I need Help!

[HarleyQuailison]

I guess I posted in the wrong area. Here was yesterdays post :
So last I was here, I had gotten Therapy quail for the murder of my emotional support dog. I had three and my female was freaking out. I did not know until it was too late that the other two were male, and she needed a mate. After holding her and panicking myself, and two days of hell, I figured out that one of the males was attacking her. So I got rid of him, and the remaining male and my female have been in harmony since. She has even been laying tons of eggs. Until this morning. I'm not sure what happened but my male, the mellow cool one was freaking out. When I went to open the door of their hutch he got out and flew around losing feathers everywhere. I finally caught him, but he is the one who does NOT like being held so he tried to get away, but I held him and pet him for as long as I could. I then put him back in and he began freaking again. I thought I had him calmed down by covering the long end of the bottom level run with a blanket, but then my female started attacking him. I was in shock, as she is not like that and he is dominant enough, but not too, just so. They were then both freaking, her chasing him and attacking him, and then doing the same thing he was doing. I have no way of separating them,so I turned all the lights off and walked away, as I think she was attacking him because he was freaking, and she takes me for her other significant other. I don't know what to do. I'm disabled and I cannot let them get out, my house is too dangerous for them to be loose. I can't separate them either. Should I just let it play out and see if they calm down? They have never been aggressive before like this, except when he is mating with her...like every day, but I looked it up and that is normal mating, even though it seems like he is raping her. There is no blood or anything, but when he got out he lost several feathers. I feel like I'm stuck, and almost want to get rid of them both right now if this is not going to get better. But I love them and normally we spend several hours together with them coming just outside the door on the table and going back in. Will they eventually calm down? I need help or they need to go. I don't know what else to do. They are supposed to be calming me down, not freaking me out. What is going on?? I only have two, a male and female. They live indoors in a big two story hutch house. I know they are not squished and have plenty of room. HELPPPPP!!!PLEASE!!!! PHOTO OF THEM NORMAL

SO UPDATE!! SHE BEGAN FREAKING TOO, THEN SHE WENT UP INTO THE TOP HOUSE AND HE STAYED DOWN, WARN OUT. I TURNED OUT ALL THE LIGHTS AND WE WENT TO BED EARLY, A 6PM. IT WAS THE ONLY THING I COULD DO. ALL WAS QUIET ALL NIGHT. IT'S EARLY MORNING AND FIANCE' IS READYING FOR WORK AND I CAN SEE THE CAGE FROM HERE BUT CANNOT SEE THEM WELL, BUT COULD SEE THAT ONE IS THERE AT LEAST DOWN FROM THE HOUSE. SO I ASKED HIM IF THEY WERE TOGETHER OR WAS THAT JUST HIM? HE SAID THEY WERE TOGETHER DOWN THERE AND THEY WERE CLEANING EACH OTHER LIKE NORMAL. SO PRAY FOR ME!!!!!

 

[Wezdin]

is it possible that they are just jumpy quail? Dont have any quail but it dosent seen that anything is too wrong. @ButtonquailGirl14

 

[007Sean]

They are Bobwhites and they tend to need more room than other type's of quail, than they have....I understand your situation, I'm not condemning, just stating a fact. If they have calmed down today, I wouldn't worry too much about it. With more room they have places to get away from eachother and 'line of sight' can be broken up.
They also could have just been 'feeling their oats' and just being rambunctious.

 

[Ebony Rose]

Bobwhites are seasonal breeders / layers, so I wouldn't worry about the lack of eggs. He may have been feeling frisky, she may have been saying 'wait until next season'... and let the fireworks begin. I'm sure it will sort itself out soon.

 

[le_bwah]

AFAIK, Bobwhites are not exactly the best "inside" pets. They need more space than the easily-domesticated quail and have more specific cage/pairing requirements during breeding season. I'm sorry you're having trouble with your birds.

If these quail don't settle down or they become very violent, the kindest solutions for you and the birds are either A) to get them a bigger cage with more spaces to hide OR B) to find them another home. Japanese quail might be a better fit for your situation.

I hope you and your quail get some peace soon!

 

[Fishkeeper]

If I were you, I'd rehome those, and I'd get coturnix instead. Bobwhites aren't good indoor pets, they need a lot of room and panic very easily. That's probably what's happening.
It's also possible that they're starting to pair off. Bobwhites live in 1M/1F pairs during the breeding season, and will drive away anyone who's not in their pair.

 

[HarleyQuailison]

They are Bobwhites and they tend to need more room than other type's of quail, than they have....I understand your situation, I'm not condemning, just stating a fact. If they have calmed down today, I wouldn't worry too much about it. With more room they have places to get away from eachother and 'line of sight' can be broken up.
They also could have just been 'feeling their oats' and just being rambunctious.

It's a pretty big hutch for two quail, and it has an upstairs room too. They are actually pretty happy and come out onto the table I have the hutch and bottom I built onto it and visit me every day. It has been quite a good thing up until yesterday. I do think there were some issues though with the whole seasonal mating thing. They seem to have no perception of seasons, and I hatched the female myself and got the male at only 2 weeks old. So they have lived inside with me in total harmony for quite some time, and she has been laying eggs all winter. They are tired and just a bit jumpy today, but it seems as though he tried to mate with her and she was done with all that for now so she probably attacked him, which scared the piss outta him, and the chaos began. It appears he has carefully worked himself back into her good graces, and they were together when I woke this morning, he was cleaning her neck like he does. Another thing I have recently noticed, is that the male was a little jealous of my relationship with the female for the last month. She would climb up in my hands and close her eyes while I pet her head, or if she was having difficult time laying her eg I would gently rub her tummy and she loved that. So he has been getting a bit more dominant with her, and even tried to challenge me once but he backed off. I think she just got mad at him trying to dominate and I didn't see it. She is a few weeks older than him and slightly bigger, so when she attacked him back, I think it scared him. I've kept it really ZEN in here since yesterday evening. Low lighting, as quiet as possible. Seems to be getting back to normal. They are very spoiled quail. Diet of live mealworms every day, fresh plants and milkweeds, quail and dove seed feed, fresh water every day, oyster shells for calcium, vitamins. They get pet and loved on every day and have been very happy. Just crazy yesterday like they lost it, I dunno. But I think for two quail they have a pretty good life and their area is pretty big with 2 stories and the upper level is dark and has black light heat lamp, the rest on the bottom is 4 ft long and 3 ft high. I've seen so many people having much smaller areas with way more than 2 birds. Do you really think that is too small for them? Everyone else I've spoken to said that is way plenty of room. Do they need more? Thanks for the help by the way. But I am not giving my babies up. We are close. Just freaked me out and was hoping for some help figuring out why this suddenly happened.

 

[HarleyQuailison]

If I were you, I'd rehome those, and I'd get coturnix instead. Bobwhites aren't good indoor pets, they need a lot of room and panic very easily. That's probably what's happening.
It's also possible that they're starting to pair off. Bobwhites live in 1M/1F pairs during the breeding season, and will drive away anyone who's not in their pair.

I'm just going to copy paste the answers to all
It's a pretty big hutch for two quail, and it has an upstairs room too. They are actually pretty happy and come out onto the table I have the hutch and bottom I built onto it and visit me every day. It has been quite a good thing up until yesterday. I do think there were some issues though with the whole seasonal mating thing. They seem to have no perception of seasons, and I hatched the female myself and got the male at only 2 weeks old. So they have lived inside with me in total harmony for quite some time, and she has been laying eggs all winter. They are tired and just a bit jumpy today, but it seems as though he tried to mate with her and she was done with all that for now so she probably attacked him, which scared the piss outta him, and the chaos began. It appears he has carefully worked himself back into her good graces, and they were together when I woke this morning, he was cleaning her neck like he does. Another thing I have recently noticed, is that the male was a little jealous of my relationship with the female for the last month. She would climb up in my hands and close her eyes while I pet her head, or if she was having difficult time laying her eg I would gently rub her tummy and she loved that. So he has been getting a bit more dominant with her, and even tried to challenge me once but he backed off. I think she just got mad at him trying to dominate and I didn't see it. She is a few weeks older than him and slightly bigger, so when she attacked him back, I think it scared him. I've kept it really ZEN in here since yesterday evening. Low lighting, as quiet as possible. Seems to be getting back to normal. They are very spoiled quail. Diet of live mealworms every day, fresh plants and milkweeds, quail and dove seed feed, fresh water every day, oyster shells for calcium, vitamins. They get pet and loved on every day and have been very happy. Just crazy yesterday like they lost it, I dunno. But I think for two quail they have a pretty good life and their area is pretty big with 2 stories and the upper level is dark and has black light heat lamp, the rest on the bottom is 4 ft long and 3 ft high. I've seen so many people having much smaller areas with way more than 2 birds. Do you really think that is too small for them? Everyone else I've spoken to said that is way plenty of room. Do they need more? Thanks for the help by the way. But I am not giving my babies up. We are close. Just freaked me out and was hoping for some help figuring out why this suddenly happened.

 

[HarleyQuailison]

AFAIK, Bobwhites are not exactly the best "inside" pets. They need more space than the easily-domesticated quail and have more specific cage/pairing requirements during breeding season. I'm sorry you're having trouble with your birds.

If these quail don't settle down or they become very violent, the kindest solutions for you and the birds are either A) to get them a bigger cage with more spaces to hide OR B) to find them another home. Japanese quail might be a better fit for your situation.

I hope you and your quail get some peace soon!

It's a pretty big hutch for two quail, and it has an upstairs room too. They are actually pretty happy and come out onto the table I have the hutch and bottom I built onto it and visit me every day. It has been quite a good thing up until yesterday. I do think there were some issues though with the whole seasonal mating thing. They seem to have no perception of seasons, and I hatched the female myself and got the male at only 2 weeks old. So they have lived inside with me in total harmony for quite some time, and she has been laying eggs all winter. They are tired and just a bit jumpy today, but it seems as though he tried to mate with her and she was done with all that for now so she probably attacked him, which scared the piss outta him, and the chaos began. It appears he has carefully worked himself back into her good graces, and they were together when I woke this morning, he was cleaning her neck like he does. Another thing I have recently noticed, is that the male was a little jealous of my relationship with the female for the last month. She would climb up in my hands and close her eyes while I pet her head, or if she was having difficult time laying her eg I would gently rub her tummy and she loved that. So he has been getting a bit more dominant with her, and even tried to challenge me once but he backed off. I think she just got mad at him trying to dominate and I didn't see it. She is a few weeks older than him and slightly bigger, so when she attacked him back, I think it scared him. I've kept it really ZEN in here since yesterday evening. Low lighting, as quiet as possible. Seems to be getting back to normal. They are very spoiled quail. Diet of live mealworms every day, fresh plants and milkweeds, quail and dove seed feed, fresh water every day, oyster shells for calcium, vitamins. They get pet and loved on every day and have been very happy. Just crazy yesterday like they lost it, I dunno. But I think for two quail they have a pretty good life and their area is pretty big with 2 stories and the upper level is dark and has black light heat lamp, the rest on the bottom is 4 ft long and 3 ft high. I've seen so many people having much smaller areas with way more than 2 birds. Do you really think that is too small for them? Everyone else I've spoken to said that is way plenty of room. Do they need more? Thanks for the help by the way. But I am not giving my babies up. We are close. Just freaked me out and was hoping for some help figuring out why this suddenly happened.

 

[HarleyQuailison]

Bobwhites are seasonal breeders / layers, so I wouldn't worry about the lack of eggs. He may have been feeling frisky, she may have been saying 'wait until next season'... and let the fireworks begin. I'm sure it will sort itself out soon.

It's a pretty big hutch for two quail, and it has an upstairs room too. They are actually pretty happy and come out onto the table I have the hutch and bottom I built onto it and visit me every day. It has been quite a good thing up until yesterday. I do think there were some issues though with the whole seasonal mating thing. They seem to have no perception of seasons, and I hatched the female myself and got the male at only 2 weeks old. So they have lived inside with me in total harmony for quite some time, and she has been laying eggs all winter. They are tired and just a bit jumpy today, but it seems as though he tried to mate with her and she was done with all that for now so she probably attacked him, which scared the piss outta him, and the chaos began. It appears he has carefully worked himself back into her good graces, and they were together when I woke this morning, he was cleaning her neck like he does. Another thing I have recently noticed, is that the male was a little jealous of my relationship with the female for the last month. She would climb up in my hands and close her eyes while I pet her head, or if she was having difficult time laying her eg I would gently rub her tummy and she loved that. So he has been getting a bit more dominant with her, and even tried to challenge me once but he backed off. I think she just got mad at him trying to dominate and I didn't see it. She is a few weeks older than him and slightly bigger, so when she attacked him back, I think it scared him. I've kept it really ZEN in here since yesterday evening. Low lighting, as quiet as possible. Seems to be getting back to normal. They are very spoiled quail. Diet of live mealworms every day, fresh plants and milkweeds, quail and dove seed feed, fresh water every day, oyster shells for calcium, vitamins. They get pet and loved on every day and have been very happy. Just crazy yesterday like they lost it, I dunno. But I think for two quail they have a pretty good life and their area is pretty big with 2 stories and the upper level is dark and has black light heat lamp, the rest on the bottom is 4 ft long and 3 ft high. I've seen so many people having much smaller areas with way more than 2 birds. Do you really think that is too small for them? Everyone else I've spoken to said that is way plenty of room. Do they need more? Thanks for the help by the way. But I am not giving my babies up. We are close. Just freaked me out and was hoping for some help figuring out why this suddenly happened.