liquid calcium dosing rates for button quail

[tinysparrow]

hi,

one of my female button quails is really struggling ...i woke up this morning and she is really puffed up, balancing (barely) on her feet, (she's on her tip-toes), puffing, vent looks ok though. i transferred her to a hospital cage. she is eating and drinking, which is a relief.

i am thinking she may be egg bound, so i gave her a drop of liquid calcium to her beak with a dropper. what is the dosing rate for button quail? how often should i give the liquid calcium to her?

thanks, (and sorry if the pic is sideways, its a cell phone pic).

[L in Ontario]

Chinese Painted Quail (Coturnix chinesis), Standard Length - 5 inches, Standard weight: 1.5-3oz (40-85g).

Since a finch weighs approximately 15 - 20g (in relation to the BQ) I would give the Button quail another drop of liquid calcium to her beak right away and see how she does from there. Also a heatlamp would not be a bad thing for her as well. Fluffing is a sign of not feeling well and it seems a heatlamp is almost always welcomed by them. Hope she recoups quickly!

[tinysparrow]

Hi Liz thanks. I gave her 2 drops this morning before I left for work. When should I administer the next drop? Maybe I will see how she is doing when I get home. Should be there in an hour or two.

[DanteD716]

Great info Liz!! I hope she gets well soon! Since she has gotten 2, I don't see how another could hrt when you get home.

[tinysparrow]

thanks dante and liz. she seems to be doing ok, she is still shaking a bit though. i have a heat lamp on her, so hopefully she will get through this. i just gave her another drop of calcium.

[cindy]

I hope she feels better soon, she is very pretty!

[L in Ontario]

Good to know she's hanging in there, Amy. Does she have eggfood and/or live mealworms? Cuttlebone? Maybe shave some cuttlebone on to some eggfood. Has she been laying a lot of eggs?

[DanteD716]

I like Liz's idea of shaved cuttlebone on eggfood, it may help.


Like CIndy said she is pretty, what color is she if you know? I have heard of people boiling the eggs from their buttons and feeding it back to them. Hope she recovers is she pooping??

[tinysparrow]

Good to know she's hanging in there, Amy. Does she have eggfood and/or live mealworms? Cuttlebone? Maybe shave some cuttlebone on to some eggfood. Has she been laying a lot of eggs?

hi liz,
i just ran in the door from work so i will get to work on these things!

Like CIndy said she is pretty, what color is she if you know? I have heard of people boiling the eggs from their buttons and feeding it back to them. Hope she recovers is she pooping??

dante she is a red breasted female. i have 3 females, the other two are silvers. and yes she is pooping. and i do boil their eggs and i feed all of my birds the eggs! they pretty much lay one egg a day, so its like a little egg factory around here.

I hope she feels better soon, she is very pretty!

thank you cindy! i thought she was a male when i bought her, (so did the breeder!), so she has a boy's name, and its jonah! i didn't have the heart to change it.

[DanteD716]

I love her color, I do not think she is eggbound if she is pooping, may just be tired and calcium defficiant

[tinysparrow]

I love her color, I do not think she is eggbound if she is pooping, may just be tired and calcium defficiant

dante, i hope so . this is the first time i have ever seen any of my quail like this...i hope that she will bounce back.

[DanteD716]

How old is she?? I know hens die young, 2-3 years. I hope she is okay, she should bounce back!

[tinysparrow]

How old is she?? I know hens die young, 2-3 years. I hope she is okay, she should bounce back!

she was born last september...i bought both her and her sister. i have another little button too who is crippled, but she gets along just fine

[DanteD716]

So she still has a few years in her, she is young. I am confident she just needs a rest and will be fine!

I have never seen a crippled button! Glad you have her. Off topic, I have been mixed answers do yours personally smell? I want a pair

[tinysparrow]

So she still has a few years in her, she is young. I am confident she just needs a rest and will be fine!

I have never seen a crippled button! Glad you have her. Off topic, I have been mixed answers do yours personally smell? I want a pair

i hope so dante about the smell... not really. i think that you have to be diligent about changing their bedding etc....but this applies to all pets! also, i find certain foods make their poop smell really bad, so i try to avoid those things. i found freeze dried blood worms made for some stinky-ness, :wtf: as well as eggs at times! overall they are really great birds and i would get a pair if i were you.

i would caution you though, that mine don't get along when housed together, so all 3 girls live in separate cages. i had the sisters living together for months and then one day one started to pick on the other one. i keep mine at the bottom of the large finch cages that i have, and they all do fine! i have never had a problem with them being aggressive towards my finches, although i do not keep them with breeding pairs as i have read that they may see tossed babies as snacks, and may also hurt fledgelings.

i gave a friend of mine one of my other females as he has a male, and the male feeds the female mealworms all of the time how romantic!