Keeping quail is not too different from keeping any other type of animal on your property, they need to be fed and housed, they need to be protected from predators, and, they need to be kept healthy.
If your quail is spitting you may think that the bird is sick, this article looks into if quails spit and what to do about it.
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Do quail spit?
Humans spit only when we need to, but it’s hard to imagine that a quail would ever spit, but you may be seeing this behavior in your bird.
Here is why your quail may be spitting:
Its water:
Quail don’t exactly spit the way that humans do, what they will do is release the contents of their crop if they are forced to.
While quail do produce spit they don’t release it. That being said, if your bird had just had some water, and pressure is put on the bird’s crop, then the bird may “spit” out the water.
This spitting up water can happen if you put the bird on its back or if you put pressure on the bird’s crop, which is near the bird’s throat. Both of these scenarios can cause your quail to “spit” up water.
What to do:
If the bird was put on its back, or if you put pressure on the bird’s crop, and you can tell that the bird simply spit up some of the water it just drank then you don’t have to worry.
Simply put the bird right side up to stop the spitting, and don’t put pressure on the bird’s crop right after the bird drinks some water. The bird should be fine after this.
Warning: Vomiting in birds
Quail, and other birds, don’t spit the way that humans do but there are similarities between how quails vomit and how humans will vomit.
Vomit is the forceful expulsion of food, this isn’t a natural or comfortable experience for the bird and may signal that there is something seriously wrong with the bird.
If the bird vomits, the stuff that comes out will be digested or almost digested food, this food will come out in liquid form.
The action is also similar to how humans vomit as the vomit will come out forcefully.
The bird may vigorously shake its head from side to side trying to get the vomit out, the bird does this because the vomit is acidic and is burning the bird’s esophagus and throat as it comes out.
What to do:
If your quail is vomiting food then you should likely take the bird to the vet as there may be something very wrong with your bird.
You can take the bird to a general vet or better yet, to an avian vet. The avian vet will have more specialized knowledge of how to treat birds.
If you enjoyed this article then you may also be interested in other bird related articles. Here are some articles that you may be interested in: Baby Quail Laying On Back, Quail Acting Drunk, Quail Acting Strange, Why Is My Quail Shaking, Turkey Chick Vs Chicken Chick, Baby Quail Can’t Walk, Baby Chick Won’t Put Weight On Leg, Quail Vs Chicken Raising, Newly Hatched Chick Not Moving