Aggressive males?

[glewis121]

This morning i went out to check on the quail and grab their eggs.

One of the females is missing a bunch of feathers on her back where the males usually bite.

She was also protecting one VERY large egg! Will post pics of her and the egg later. She didnt want me to take her egg either.

I also noticed one of the males mounting another female---something that i havent seen before.


I have 9 coturnix in an area 10x2x2 ft. they are in the garage until the new cages in the coop are finished. they have artificial light for 14 hours a day.

I was wondering if i should isolate her or how or why this happened?

Thanks and pics coming later.

 

[miss_thenorth]

What is your male to female ratio? Quail will peck at you regardless of having an egg or not--at least mine do. And themales grab the females by the back of the headand mount on the backs. If your hens are being over bred, they will lose feathers. which brings me to my first question.

 

[glewis121]

my ratio is 3 to 6 a little low was 3 to 7 but lost a female due to a raccoon early on. I know this low but they have a lot of room and i thought that that would be ok? no?

 

[saddina]

3 males to 6 females is only 2 girls per male... I;d guess that she's being overbred and you will want to remove 1-2 males.

 

[canter6]

Your pen floor space is 2X more than adequate! No issue there.

Your roo to hen ratio is not optimal, but I see no issue there, and because you have so few birds to begin with. Don't cull any roos.

Missing feathers on breeding coturnix is like going to a beach and finding sand. No blood, no problem!

Some hens and even roos react to humans in what seams to be a very aggressive manor. It could be vestigial broodiness, but it has been my experience, that it has nothing to do with eggs. They were just reacting to me, and engaging me. Other than a first degree scratch, they can't hurt you, so no need to isolate the offending bird. Coturnix can deal serious blows to their own kind, but they are no match for normal human skin.

 

[glewis121]

thanks for the advice. i am just going to keep a close eye on her.

There was a little blood but just where the feathers were ripped out i think...

Lets hope the next hatch has more females!

So these ones can move to the dinner table!