Injured male button quail!

[Murphy_the_Hooligan]

I was given a silver male and a basic brown female sometime in October. I allowed them to hatch a clutch of 6 babies. They hatched in early November, only 2 survived, a basic brown male and a basic brown female. They have all lived together in their cage all this time without an issue.

Both females lay eggs, About two weeks ago I noticed both females balding on their head and backs. I know this is due to rough mating (I had chickens with a NASTY rooster who balded all my hens) but upon further inspection, the young male, the son, was pecking the females as they ran by him.

Last night I was getting ready for bed, I found my silver male in the corner of the cage with his head down, like he was sickly. I got a good look at him and his entire head was bloody! It looked like his eyes were pecked out of his head!!!

I removed him from the cage, he made it through the night, he is eating and drinking and pooping, I can now see his one eye slightly open. I put neosporin on his head. Is there anything else I can do? Will he make it? He is my favorite! He sings the most.

What do I do with the other a—hole male? Do I get rid of him? Do I spereate them in pairs? Are my females in danger?

 

[Murphy_the_Hooligan]

Here are more photos

 

[Murphy_the_Hooligan]

Here are photos of my females and the other male. You can see how bald my females are

 

[Ladybird CA]

Yes button Quail need to be in pairs. You can probably find someone on kijiji or craigslist willing to trade a male or female button Quail to prevent inbreeding.

 

[Murphy_the_Hooligan]

UPDATE: my Clyde is doing good, acting normal, but all his scabs are gone (it’s been 7 days today) and I can plainly see his eye is definitely gone. What do I do? Will he be okay? Can the empty socket get infected?

 

[Murphy_the_Hooligan]

@TwoCrows please help!

 

[TwoCrows]

I am sorry about your quail! Definitely keep them paired properly even if one is alone. As long as the lone can see the other, they will be fine until you can add or make new arrangements.

The eye is gone or the lid is just shut? If the lid is just shut some antibacterial eye drops will help with any infection. Your vet should have eye drops. If the eye is actually gone and the wound is raw, you can use neosporin without the pain killer on the eye socket. Eventually it will heal and he will use one eye to see. For now, keep him separated until the eye completely heals. He may or may not be able to be paired up. You will need to watch him carefully around a mate until you know he is excepted. His deformaty may always be apparent to others.