Adding new quail to flock

[Mantisquailman]

We had 13 hens and 2 roos in a large aviary. We hatched some more and added them at 4 weeks old per a few expert recommendations. We noticed the head roo was extremely rough and attacking old and new quail. So we culled him and his beat up other roo because he had a extra long curled beak and crowed constantly. Then noticed one of the hens took over pecking order top bird. She would pick on the newbies as they ran by. Its mellowed out now and I'm seeing less and less bullying. But now my hens went from 13 eggs a day to
8, then 5 and then 3 yesterday. Now zero today.... So I knew they would be upset and stressed over the changes. How long do they typically strike for? Thanks for any input.

 

[WhiteCollarWeezy]

Try giving them a little cover, like a tree branch. Mine tend to lay much better if they have a "safe" spot, where they don't feel so intimidated.

 

[WhiteCollarWeezy]

May last a couple days or a couple weeks. Depends...whenever they are less stressed they will return 2 "normal"

 

[Nabiki]

It may help if you remove all of the birds then clean and rearrange their aviary before adding new birds. This may reduce the aggression but might not affect the interruption in egg laying. Put all of the birds into the aviary at night if you can. That way they wake up on equal footing.

 

[Mantisquailman]

Try giving them a little cover, like a tree branch. Mine tend to lay much better if they have a "safe" spot, where they don't feel so intimidated.

They have plenty of hides and I added new ones for the new girls.

 

[Mantisquailman]

It may help if you remove all of the birds then clean and rearrange their aviary before adding new birds. This may reduce the aggression but might not affect the interruption in egg laying. Put all of the birds into the aviary at night if you can. That way they wake up on equal footing.

I did clean it, put down fresh bedding, rearranged and added new hides before adding the newbies.

 

[Nabiki]

I did clean it, put down fresh bedding, rearranged and added new hides before adding the newbies.

It sounds like you did all of the right things, including culling the bully. Give them a week or two, and they should be back to laying normally.