Button Quail Chick has large swollen neck, need help

[PeskyRaven]

Hi four days ago I hatched seven button quail chicks, all has been fine until today when I noticed one, seemingly perfectly health one has a large swollen neck. Its a large sack of air that has puffed the little chick out and I have no idea what can be done if anything. Any help would be great, thanks so much.

[Magnum]

PeskyRaven, is it the crop that is swollen?

[Kaye]

I'm not sure.. do quails have airsacks and lungs like parrots? He might have ruptured one.. it can sometimes be fixed surgically. Once again.. I'm not sure..

[PeskyRaven]

Im not sure, basically this is what it looks like, from a little below the beak its swollen with a large sack of air all the way down to the chest. not anything on the belly or on the backside of its neck, just the front.

[Magnum]

I have read more on Quail today than I ever thought I would in my life time and I can not find anything significant to a swollen neck or crop area. I have found where if a chick eats a lot of food it will accumulate in the crop and it will go down after it takes a nap.

Ulcerative Enteritis in Quail:
Signs to look for:
listlessness
ruffled feathers
whitish watery diarrhea
develop a humped-up posture

Many strains of the disease causing bacteria have been isolated and some strains have shown high resistance to the more beneficial drugs we use. Good management practices will help reduce the severity of these outbreaks. These practices include:

Keep water troughs clean or use nipple waterers.
Do not let visitors into the bird producing areas.
Clean and disinfect all equipment before taking it near the birds.
Do not bring any new birds onto the premises. If you need to increase flock size, hatch chicks from purchased eggs or eggs you produce.
Addition of 6-10 lb salt to each 100 square feet of litter or growing area has been reported to reduce ulcerative enteritis outbreaks.
Maintain a good insect pest and rodent control program to reduce disease spread.
Wear clean clothes and disinfect footwear before entering quail rearing facilities.
The key point to remember about this disease is that most disease outbreaks are spread by the bird caretaker, not by the birds. Precautions you take to prevent the disease from entering the premises will be much more rewarding than trying to "treat" yourself out of a disease problem.

[PeskyRaven]

By what I described up there does it sound like it could be because it ate too much food? He seems to be fine, he chirps and moves around like the others. (Btw ^_^ thanks for all your help)

[PeskyRaven]

I just looked at it again, basically it looks like a bubble with feathers on it, stretched thin from below the beak down. I know it wasn't born with it. It just started today. Im not sure if the too much feed suggestion would cause it to swell up all the way up that far.

[lianatch]

a while back someone had a similar problem but with a different type of bird (parrot but cant remember which kind). i am not sure how quails are different from parrots but it was recommended to massage the baby's crop slightly bc it may have been most likely caused by indegestion. also, with any problem you might have it is a good idea to at least call (if you cannot visit for some reason) your vet.

[lianatch]

dont know how helpful, but this is the prior post that i was referring to: http://forums.petlovers.com/vb/showthread.php?t=4771&highlight=crop