Hi there I need some advice on how to proceed.
I have 6 quail hens in a 3' by 4' cage off the ground and bellow them one male they are inside my garden shed with 3 windows. I have had them since the end of April and some End of May 2020 with no problems ,all hens together. There is a much bigger cage being built by my husband. At the same location. I use wood chips for bedding and recommended by the feed store layer feed for game birds. I haven't been able to see them on a consistent basis since the end of September due to nausea in pregnancy and also being sick. My teenagers were sent to check on them twice a day, change water and make sure they had food. With occasional visits from DH. Unfortunately no one cleaned the cage since September. I made sure extra lighting was installed due to the shortened daylight time but can't get a clear answer wether it was turned on consistently.
Now to the issue, about a week and a half ago DH found one of the hens outside the cage on the shed floor ,assumed that the kids left the cage open and put her back. This past Saturday one of the birds while running away from a bully flew into the feed container. And the kids reported bullying. On Wednesday I finally managed to get myself together and came out to clean the cages. It seems that since Sunday most of the hens were attacked, while the bigger Pharaohs just have some ruffled feathers ,there are 2 smaller brown that have all their head feathers missing with more feathers missing on their back. One of them has crusted blood on the top of her head and another has both eyes swollen shut. I removed the offender into a separate cage. How can I help my hurt hens survive? And any suggestions as to preventing this from happening again. The offender is attacking me as well. I did notice some weird coloured poop when I was cleaning. Does it mean they got sick? Do you think this bully is the one that was left out of the cage and picked up something that made her go crazy?
I wish I felt well enough to be there earlier, but now I have to mitigate the damage and solve this.
I have 6 quail hens in a 3' by 4' cage off the ground and bellow them one male they are inside my garden shed with 3 windows. I have had them since the end of April and some End of May 2020 with no problems ,all hens together. There is a much bigger cage being built by my husband. At the same location. I use wood chips for bedding and recommended by the feed store layer feed for game birds. I haven't been able to see them on a consistent basis since the end of September due to nausea in pregnancy and also being sick. My teenagers were sent to check on them twice a day, change water and make sure they had food. With occasional visits from DH. Unfortunately no one cleaned the cage since September. I made sure extra lighting was installed due to the shortened daylight time but can't get a clear answer wether it was turned on consistently.
Now to the issue, about a week and a half ago DH found one of the hens outside the cage on the shed floor ,assumed that the kids left the cage open and put her back. This past Saturday one of the birds while running away from a bully flew into the feed container. And the kids reported bullying. On Wednesday I finally managed to get myself together and came out to clean the cages. It seems that since Sunday most of the hens were attacked, while the bigger Pharaohs just have some ruffled feathers ,there are 2 smaller brown that have all their head feathers missing with more feathers missing on their back. One of them has crusted blood on the top of her head and another has both eyes swollen shut. I removed the offender into a separate cage. How can I help my hurt hens survive? And any suggestions as to preventing this from happening again. The offender is attacking me as well. I did notice some weird coloured poop when I was cleaning. Does it mean they got sick? Do you think this bully is the one that was left out of the cage and picked up something that made her go crazy?
I wish I felt well enough to be there earlier, but now I have to mitigate the damage and solve this.
