Abusive quail

[ashlierami]

This is going to probably sound funny but I have an abusive female quail. She is one year old this month. I have 5 quails. 2 males that each have their mate and an elder quail that "borrows" the 2 females I have when he's feeling energetic. My elder quail tends to stay to himself. The female quail that is abusive often beats up her mate and doesn't want him to mate with her. She also doesn't want to be with him in their area and will run him or run away. At times their relationship is great and she is good to him and they don't fight. But at least 3 to 4 days of the week they are fighting and I have to separate them. When she is separate she is with the other make quail I have and there is never a fight. She has hurt her mate a few times by pecking his nose and causing it to bleed and by making him fly and injure his toenail. What could be wrong with her? Why are they always on and off? Why does she not want to be with him? My other male and female quail are one year old as well and they do not ever do this. She is a jumbo brown and her mate is a Texas A&M.

 

[Vampstorso]

I would guess she just doesn't accept him as up to her standard. We are lucky when animals just accept the partner we give them, but it certainly isn't the evolutionary norm. She just isn't wooed by who she was given.

 

[ashlierami]

I would guess she just doesn't accept him as up to her standard. We are lucky when animals just accept the partner we give them, but it certainly isn't the evolutionary norm. She just isn't wooed by who she was given.

Could it be because he is different? I adopted him and his previous owner told me he had a condition in which he turns his head backwards. When I adopted him he was learning to have his head facing the right way but sometimes he turns it back. He eats and drinks and acts normal except that one thing. She was fine with him until about 8 months of age ever since then she goes back and forth.

 

[Binki]

She may have "paired up" with the other male she doesn't fight with, and might eventually put together that bullying the male quail will send her to the other male quail she wants xD

Sounds like she's chosen her mate!

 

[lomine]

I'm assuming these are Coturnix based on the colors you mentioned. They don't usually pair off. Normally you'll have at least 3 females per male.

However, animals are sensitive to the health of other animals. Whatever caused the male to hold his head incorrectly may be genetic and she knows. She doesn't want his genes for her offspring. I'd say let her be with the male she prefers and try finding more females for the other one if you are set on keeping him.

 

[DK newbie]

Actually coturnix do pair off. Research has shown that in aviaries with multiple males and females, certain birds tend to stick to each other much more than to the rest of the birds. As I recall, just about every male in this research project had a favorite female he was much closer to than the rest. Only some of the females had a male they stayed around and I think there was a single female-female pair.
There is even evidence suggesting they might be monogamous in the wild. It just doesn't work that well in captivity usually, as the males tend to over breed single females in the confinements of a cage. This could also cause the female to get mad at him, if she doesn't want to breed anymore and he won't listen.
But whether she has paired off with the other male or just don't like the white one, I can't tell - though I'm tempted to think she doesn't like the white one, as there have been many stories on BYC about regular cots disliking A&Ms.

 

[JaeG]

I've had to remove a female from my all girls group as she was stirring the others up and being very grumpy towards them, pecking and chasing, stressing everyone out. Most of the other girls are her offspring too! I suspect she misses the male she was with before I rearranged everyone but I haven't got the cage space currently to put her back with him. They sure have individual personalities! I have one female that chatters angrily at me, telling me to hurry up and get their food thanks very much! But she's really very sweet, she just doesn't like waiting for her tucker.

 

[lomine]

I would certainly agree that they will find their favorites and "hang out" with them more than the others but I would hesitate to compare some of the mating behavior with those in the wild. The domestication process changes animals from their wild cousins.

I hadn't read anything about them disliking the A&Ms. That's very interesting. I wonder if it has to do with them being more visible, especially to predators.