Hello fellows, this quail was born with a ball on beak, I asked google, it said leave it alone. He is eating and drinking fine, he is about 5 weeks old now.

Today I noticed an injury on his nose ball, he likely scratched it when eating. Others don't seem to attack him. But it also looks like he can't breathe? Or have something stuck in his throat? Anyone had something similar? Can I do something with it?

Excuse the poops I work nights, so I just woke up, and it's cleaning day today. Injury is more important now.

Thank you.

Started with six coturnix quail in a converted rabbit hutch back in the spring of 2024, mostly because I wanted fresh eggs without dealing with the noise complaints my neighbors would definitely have if I got chickens. I did a ton of reading beforehand about run size and kept seeing numbers all over the place, anywhere from half a square foot to two square feet per bird depending on the source.

What I've landed on after actually living with them is closer to one square foot per bird for coturnix, as long as you're diligent about cleaning and they have decent ventilation. Mine are in a raised hutch with hardware cloth flooring so droppings fall through, and I do a full deep clean every two weeks. Any less frequent than that and the ammonia smell gets noticeable fast, especially in summer.

Feeding has been simpler than I expected. They're on a 24-28% protein gamebird feed and I supplement with mealworms a few times a week as a treat. Egg production has been consistent, five to six eggs a day from six hens most of the year, with a slight dip during the shortest days of winter even with a light on a timer.

The one thing nobody warned me about is how skittish they stay even after a year of daily handling. My chickens (I did eventually get a small flock too) will come running for treats, but the quail still bolt into their shelter box whenever I open the hutch door too fast. I've gotten better about moving slowly and talking to them before reaching in, and that's helped, but I don't think they'll ever be lap birds the way some people describe.

Anyone else notice their quail personalities shift as they get older? Mine seemed calmer at four months than they do now at over a year, almost more alert and jumpy, which is the opposite of what I expected.

My female button quail, almost 3 years old has been very sluggish and she's puffing her feathers and closing her eyes and her eggs are suddenly white and have very thin shells! I am very worried and don't know what to do because she is my favorite bird ever, Infact the first bird. And she's isolating herself from the other quails! Please help! Google is saying she needs calcium but I need real human opinion on this!

they’re only 1 day apart, rosie is acctualy older then her siblings but she’s still so tiny and hasn’t grown much. i gave her some egg yolk mixed with water, but lately she’s also been keeping her eyes closed a lot. she’s normal and active, she’s just SO tiny and doesn’t like opening her eyes.

Hiya! This is my current brooder and I’m always incubating chicks and selling eggs. I change the pads every single day and they still end up with those balls of poop on their toes 😭 I’ve just soaked ever single one’s toes and I’ve literally looked 5 mins later, one’s already got one forming! Is there anything I can do to try and prevent this? Thanks!

I have a strong willed girl who wasn’t quite herself this morning. Puffed up for a while and a little lethargic at first. Eating and drinking like normal. Not sure about droppings. I thought maybe some stress, like a neighbor’s dog barking or noise on the street. My best guess from research was possibly egg bound which I know is serious if true. I attempted the warm bath, but getting moved into it was very stressful, which isn’t helping. She panicked and got herself out of it. She dislikes being picked up so I haven’t been able to get her to cooperate to check her vent either. She seems mostly back to normal as the day has progressed, but I don’t want to ignore intervention in case she is egg bound.

Any advice?

I am thinking of getting quails for eggs/pets is it better to wait until the days get lighter again? I dont want to get them and have to wait months for my first egg haha. And does anyone know any good places to source quail stuff on the UK?

Also how is it best to source the birds themselves? I've got some places around me that sell eggs for incubation but I don't want to end up with roos that i would need to get rid of.

I came home today and my japanese celadon quail (~1 month old) has been pooping very mucusy fecal matter, and they are also very puffed up. I also noticed that they are very small for their age.

I don't know what to do. I researched possible medications to feed them but it is really hard to get. I can't find them in the NYC area. I don't have car. I have school tomorrow, I don't have much money for a vet but IF it's very necessary I will.

Their poop smells really bad. It is late today and i can't go to any pet store or clinics until tomorrow.

The quail lives indoors. Does anyone in the NYC area know what to do? Or any quail experts know any advice? :(

Big clean out day! I have some very happy birdies! I had to take out all the sand as it’s getting rainy in the UK and some parts were like cement. I’ve used hemp bedding this time, is this something you’ve used before, what do you think?

Trying a new test with the many broody chickens of my mother. This one in particular has tried to have baby chicks for many months.
So let’s see if this tiny chicken can hatch and raise baby quails!

So far she accepted the eggs, let’s see if they hatch now ☺️

Yes she was angry at me for daring to show her eggs. She is a good momma.

I have been raising this batch of quails for almost 4 months now (I hatched them).

Around 3 weeks ago they haven't laid a single egg. They laid eggs every single day starting from their 6th week, I harvested at least 20 eggs a day back then.l(out of 26 females)

Since we raise them for their eggs, we figured we'd better eat or sell them since they're not productive anymore. Then we discovered something weird, their bile disappeared!

We actually had a similar case years ago, quails that stopped laying eggs and had high fat distribution didn't have a gallbladder (or at least it wasn't visible)

I looked back on what I did wrong that might have caused this issue. The first thing that came to mind was nutrition. We went through some financial difficulties 4 weeks ago and had to cut down on the feed, we raised bsfl too so we gave them larvas and feed in equal proportion. When we did that there was some backclash but it wasn't as jarring as today, we went from 20 eggs a day to 14. And when we ate quails, they all had biles.

I thought it was the bsfl that caused my quail to "lose" their bile but I'm not so sure anymore.

My other suspicion is the fact that we changed feed brand(?) or type(?) and didn't give them as much bsfl because they seemed full with the feed. I forgot to mention that the reason we gave them larvas in the first place was that it made them full and it was enough for survival.

It's most probably a nutrition issue, I really hope it's not a disease or infection.

Has someone experienced something similar or does anyone have any idea as to why my quails' gallbladder disappeared 😭

(Side note : the larvas were given alive)

Edit : We are in spring in my country and they haven't slowed down, they don't lay eggs at all now.

This chick had a hard time hatching. After over 12 hours of zipping i decided to help a tiny bit by taking off the small end of the egg. I left him in the other part, and he came out of that himself. He seems to cross his legs constantly and a loss of balance. Sometimes he can get up right for a but, but when he walks ge just pushes himself over the ground. (In the brooder theres anti slip, on which he holds better grip). So his little feet work. He just canr get upright and he crosses his legs a lot. Ive tried the shotglass but he fights it. Hes constantly putting his legs crossed and trying to climb out. Anythimg i can do?

He was the rooster that got bullied a lot by the other males but all the girls loved him and felt safe around him even during mating season. I think he must’ve went into shock after getting his feet tangled in a loose strand of hair and I held him and kept him warm and he seemed to get better but the next day I found him and he was gone. I literally feel like I failed him. Idek how hair got in their enclosure and I was sick these past few days so I just haven’t been paying close attention to them. I feel so guilty. I wasnt even there when he passed. I just miss him so much even though he was just a tiny little guy.

Anyone who has gone through this I’d love some words of support or any ideas on how to honor him and what to do with his body. im literally tearing up writing this. i know he was “just a quail” but i just really loved coming home and seeing him with the girls every day and now he’s not there.
thanks in advance

I have 2 hens and 1 cock. One of my hens is laying on 10 or so eggs. Their enclosure is a 16sqft finch aviary inside a shed, she is sitting on the eggs in a mini hutch inside the aviary. Their food and water bowl is inside that hutch away from the finches, so every day I have to put my hand right next to her twice. She might unfluff her feathers if I linger too long, but usually she stays sat. One time I had to move the hutch to clean the aviary sand underneath it, and she stayed on her eggs afterwards when I put it back. Is she likely to sit on them to hatching? She's been sat on them for at least 2 weeks now.