Aggressive hen in trio

[rainybird]

About a week ago we bought 3 Coturnix hens. 2 were 7 weeks old and had been living together since hatching, and the third was 10 weeks old, and had been living with birds its own age until she came home with us.

The oldest hen seems to have some issues with aggression. She definitely is a hen (I watched her pop out an egg not 10 minutes ago), but she seems to spend a fair amount of time pacing back and forth along the wire sides of their hutch pecking at the wire. I tried blocking off her favorite side, so she couldn't see the grass outside the hutch, but that just made her switch to the opposite side and continue the behavior.

She's also been grabbing the legs and trying to peck the eyes of only one of the other hens. She leaves one of them alone completely and doesn't seem bothered by it, but you can never tell when she's going to attack the other bird. The bullied bird is starting to spend a lot of time huddled by herself when the older bird is around.

I can imagine that they're all still settling in and establishing a pecking order but she just doesn't seem content. She has plenty of space and enrichment, and when she's not pacing and pecking she behaves exactly as the other two do. Does anyone have any idea why she might be so worked up? And if there's anything I can do to calm her down? I'm a first time quail owner so I'm honestly at a bit of a loss.

 

[kingmt]

Sounds like she is home sick.

 

[Bengt747]

Some of my quail (both Coturnix and button) have exhibited this pacing, erratic behavior. By continuing to provide ample space and enrichment (particularly dust bathing material and food substances), the behavior will likely slow or cease. I wouldn't be too worried about it.

If, however, the hen continues picking on the other birds, I would remove the "bullying hen" from the cage. Give the younger hens time to recuperate, and allow the older hen to recognize its need for flock interaction. At minimum, I would leave them separated for 7-10 days, or until the hen that was picked on starts to regain feathers on its head, any wounds heal, etc.

After spending some time off by itself, hopefully the older hen will come to her senses and settle into the flock.

Best of luck!