Adjusting to Coop

[BabySteps]

I have (presumably) three roos and seven hen quail that are approx. 8 wks old. I say presumably because they are not laying yet and I am a first timer going off of feather patterns. Jumbo Coturnix. I loved them outdoors a little over a week ago. Today when I went to change their water, two of the hens were trying to get out so badly they made the top of their beaks bleed. Is this typical behavior? What could I do to reduce their stress level? Should I be worried they aren’t laying yet?

 

[Nabiki]

You have too many males, for one. Seven hens will be quite happy with one male. If you have two, they might get along, they might not.

How much space do they have? Do they have plenty of hiding places? The more space and the more hiding places they have, the happier they will be.

 

[BabySteps]

You have too many males, for one. Seven hens will be quite happy with one male. If you have two, they might get along, they might not.

How much space do they have? Do they have plenty of hiding places? The more space and the more hiding places they have, the happier they will be.

They live in 15 sq feet with a 1.5x3 fully enclosed space. Today she was significantly worse so I moved her back into the brooder to heal. He entire head was skinned and the wires were bloody. Will she be okay alone? I need to make a plan for the extra males… I just don’t think I can cull them!

 

[Nabiki]

They live in 15 sq feet with a 1.5x3 fully enclosed space. Today she was significantly worse so I moved her back into the brooder to heal. He entire head was skinned and the wires were bloody. Will she be okay alone? I need to make a plan for the extra males… I just don’t think I can cull them!

Keep her in a dim, warm place while she heals. Are you certain she's a she? That sounds like make on male violence.

 

[BabySteps]

Keep her in a dim, warm place while she heals. Are you certain she's a she? That sounds like make on male violence.

This is my first time raising quail and I have only had them for 8 weeks (got as 3 day old chicks Dec. 29). My only “sexing” has been looking at their breast feathers. If they were redder, I assumed male, and cream with black speckles, I assumed female. Definitely could be wrong though.

 

[FatherFalcon]

If you have them in a cage... try putting a border of cloth/cardboard w'tape around the perimeter a little over their head height... keeps them from peakin out and bumping their beaks cutting their faces as such... on the bars like make do deep bottom hamster cage.

 

[Nabiki]

This is my first time raising quail and I have only had them for 8 weeks (got as 3 day old chicks Dec. 29). My only “sexing” has been looking at their breast feathers. If they were redder, I assumed male, and cream with black speckles, I assumed female. Definitely could be wrong though.

Can you post clear pictures of their heads and breasts? Not all coturnix quail are feather sexable.

 

[BabySteps]

Can you post clear pictures of their heads and breasts? Not all coturnix quail are feather sexable.

Yes. The situation escalated so I now have three injured birds and suspect an aggressive male. I thought there were three and it is all hens that have been injured but one “hen” is reddish on their stomach and with black and cream speckled. I rehomed my two larger males and hope that fixed the problem. They did not show any signs of being in a fight minus a few speckles of blood on one. Otherwise no scratches. Now the injured birds I moved back to the brooder are fighting. These are the best pictures I could get without picking them up and I was worried I would hurt them. All four have the same head injury.

 

[Nabiki]

That definitely looks like quail on quail violence. Once blood has been drawn, they will get pecked at, so it's best to keep them separated until they heal up a bit. The nice thing is, quail heal quite quickly, and they should be healed enough to go back in within a couple of days.

Make sure they have plenty of hiding places, not just one big area to shelter in. The hiding places should have at least two entry/exits so a bird doesn't get trapped in there by a more aggressive bird.