer in the feed, which will take care of the rest of the worms. I worm my birds once or twice a year, depending on how they look and poop consistancy. With Wazine, there is a 14 day egg with drawal. It is always advised to redose them after 10 days from the first worming to take care of the eggs that will hatch that do not get expelled in the poop. If one quail has worms, they all do.

As far as medicated feed...I do not purchase that product so I do not know much about where you might find out if it is medicated other than the tag on the bag. The ingredient you are looking for is "Amprolium". That is the medication added. If you are not eating the eggs or the quail eating this medicated feed, it will not hurt them to feed it.

 

[takeo808]

Thanks for all the help. What are the other signs/symptoms of the worms? When you worm your birds, is it preventative or because they are displays some kind of indication of worms?I just want to make sure because I don't want to medicate the birds if I don't have to. The quails are raised on wire. Would all the birds become infested if one bird has it? Only one of the three has watery poop.

 

[TwoCrows]

Even when kept on wire, quail have worms. If you really want to know if they have worms or not, you can take a fecal sample into your vet for testing. They can tell you if they have worms or not and what type they have.

Over time, worms will drain the bird of weight, vitality, over all health and eventually kill the bird. Worms eat the food the quail ingest.

If they are not suffering from worms, your quail could have some intestinal bacteria to which you might need antibiotics. Adding some probitiotics to the water might also help replentish the good bacteria in the gut and possibly help with the watery poop.

 

[takeo808]

Probiotics like in yogurt? Can I just give them yogurt, or do I have to buy something and put it in the water?

 

[TwoCrows]

I don't know if quail will eat yogurt. But you can use human grade probiotics. Just open a capsule and dump it in a quart of water. Or you can buy "Probios" on amazon, made just for animals and poultry. Many supplements for poultry have probiotics in them.