Identifying & Troubleshooting Common Nutritional Deficiencies in Quail & Other Poultry/Game Birds

Many nutritional deficiencies in chicks are in fact due to gaps in parental diet, which impact directly upon the quality of the embryo's nutrition and do therefore start within the shell. It is of tantamount importance therefore when raising quail to remember that the food quality, stress levels and general well-being of your adult quail impact directly on that of any potential chicks. 

See Above: One of my favourite options for quail and so easy to obtain, because they are so prolific, is a nest of ants, if possible complete with eggs. Here is one of my quail enjoying a feast of the same, including the much prized flying-ant eggs.

In order to fill in any gaps afforded by seasonal lack of wild invertebrates, I also find that raising mealworms is an excellent option. 

What, Why & When?

In my experience, problems can occur with purchased hatching eggs, where I have no knowledge of what the adults have been fed. For example, chronic deficiency, particularly of the water-soluble B Complex Vitamins, selenium and L-methionine has often been my experience in quail chicks, where due to lack of available eggs, I have been forced to buy from large industrial hatcheries. One of the major problems with deficiency in quail however, as with humans, is that the body is such a superb machine that it can carry on functioning even with insufficient 'fuel'. Thus the effects of deficiency can build up in the body without symptoms until the final and catastrophic failure. My position is that if we know what to look for and/or what to expect then we can avoid arriving at this point and having to subject both ourselves and our quail to the stress and often the trauma that accompanies it. No one enjoys being ill and a previously happy and active quail suddenly disabled by paralysis, lack of vision, unable to eat or drink etc.,. is no exception.

What I learned about deficiency by raising quail

It is sadly a reflection of human appreciation of the critical importance of their own food intake that makes it difficult for them to recognise how important food is in the diet of their poultry and how speedily debilitating and in fact fatal such deficiencies can become. As an aside, everything I learned by observing quail chicks aided me in the resolution of an undiagnosed and almost fatal condition in my father, which turned out to be (among other nutritional and toxicity issues) mainly chronic B12 (cobalamin) deficiency.

At the crux of the problem for quail  is that most commercial quail eggs are usually destined to become sedentary, cage-confined birds, fed on pelleted food with the required but often synthetic trace elements. Once hatched with me or similar non-cage raisers, these chicks find themselves with plenty of room to expend energy and are allowed to forage and find their own food. Whilst expending initial energy at this rate they are subject to deficiency because their intake of essential nutrient is not just covering usual necessity but also trying to fill the gaps left by the content of the egg. The trick is to know what to look for and catch the condition quickly with additional individual hand-feeding of these key nutrients. Quail are precocial and incredible speedy and energetic birds almost from day one of hatch. It is an absolute joy to see them both as adults and chicks come out every morning with a hop, skip and a jump and often have a vertical take off flutter, seeming for the sheer joy of living. It is thus very important to identify any problems which are causing them to be unusually lethargic and sedentary.

Such was the case above, wherein this little quail seemed to be spending too much time sitting whereas his brothers and sisters (pictured above him) were busy foraging. The day after this picture was taken this little chick developed a slight limp which sounded the alarm bells for me as the onset of curled toe paralysis (Vitamin B₂ Riboflavin deficiency live link to my article). A nutritional supplement of organic yeast flakes, Brazil nut and wild invertebrates and he was quickly back on his feet. In recent years I have also been able to obtain organic beef liver, which is an excellent source of so many essential nutrients that can be deficient in quail. Liver is one of nature's most concentrated sources of Vitamin A and although this vitamin can be obtained from plant sources, its precursor being beta-carotene from brightly coloured fruit and vegetables, the conversion process is dependent on the body already containing sufficient fat. On a grain diet one of the major vitamin deficiencies can be that of Vitamin E. Furthermore as not every human is genetically able to convert beta-carotene to Vitamin A, I'm one of them, there is no reason for me to think that every bird can either. Vitamin A is also responsible for the assimilation of proteins, minerals and water soluble vitamins. As liver contains a whole panoply of these, you are getting a great all in one package deal when you feed it including, apart from Vitamin A:

• Vitamins D, E, K₂, and the B complex vitamins (including the big DNA hitters B₁₂ Cobalamin  and Vitamin B₉ Folate)
• Omega-3 fats 
• Trace minerals like copper, zinc, iron and chromium 
• Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) which is an antioxidant with the ability to protect the cells from the damage of oxidative stress, which is one of the major risk factors for neurogenerative conditions.
• Purines - needed for cell function; to produce energy and molecular  synthesis 

Having a supply of raw organic beef liver is something I have in stock, we eat it and I buy it and freeze it. We and our poultry are on a 100% organic diet but if you are not, then at least the liver you feed must be organic because this organ is both a big storage unit and an integral part of the waste system. Thus, the panoply of pesticides, antibiotic residues et al, which are the stock-in-trade of the conventional farmer, pass through it and are stored there, making non-organic offal a nightmare. Organic beef liver is not expensive, the taste is strong and most of my friends here turn their noses up at. For my quail I often serve it up in water or mixed with some scrambled egg.

Even if you have to pay more than my 3 Euros a kilo, to my mind it is a very cheap cure-all. If you do not have access to organic liver then use one of your own organic eggs, hard boiled, which is also a fantastic medicinal though less nutrient-rich per serving than liver!

With quail, because of their high basal metabolism, certain nutritional deficiencies, such as those associated with curled toe paralysis are quick to manifest themselves, thus easy to spot if you know what to look for and curable often within less than 24 hours! Another nervous system condition, however, this time known as 'Star Gazing'  is caused by a deficiency primarily in thiamine (B₁) has a slower onset but to avoid this, a simple inclusion of sunflower seeds, which are rich in this vitamin, can be included in the diet. Remember all these foods should be organically grown, otherwise you risk the inclusion of pesticide residues, which in turn as toxins will inhibit the uptake of mineral and vitamins, apart from causing harm in themselves! There will be an article on B₁ deficiency and 'Star Gazing' coming shortly to this site!

Here's a sobering thought that can be applied to human health too and although I've already outlined this in my article on Torticollis but it's worth repeating deficiency in any of the 13 vitamins listed below can induce neurological illness.  The full list is as follows:

• Vitamin A
• Vitamin B₁ Thiamine 
• Vitamin B₂ Riboflavin 
• Vitamin B₃ Niacin 
• Vitamin B₅ Pantothenic Acid 
• Vitamin B₆ Pyridoxal-5-Phosphate 
• Vitamin B₇ Biotin 
• Vitamin B₉ Folate 
• Vitamin B₁₂ Cobalamin 
• Vitamin C 
• Choline (mineral/vitamin often grouped with the B complex vitamins)
• Vitamin D₃ 
• Vitamin E 

These particular vitamins are only part of the story,  minerals which are are not only useful in themselves act as transporters for the vitamins. This function of an individual or group of minerals assures that the vitamin is driven to the correct location where it can be assimilated and put to use. Similarly the mineral intake of a bird can be rendered useless or even worse actually dangerous, I'm thinking of calcium here in particular, which can cause heart conditions in hens, if not accompanied by certain vitamins and taken in in the correct balance with other minerals. In the case of Vitamin A, for example, zinc is necessary to get it moved to where it can do most good. It is also only part of the deficiency story too, as many vitamins, minerals and other foodstuffs must work in synergy and we will look at this incredibly important issue in the next article.

The bottom line however, is that your bird when given a choice of foodstuffs or even better left to forage in a large space or supervised free-ranging, knows more about its optimum diet than we humans ever will. Certain elements that the bird consumes to maintain a healthy gut are not even edible, so not something we may even be familiar with even as a concept. However, the above article will serve hopefully to aid you to remedy conditions caused by insufficient diets in the past life of your quail or that of its parent.

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Until next time, all the very best from sunny Normandie! 

Sue