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Quails are among the most unpretentious and undemanding birds to care for. They are naturally endowed with fairly strong immunity and can tolerate minor mistakes in care. But even such resistant birds can get sick. Most often, quail diseases are associated with a systematic violation of care conditions, various injuries and infectious diseases. Conventionally, all diseases of these birds can be divided into infectious and non-infectious. Below we look at common quail diseases and their treatment.
Non-communicable diseases
Non-contagious diseases of quails are the result of their improper maintenance, violation of the feeding regimen, as well as the result of injuries. Each of these reasons entails certain health problems for these birds, which we will discuss below.
Containment Breach
Before you grow quails, you need to take care of their future home. It should not be drafts and dry, musty air. Signals that the conditions are not suitable for the birds will be single bald patches and focal loss of feathers from the head or back. If the birds are in unsuitable conditions for a long time, then all their plumage will become brittle. Correcting the situation will help eliminate drafts and create optimal air humidity for quails.
In addition to problems with the poultry house, the number of birds also affects the health of the birds. If the house is small and there are a lot of birds in it, then they can start pecking at each other. This, in turn, leads to various injuries and death.
Violation of the feeding regimen
The main cause of non-communicable diseases is poor or improper nutrition of quails. As a result of a lack of useful vitamins, these birds develop persistent beriberi. The following symptoms are an indicator of a lack of nutrients:
- loss of appetite;
- tilting the head;
- stretching the neck;
- lowering wings;
- ruffled feathers.
The occurrence of any of these symptoms indicate a lack of nutrients in the diet of quails. With his treatment, you can cope on your own, without the involvement of a veterinarian. To do this, you just need to make a balanced feed for quails. You can learn how to do it right from the video:
Quails are egg-laying birds, so when planning their nutrition, special attention should be paid to D vitamins, calcium and minerals. If these substances are not enough for birds, then the shell of their eggs will become soft and brittle, or even completely absent. To cope with such a problem, adding crushed eggshells, chalk or shells to the quail feed will help.
This happens when young chicks are fed adult food. Such food provokes early oviposition in them, which may result in the loss of an egg from the oviduct. To prevent this from happening, birds of different ages need to be provided with different nutrition, which will take into account their age requirements.
Injuries
Injuries among quails are not uncommon. They can occur as a result of fright, severe stress, or pecking of birds among themselves. If an injury occurs, the bird must be given first aid. If this is a shallow wound, then it should be treated with iodine, a solution of potassium permanganate or furacilin and bandaged well. In case of fracture of bones or limbs, it is better to show the bird to the veterinarian.
contagious diseases
The source of infectious diseases of quails are various infections. The main danger of such diseases lies in the speed of their spread. One sick bird is enough to significantly reduce the number of quails.
Preventing infectious diseases is much easier than treating them. As a measure to prevent such diseases, you can install containers with soda or chlorine in the house. Good results in the prevention of diseases are shown by the use of ultraviolet lamps.
Therefore, when breeding quails, care must be taken that there is no contact between them.
Below we consider the most common contagious quail diseases.
Newcastle disease
Many quail breeds have innate immunity to this disease, but this does not prevent them from being its carriers. Individuals of other breeds, when infected, die within 2-3 hours.
Sick birds move little, sit with their heads covered with wings. From the outside, they look sleepy, lethargic and lost. Their breathing becomes heavy, there are also bouts of coughing.
During an exacerbation of the disease, the birds rise sharply and begin to walk in circles. Seizures and attacks of increased excitability are possible.
Carriers of this disease are rats, cats and various poultry. Sick birds must be killed and the carcasses burned. Eating the carcasses or eggs of birds infected with Newcastle disease is strictly prohibited.
Pulloroz
Pullorosis usually affects young quails. With this disease, litter clogs the anus of birds without going outside. Sick quail chicks hide in a corner, tremble and squeak. They become drowsy, often fall, and their motor activity is sharply reduced.
The causes of pullorosis in quails are:
- hypothermia of chicks;
- bad food;
- lack of drinking water.
Pullorosis is not curable. Individuals affected by the disease should be burned so that other chicks do not become infected.
Aspergillosis
A very common disease not only among quails, but also among other poultry. Adult individuals are ill with aspergillosis asymptomatically. Sick chicks are weak, their legs and beak turn blue, and their breathing becomes heavy. In this disease, there is also intense thirst.
It is possible to diagnose this disease only after a post-mortem examination of the entrails of a quail. A fungus will be visible on the insides of a sick bird. Eating the carcass of a sick quail is not worth it.
Colibacillosis
This intestinal disease of quails is similar in its symptoms to pullorosis. Quails will also be lethargic and trembling. But unlike pullorosis, which is of a single nature, this disease can develop to epidemic proportions.
Individuals with this disease are subject to necrosis. Their carcasses and eggs should be burned.
After that, they should be vaccinated. Complete disinfection of the poultry house is also mandatory.
fowl cholera
This disease is also known as pasteurellosis. The infection affects the liver of quails, causing dysfunction of their metabolism and liquid blood droppings.
Avian cholera does not respond to treatment, so it always ends in the death of the diseased individual. To prevent the spread of the disease, the carcass is burned, and the poultry house and cages are completely disinfected.
Conclusion
Whether the bird’s disease is contagious or the quail’s health problems result from poor housing conditions, all the fault lies with the person. It is the breeder who is responsible for his birds. Therefore, before deciding to breed quails, one must sensibly assess their chances of creating comfortable conditions for them.