I have had another thread recently as 1 of my 6 quail hens was attacked by another and had eye and head injuries - her name is Barley. I wasn't sure whether to start a new thread or continue on from the previous one so sorry if I've gone with the wrong option.
Barley has been in a carrier by herself for about a week but now recovered and desperate to get out of the carrier so on Friday, I re-introduced her to the group. At the time, I rearranged everything and added in some new hidey places. The area is about 7ft by 3.5ft and they had been living happily for 3 months together. My 6 hens are: 2 standard coturnix colouring (one of these is Barley, who was injured), 1 Jumbo, 1 Tibetan and 2 Tuxedo.
When I first re-introduced Barley, everything seemed fine but relations deteriorated the next day. The Jumbo now pecks at either of the two standard colouring quails whenever they go past but doesn't seek them out to peck at them - I've never seen this before the reintroduction. The other standard hen (her name is Buttercup) and one of the Tuxedos have become aggressive towards Barley and have started chasing her round and pecking her either on the back of the head or the back of the body. She sometimes gets some periods of calm when everyone is relaxed or she can find a hiding place but it does seem to be getting worse.
Buttercup does often seem agitated. She does this thing where she runs up and down alongside the wall and will run over / on top of any quail that is sat next to the wall. She spends a lot of time running up and down, taking breaks to chase Barley around and peck at her. I was wondering if this behaviour might have something to do with the aggression? Our garden is quite small and there is a fair bit of noise around - cars, dogs barking, building works etc. which I can't really do anything about.
The Tuxedo is quite different in that she is quite bolshy - she is always at the door when I come in and often pecks my feet etc and doesn't seem afraid of anything or bothered by noise so maybe one is copying the other with attacking Barley?
As far as I can make out, they are all hens - I've never heard any crowing or seen any mating behaviours. Barley and Buttercup look like hens from their feathers.
So, I am thinking about what to do next - is it possible this is just them getting reacquainted and things will settle down? I have sat in there with a water spray, spraying the culprits when they attack which I could continue doing but obviously can't do this indefinitely and things seem calmer when I'm not in there.
I could set up some kind of partition and put Barley in with one of the two who have not gotten involved but this would be quite difficult logistically. I've also thought about a separate rabbit hutch but she wouldn't have as much space and deep litter would not be as easy to do and that would be potentially expensive.
Another factor is that I am in the process of setting up an outdoor run for them with a little tunnel which could mix things up enough to stabilise relations but I don't know how much use they will get from that over the winter.
Thank you for reading this essay
I would be very grateful for any suggestions or ideas.
Barley has been in a carrier by herself for about a week but now recovered and desperate to get out of the carrier so on Friday, I re-introduced her to the group. At the time, I rearranged everything and added in some new hidey places. The area is about 7ft by 3.5ft and they had been living happily for 3 months together. My 6 hens are: 2 standard coturnix colouring (one of these is Barley, who was injured), 1 Jumbo, 1 Tibetan and 2 Tuxedo.
When I first re-introduced Barley, everything seemed fine but relations deteriorated the next day. The Jumbo now pecks at either of the two standard colouring quails whenever they go past but doesn't seek them out to peck at them - I've never seen this before the reintroduction. The other standard hen (her name is Buttercup) and one of the Tuxedos have become aggressive towards Barley and have started chasing her round and pecking her either on the back of the head or the back of the body. She sometimes gets some periods of calm when everyone is relaxed or she can find a hiding place but it does seem to be getting worse.
Buttercup does often seem agitated. She does this thing where she runs up and down alongside the wall and will run over / on top of any quail that is sat next to the wall. She spends a lot of time running up and down, taking breaks to chase Barley around and peck at her. I was wondering if this behaviour might have something to do with the aggression? Our garden is quite small and there is a fair bit of noise around - cars, dogs barking, building works etc. which I can't really do anything about.
The Tuxedo is quite different in that she is quite bolshy - she is always at the door when I come in and often pecks my feet etc and doesn't seem afraid of anything or bothered by noise so maybe one is copying the other with attacking Barley?
As far as I can make out, they are all hens - I've never heard any crowing or seen any mating behaviours. Barley and Buttercup look like hens from their feathers.
So, I am thinking about what to do next - is it possible this is just them getting reacquainted and things will settle down? I have sat in there with a water spray, spraying the culprits when they attack which I could continue doing but obviously can't do this indefinitely and things seem calmer when I'm not in there.
I could set up some kind of partition and put Barley in with one of the two who have not gotten involved but this would be quite difficult logistically. I've also thought about a separate rabbit hutch but she wouldn't have as much space and deep litter would not be as easy to do and that would be potentially expensive.
Another factor is that I am in the process of setting up an outdoor run for them with a little tunnel which could mix things up enough to stabilise relations but I don't know how much use they will get from that over the winter.
Thank you for reading this essay
I would be very grateful for any suggestions or ideas.
