Quail health

[hill]

My dad and I built a flight pen a few months before we got our first bird dogs and we have had one problem. We have kept up to 75 birds in it at a time but normally for only two weeks or so. About a month ago we had 25 that had been in for nearly a month and when we took them out and worked the dogs I noticed that some of them had nearly no breast meat. The birds seemed otherwise healthy and flew outstanding. Overcrowding should not have been an issue, the birds were eating and drinking fine. They were eating wild bird seed but I have since switched to a commercial feed with some added meds in it. I have not had any more birds in long enough to see if that may have been the problem. I went ahead and killed all of those birds that day in fear of getting any added birds sick. It is almost necessary to store birds as the nearest place that I can reliably get birds that are truly flight conditioned is about two hours away. I appreciate any insight on this issue.

Thanks,
Danny

[h20fwlkillr]

Breast meat is muscle tissue. It would be my guess that the problem isn't a disease or illness, it's lack of excersize.

[okie]

You might try worming them. We use safeguard cattle wormer pellets, break them up in smaller pieces and put on top of feed in feeder trays for 3 days. I use the safeguard one month and tramisol hog wormer in their water at a rate of 1/4 tsp. per gallon of water for 3 days the next month.
Dave

[topher40]

i would have to agree with h20fwlkillr, not enough room to realy fly around. I force my birds to fly by design. My Flight pin is 240 sq ft and in the middle there is a 3 ft high hog panel with chicken wire on it. If birds want to the other side they have to fly. Never have any problems with weak flyers.

You can medicate the feed for them I guess it cant hurt. personally I never medicate and have them on milo. About once a week I throw some milled corn in there from the hog feeders.

[ezzy333]

Thin and weak breast muscles practically always goes back to not enough feed and/or exercise.

Ezzy

[birdshot]

i noticed the lack of breast tissue on some pigeons i was keeping. i switched from feeding chicken scratch to a mix of higher protien grains and peas. the new feed was the answer. the birds were apparently starving even though there was always feed available.

[steingre]

My bet is Ulcerative Colitis- also known as Quail Disease

Here's a website for more info:

http://www.thepoultrysite.com/diseasein ... il-disease

It's not a lack of exercise- if you keep the bobs on wire, and up off the ground, they'll stay fat- even if they are in a very small pen/cage, and never get to fly!

I first noticed this problem about three years ago in my set-up- enough time to do some "research", and try to find some work-arounds. Bottom line for me:

1) Buy a couple dozen at a time, and use them up
2) Keep them on wire- up out of the dirt
3) Medication- more than just medicated feed- antibiotics, usually in their water

[hill]

Thanks for the responses. I will have to try putting a divider in the middle to get them to fly more. I currently have a perch that is the full width of the pen and is about 7 feet off of the floor (which is wire), about half of the birds in the pen will be up there at any given time. Does anyone have any good resources for the medicated feeds and the water additives. I have a tractor supply close by and a small feed store. Thanks for all the replys, I will research them all and post the cure if it is difinitve.

Danny

[steingre]

Treatments- Journal of Wildlife Diseases

http://www.jwildlifedis.org/cgi/reprint/6/1/8.pdf

Another site describing the condition:

http://www.merckvetmanual.com/mvm/index ... 201500.htm

Note: If the birds are on wire, the wire has to be up off the ground!!

Good luck!