Sick Quail

[laurab]

Yesterday morning I discovered one of my hen quails dead. In the evening I checked on the birds and discovered my other hen all ruffled up, her feathers looked terrible and her breathing very laboured, her head rose and fell with each gasp. I felt she would go very soon.

I could not just give up on her so I took her out and put her in a small cage with an infared lamp shining on her.

This morning, with great trepidation, I walked towards the birdroom and was pleasantly surprised to find her alive and wandering around the cage, I could not believe she had pulled through.

What could have caused this mysterious illness?

[PAUL HEARN]

Hello Laura,

I know we spoke on the phone on this subject, but I feel that I should also post my views on the Forum.

First of all well done with helping the second Quail pull through! :D

I believe that there are many possible causes that are far from obvious as to the cause of the death of one Quail & short term illness of the other, but my main idea for the cause leans toward Mice.
I must point out to other members that under no circumstances am I saying Lauras Husbandry at fault here, as much as we try to keep our Birds safe from Mice the little blighters always manage to gain entry!
As you know when a Mouse is on the move it constantly dribbles Urine, as it is walking over seed or any other food that is on the floor it is contaminating it. I believe the first Quail was unfortunate in ingesting more contaminated food than the second, but with your actions you helped save the second.
As well as the traps you intend on using on the outside of the Aviary shelter, I also suggest you try to Mouseproof the outer panels of the Aviary from the floor upwards to about 1ft with perspex of any other material a Mouse isn't able to grip to climb.

All the best, Paul. :wink:

[laurab]

Thanks Paul, sounds like a job for Roger :lol:

[chris]

sad to hear about your quail, i haven't had this problem, however i did lose a chick earlier on cos one of those lil blighters got into my aviary and attacked it (mice :evil: ). i did lose a canary on monday, who seemed a bit "off" with her tail down the day before, she had done this before so i thought she would be fine in a few days (aren't making that mistake again..). just a thought on the mice control, if you shut your birds in at night have you tried placing the mouse traps inside the avairy overnight to kill the lil buggers, just something i'm going to try as i think mice could have been down to my canaries mystery illness.

hope this doesn't happen again for either of us :roll:

[laurab]

Hi Chris, welcome back

my set up is a little strange, the birds concerned are in an indoor flight. I also have hardier birds in my main outdoor flight, plus I have a bird room.

I am a bit worried about my outdoor flight, although covered and has a 750watt oil filled rad, I fear we are heading for a very cold winter.

Laura

[chris]

i had noticed that my quail all huddle together in the corner of their cage on a night, and in the avairy during cold days. i think this is what they do in winter in the wild as i have read about at least one species of quail that flock together for warmth.. can't think which species but maybe our cpq's are the same.

got a kinda strange idea that may work for your outdoor birds:

what about a wooden outdoor pen, with a infa red buld as a heat source. should work like a brooder, hopefully the quail will go inside it to keep warm, and the wooden structure should help retain some of the heat :D, you could probably use a similar idea for your indoor avairy if needed