A stray quail is being treated at RSPCA Stapeley after he was found running around the car park of an independent living facility in Crewe.
Residents at the care facility in Rolls Avenue had a shock when they spotted the Texas A&M quail on the loose.
RSPCA Animal Welfare Officer Katie Glenn collected the male, white and brown speckled bird which care staff had managed to contain in a box and were keeping in reception.
Staff were advised to ask around the local area to see if the quail belonged to anyone, but when an owner could not be found AWO Glenn took the bird to Stapeley Wildlife Centre in Nantwich.
She said: “He is a beautiful bird so I’m surprised no one was looking for him.
“We don’t know if he was abandoned, or if he escaped from his home and had become a bit lost!”
The quail is now in isolation at the Stapeley Centre, a normal procedure for wild animals admitted into RSPCA care.
It’s also as a precaution after recent reports of avian flu outbreak in the UK.
This means he needs to be kept away from any other birds for at least two weeks.
He can then be transferred to an aviary with other feathery friends as quails in the wild are social birds.
Cases of bird flu in wild birds were confirmed in Warwickshire and Hertfordshire.
The Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) extending the ‘Avian Influenza Protection Zone’ (AIPZ) to cover the whole of England.
Keepers of poultry and other captive birds, including those kept as pets, are legally required to follow specific disease prevention
measures.
These include deterring wild birds and good biosecurity to protect birds and help prevent the spread of AI.
Luisa Dormer, scientific officer in the Farm Animals Department at the RSPCA, said: “Now the AIPZ covers the whole of England, bird keepers of
any scale must heed Government advice.
“In addition to legal advice, there’s a simple guide put together by the RSPCA, together with Defra, the NFU and other organisations providing best practice advice to help backyard poultry keepers to protect their birds from AI.”
All the information you need to know is available on Defra’s website.
If you suspect any type of avian influenza you must report it immediately by calling the Defra Rural Services Helpline on 03000 200 301.
If you are the owner of the quail please contact the RSPCA appeal line on 0300 123 8018.
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