Will my quails ever get on!

[beckym100]

Hi

I brought five quails a couple of months ago, and then found out one was a boy, so gave him back to the person I brought them from, as he was hassling one of the girls.

So now i have 4 girls and all seemed good, i moved then into there summer house, and one then got a peck on the head, I thought this was them settling it, then i had to move them back into there winter house (the shed) as we had some bad weather. They are now back outside (a 6' by 2' run) and seem to be fighting again, the one that got peaked on the head bald patch is getting bigger and one of the others wing is now in an odd position!

However, when I watched them all seemed well, until this morning when I watched them early in the morning and one was chasing the bald head one and being annoying to the others.

I don't know what to do - any ideas?

thanks
Becky

 

[The Quail Guru]

Hmm... how much space do they have? I'de had the same problem and the cause was that they didn't have much space, though I thought they did because they have 1 square foot of floor space each but I guess 1 square foot isn't enough. Try removing one or two and see how the rest get along with more space maybe? Also what is the housing you give them? rabbit hutch? rodent cage? etc.

 

[The Quail Guru]

Oh you could also break the space up with rocks and add some hiding spots (hamster huts) in their cage. The reason for this is so that when they get chased/attacked they have somewhere to retreat to, you get what I mean?

 

[cactusrota]

All the quails I've had, I would either get those fabric/fake silk plants that you can get for aquariums or floral arrangements, or some pine or fir branches, and place them to mimic bushes. Quail in the wild spend alot of time running around under/inside bushes, so I figured it would feel more comfortable to them. I even did it with my button quails. It always seemed to make a world of difference. If that doesn't work you'll have to either remove the bully or the one being picked on.

 

[dc3085]

Once a game bird bleeds even just a little the others will pick on it. At first the picking will be light and not very serious but if the blood continues to flow the other birds will kill it out of instinct. They don't know you don't run out of food, so they don't want to waste any on something that might not heal. Often from these incidents the birds develop a habit of picking feathers. It's very hard to break. Providing cover and all that might make your quail feel more secure, it is not going to solve your problem. You need to remove either the offending hen or the damaged one and place them in a cage right next to their normal cage until the picked feathers can heal. Quail are very territorial, if you don't keep them in full sight of each other during the healing process, they'll reject her, violently.

In these instances it's best to remove the aggressor first and see if the others will get along with the wounded bird without picking on it. If they continue to pick on the bird, then segregate the victim, but again keeping them where they can see each other and communicate is critical to you re integrating her back into the flock once healed. Keep in mind feather picking is a habit and if they develop it, it is almost impossible to stop without sending them to freezer camp.

 

[beckym100]

Thanks I will give more coverage and hiding spaces and see what happens, if I take out the offending quail, do you ever think I will be able to reintroduce. They have got 12 square feet between the 4 of them, I will also get another rabbit cage, just in case I have to separate them.
Thanks for all your help.

 

[dc3085]

Reintroduction is the point of keeping them caged side by side. Your goal is just to get the victims head all healed up first then shuffle them back together. Introducing quail is always easier when you can leave them caged side by side and move them to a third cage none have ever been in. That removes their feeling of 'this is my territory stay out'

 

[cactusrota]

Introducing quail is always easier when you can leave them caged side by side and move them to a third cage none have ever been in. That removes their feeling of 'this is my territory stay out'

Or move things around in the cage you plan on adding quail to right before you add them. It does similar to the same thing by disturbing their territories.

 

[beckym100]

I think I might know where I went wrong, originally I had 2 quails in the run, then introduced 3 more, learnt the hard way that I should not have done this, transferred them all into the shed but separated by netting, after a couple of days they got into each other's area and where fine with each other. It got sunny so thought they would prefer in on the grass so put then back into the run, that's when I think I made the mistake should have just kept the in the shed, but thought it might get to hot for them, but I do leave the door open (quails are secure).

I have now introduced a lot of big conifer branches into the run, and seems to have calmed them down a bit. But what is normal quail behaviour? Do they chase each other about for fun? Or is this all aggression?

I am learning lots on here thank you for all your help.

 

[The Quail Guru]

I have 3 males and 2 females housed in a pretty big pen with hiding spots and the males normally chase each over now and then to show dominance or something. They don't get harmed they just retreat to a hiding spot and the females just walk about.