What's wrong with my quail???? Please help me!

bigredshaverhen · Jan 17, 2015

Hello, there is something seriously wrong with my one year old cournix quail, pip, I went outside this morning to check on a pregnant rabbit and found pip sitting in her cage with her beak through her cage bars, thinking she was asleep, I tried to grab her but she leapt away and started rolling and thrashing around her cage. I took her inside, which is where she is now, and was holding her when she suddenly stretched her mech out and put her head back, and stretched her legs out behind her. She is very cold and skinny compared with the plump lively bird she was yesterday. What is wrong with her? Is there any way for me to help?

bigredshaverhen · Jan 17, 2015

TwoCrows · Jan 17, 2015

I am sorry about your baby. If she is cold you will want to get her under a heat lamp. Somewhere about 75 to 85 degrees. You can tell if she is cold in that she will be fluffed up and her feet will be cold.

Can she walk? If she is having trouble walking she may have boinked her head on the ceiling. This can cause some brain swelling or spinal cord damage. Generally there isn't much you can do for a boink but keep her under heat, and you may need to dip her beak in the water every few hours so she can stay hydrated. If she can't walk to the water, she will need help. Same with food. Many times injured birds stop eating their gamebird food. So feed her what ever she will eat until she heals. Hard boiled eggs are good emergency food for birds and they can live on the exclusively for long periods of time. Loaded with all the building blocks of life.

If she is can walk but seems to be straining or in pain, she could be egg bound. You can put on a latex glove and some KY-Jelly on your pinky finger and gently insert your pinky into her vent straight back. If she has a stuck egg, you will feel it within the first inch. If she is egg bound, soak her lower half in warm water in your bathroom sink for 10 to 15 mins. Generally the warm water allows them to pass the egg.

If she is not egg bound and can walk, being so thin she could have coccidiosis or even worms. I doubt worms at her age, but it is possible. Cocci will cause them to go off their feed and water and will cause her to become thin, cold and lethargic. She will have diarrhea and sometimes blood in the stool as well. If this is the case get her on some Corid or something with Amprolium in it. You can get this stuff at the feed store. It is put in the water for 5 to 7 days. Follow the dosages on the bottle.

bigredshaverhen · Jan 17, 2015

She can only breath and move her wings! Her legs are paralyzed!!! What do I do???

TwoCrows · Jan 17, 2015

Sounds like she boinked her head. Keep her very warm. Bring her inside the house and get a heat lamp on her immediately. A temp of about 80 or so degrees. Put a thermometer on the floor next to her so you know the temp. Try to use a red bulb so she can sleep properly. White doesn't allow for sleep.

There isn't much you can do to heal her so all you CAN do is keep her fed and drinking water. Will she eat any hard boiled eggs? Mealworrms? A quartered Apple? Pick her up and dip her beak in the water once an hour or so.

Oh, and you can put some apple cider vinegar in her water. ACV helps with inflammation and circulation which will help her heal faster. 3/4 teaspoon ACV per quart of water. Plastic waterer only. Change and make a new batch every day. Keep dipping her beak in this every hour or every other hour or so during the day only.

Keep her warm and fed. If you feed hard boiled egg, clean up what she doesn't eat so it doesn't grow bacteria.

Head boinks can take a week to heal. And sometimes they don't make it. Just keep her warm, eating and hydrated.

Keep us posted!! I sure hope she pulls through.