bobwhites attacking each other!!! help

[funkychickenmom]

So I bought my husband 100 bobwhite quail chicks for his anniversary gift from Strombergs hatchery. They arrived on June 8 so they are 9 weeks old now. One died in shipping and the other 99 tiny little babies seemed fine. Then a few days later we started losing them due to them pecking each others beaks off. We then moved them to a bigger place that is a 7ft long 4 ft wide coop with a 25ft by 4ft run. We now only have 40 of the quail and they seemed to be doing fine since the move for about month. Now we have some who are scalping the others and its not just males I have a few females who are being attacked as well. Does anyone know why they are doing this to each other? Do they not have enough space or are they just really mean birds? They are feed is 25% protein it is call wild game bird starter/grower by Tuckers Mills. I really want to fix what ever the problem maybe my husband is devastated because he has always wanted quail but it is breaking our hearts to lose so many.

 

[DK newbie]

Never had bobwhites, but I've read a bit about them on here, so I might be able to guess a bit.
As I recall, the recommended cage size for bobwhites is 4 square feet per bird. I might be wrong though, but as you have problems and you have a bit above 3 square feet per bird, I find it likely that my memory is correct.
Other than that, places to hide, stuff to break up line of sight and such might help.

Hopefully someone else knows more about it and can tell you what to do.

 

[BaJa]

bobwhites need natural cover to hide play and eat, and plenty of room per bird. in the spring you will want to split them up in pairs, other wise they fight each other to death. hope that helps!!!

 

[Diamond Dan]

Bobs fight alot when hungry or bored and also if crowded. I got 12 in a 3x10 coop. Lots of play mounting hardly any fighting. I noticed when they had places to hide and climb up and over they do fine. But they biggest key is i dump a pile of mulched yard clippings in once a week they spend more time foraging and scratching (BUSY) to kill each other. Old flower pots work well for hides. Hope this helps.

 

[funkychickenmom]

thanks guys will be adding more things for them to do in the coop. sorry it took so long to reply for some reason they keep restricting my activity until I update my email.