Why did my quail die??

[SeptemberQuail]

The day before yesterday, one of my quail hens looked a little unwell. She'd sit in a corner and look like she's trying to lay an egg. She never did lay an egg. I assumed she was eggbound so I checked by feeling the area just above her vent, there was nothing, what did concern me was that she pooped out this white, milky stuff, nothing solid, just a liquid.

The next day, she began to close her eyes more often, again looking like she was trying to lay an egg but there was nothing. I picked her up and noticed something; she lost weight. When I got,her, she was the heaviest out of the trio, but she felt as if she weighed the same as my 4wk old chicks, and she's 9 months old. When I let her down, normally she would leap off my hand, but she only weakly walked off...

She died today... I was horrified. She was my first (as well as my other two) She was gentle, and friendly. I'll miss her so much...

I checked her vent, no mites. Checked her eyes, healthy, no nasal discharge, but her belly had a weird shape. Instead of having a nice curve, it was more like a curve with a dip on the middle.

I do not know if she was wormed but would pumpkin seeds work?

Now her mate keeps calling for her.. And her friend will have to suffer from being mated and bald...

thanks in advance.

 

[TwoCrows]

Worms tend to be the main culprit to a bird wasting away, however many internal diseases of the organs can also cause birds to lose weight. The only way to truly know what this quail died of is to have a necropsy done on her.

But all this being said, it is always advisable to keep your quail wormed on a regular basis. Pumpkin can help deworm poultry, however it needs to be fed continuously to work and will not take care of big infestations. Chemical wormers are your best bet.

I am so sorry for your loss.

 

[sydney quailman]

sorry to hear about your lose. are you in sydney? if so, happy to give you a free female. cheers sam

also twocrowsranch how often should quails be wormed? what should be used?

thanks sam

 

[TwoCrows]

Hi Sam, quail need to be wormed at least once if not twice a year, depending on your environment. Intestinal worms, especially the Round Worm are the most common of worms and literally suck the life out of the bird, eating the food that the bird consumes. Hence, all the weight loss. So the bird slowly dies of starvation.

There are many wormers out there and depending on what type of worms you are dealing with, you can use any of these for worms. In my flocks, the Round Worm is the most common and so I use Wazine. But the brand name Safeguard, which is also used on horses, goats and the like, is an all around good wormer that is easily found on most feed store shelves and is effective against most worms.

 

[SeptemberQuail]

Thank you both for the replies. I appreciate the comments.
Today another quail died, it was a chick this time. She was the weaker one out of the chicks, and recently her leg problem had gotten worse, giving her trouble and making her lose her balance every few minutes, I always had to push her back up onto her feet. I guess with that and her weak immune system, she passed away. I hate losing something special and hope that it'll never happen for a long time....

I guess Pepper might of had worms for a while and the symptoms only just started to show up recently... (She was a fat quail, so maybe her body absorbed some of that?)

@Sydney QuailMan,

I really do appreciate your offer very much, but Sydney is a 3 hour drive, so it's a little far. But thank you for your kind offer.

@Twocrowsranch

I've also heard of using garlic/onion (one of them) as a wormer, have you done it before? I might go for a pumpkin seed route (any idea how much/often I should give it to them?) until I can find a feed store that sells wazine. They sell Wazine online for only $6, but that's in America....
Sorry for flooding you with questions.

 

[TwoCrows]

Natural worm remedies, such as garlic and pumpkin can ward off worms, but it will not take care of infestation. After you chemically wormed them, using these natural products is an excellent idea.

As for wormers, you might want to PM Sydney QuailMan....a little bird told me that he has a line on a good wormer that you can get in your area.

 

[sydney quailman]

what area are you in nsw?

wormer i used today pic attached .


cheers sam

 

[SeptemberQuail]

I'm in an area in an area in NSW, as in Canberra.
Do you know any stores that sell wormers here?

 

[sydney quailman]

sorry i dont know,

look on web site enfieldproduce.com.au as they mail orders out, try that.

 

[SeptemberQuail]

@SydneyQuailMan,

I managed to track down a poultry wormer at my local feedstore. Seems as if they only recently restocked and finally displayed on their website.
Around $15 AUD, not that bad of a price.
Anywho,

It's called "Vetsense - Kilverm - Pig and Poultry Wormer - 125ml bottle"
It's a pig AND poultry wormer.
[FONT=Trebuchet MS, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]And is supposed to protect poultry from: Large roundworms, caecal worm and the hair worm.[/FONT]

[FONT=Trebuchet MS, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]I'm just wondering, according to the instructions, I must
"[/FONT]For the treatment of the 3 worms mentioned above dilute 100ml Kilverm in 2 litres of water. If treating Large roundworm only, dilute 100ml Kilverm with 3 litres of water."

But amongst the 12 of them, my quail don't drink THAT much water, plus I believe this is the amount for CHICKENS, so would quail need less?
Thanks!