Bobwhites with Foot Fetish......HELLLLPPPP

[LostinQuailLand]

Ok All the quail gurus (JJMR LOL) My new hatchlings about three to four days old have developed a nasty foot fetish. There are two who have pecked the feet and hocks of the others bloody. Two questions well maybe more. One, what do I treat the bloody quail with? Two....what to do with the gremlin quail (cat food maybe JOKING) and three can I give the baby quail apples to peck at with hopes this will deter them?

 

[Robo]

Separate them, and put paroxide on their feet.

 

[Kwartel]

I know that lowering the temperature a little can help stop them from pecking each other. They get more concerned with staying warm than eating each other.

 

[JJMR794]

A Seperate Them
B Lower The Temp And Switch To Red Light For Heat If Not Already Using It
C They Need More Space--- Cramped Quarters Is The #2 Reason Bobs Get Agressive (#1 Is Because They Are Bobs

)
D Cleanse The Wnd With Warm Water And Leave It Alone After That, Or If You Simply Cannot Resist The Urge To Doctor Them Spray Them With Wound Cote Or Blue Kote
E For Really Bad Cases Of Agression It May Be Necessary To Deprive Them Of Light--- (not Heat Light, Seeing Light) Place Them In A Dark Environment With Only Red Heat Lamp For Warmth
F Feed Them Gamebird Starter Only Until 1/2 Grown And Never Ever Ever Ever Under Penalty Of Death Give Young Bobs Anything That Even Resembles A Worm--- No Pasta, No Meal Worms No Red Wigglers Etc... They Are Prone To Attacking Each Others Lower Extremities To Start With And Providing These Items For Treats Only Magnifies This Trait--- You Can Give Them These Items Once Grown And In A Stable Covey Environment

I Dont Recomend Any Treats At This Age As They Need High Protien Feed And As Much Of It As They Can Ingest--- Giving Lower Protien Alternatives Will Only Delay Or Stunt Growth And May Even Make Weak Or Sickly Birds As Well As Deprive Them Of Their Full Growth Potential And Upset Their Digestive Tract Or Cause Constipation, Dehydration, Or Metabolic Imbalances.

Do Not Grind Food For Bobs- They Dont Particularly Care For "dust" Or Fine Food Particles, Give Them Crumble Strait From The Bag From Hatch On... If You Like You Can Give Them Moist Mash For Starting Babies, But Dry Dust Is Usually Not Prefered By Bobs.

What Type Of Brooder And Flooring Are You Using?

 

[LostinQuailLand]

Quote:
Well here goes my long winded scenario and answers to your questions:

I've already seperated the meaner ones of this latest bunch. However, I do have 10 very sore babies in one brooder. They actually resemble Flamingos standing on one foot. Ive cleaned all the wounds with warm water, however, one of the little ones area seems to be swelling. Any suggestions?

I always use red lights for heat and have lowered the temps in all brooders.

I use 90 quart containers (plastic bins) like these however these ARE NOT MINE

with meshed tops inverted. My first time ever hatching bobwhites I had 12 in each brooder with no problems what so ever. NO fights, no fetishes, no bullying. They were so angelic and I kept them in there until they got their feathers. The flooring on the brooders have paper towels and two have shelf liner ontop of the paper towels (see later comment)

My set up is as follows:

Hova Bator as my incubator. I date each egg for the date of potential hatching. 23 days for bobwhites. I am usually right on the money but have had early and late hatches.

LG for my hatcher: I move eggs three days prior to hatch date.

As for brooders:

Have 1 brooder for the 1st set of chicks from this go round. They now have feathers. There have never been any fights amongst these. There are four in there.

Have 1 brooder for the "Lone Wolf" who is very neurotic and peeps and runs about the cage like a monster. Im sure that he/she is lonely but did it to himself/herself. He is alone because he killed all his siblings, or at least that is what I think he did as he pecked their feet and I found him dragging them around by the neck. Hopefully, when he gets a little more size on him/her I can incorporate him/her into another covey. Not banking on it though but willing to try.

Have 1 brooder as the "medical unit" now. This has the injured feet babies in it. Less the four bullies from that hatching. There are 10 in here. Ive added the shelf liner on top of the paper towles to help with support.

Have 1 brooder as my nursery. 5 fresh from the hatcher in here. Had to remove one because he ws bullying and he was only 1 day old. Grabbing feet and necks of the others in the nursery. All from the same hatching date.

Have 1 brooder of bullies. this one has five babies. Four from one hatching and one from the hatching the day after the four were hatched

they are in a large bedroom in my home with a constant room temperature and proper ventaliation and such

My largest birds are in a pen in the garage, nothing but them in there no cars cans or fumes of any kind. Only had one incident of them bullying another and I seperated the one that was being picked on and all is well in there. These will be moved to the "BIG QUAIL HOUSE" on the farm as soon as its complete.

I never give any of my birds worms of any kind. I kinda figured it would make them go after their family members feet thinking they were worms too.

I started out using Southern States Game bird starter food with my first covey and quickly ended that when I started finding bugs after one week of use in the feed. Some guru of Quail suggested I use Purina Starter and that is what I did, took a while to find it, but this is a wonderful product.

I did grind the food a bit for the new babies, not into powder but close. However, I will start making a mash for the first few days with the regular starter food on the side for those chicks who like variety (LOL).

What else? sorry to have written so much but I wanted to you to know everything that I could think of

Thank you again for the advice and help everyone....

 

[LostinQuailLand]

Oh forgot to ask...What about adding some branches in the little ones brooders? Think it will give them something else to peck at?

 

[_Randall_]

Quote:
It may not be so much "something else to peck" but, it will be a place for the victim(s) to get away from their attacker(s). I keep a small pile of limbs (with foliage) in all my Bob pens. It will give you a chance to notice the violence in time (most times), and get them out of there into a rehab pen to recover. Like it's been said by others, Bobs can be unbelieveably mean........some target the feet, some target the nostrils, some target the backs of the head/neck...........there's no prevention other than seperation - sometimes temporarily until healed - sometimes never. That's the rule............and rarely the exception!

 

[JJMR794]

Everything Looks Good, If This Is A Chronic Problem Cool Them Down (seems As Tho Its Hard To Go Take A Jab At Morty Over There By The Water Font When You're Cold...) Do Not Allow Them To Huddle, But Decrease The Temperature Inside Your Brooder To Get As Close To This Huddle Threshold As Possible. Also Deprive Them Of White Light--- Darken The Bedroom Your Using To Brood Them In And Give Them Only Red Light For Warmth--- Basically No Seeing Light. As Randall Suggests "hides" Are Always A Good Idea With Any Aggressive Gamebird. Maybe Not Branches Per Se' But Some Place They Go Hide From Aggressors--- Tissue Boxes With Entry And Exit Hole Cut In Them, Old Flower Pots, Etc. Branches Will Work Too, But Be Careful Using Branches In A Heated Brooder

As Far As Feed Texture They Can And Will Readily Consume The Purina Crumble In Its Store Bought State Without Needing Grinding. Predominately On Buttons Actually Need Food Ground Up To Smaller Morsels, All Others Usually Handle Crumble Sizes Just Fine.

 

[JJMR794]

Oh Forgot--- Foot Swellings And Wounds Heal Without Trouble In 95% Of The Cases So Long As The Abuse Is Stopped And The Abusee Is Allowed To Rehab

 

[LostinQuailLand]

Thanks again to everyone who has helped. One of the foot injury babies died this morning (late last night). This one had the worse injury. Others are doing well though. The fighters are all happy together and funny thing....they dont fight each other. Guess bullies know who not to bully!

JJMR: Flower Pots? Such as the clay pots?