Bully quail

[JHCleeve]

Hi all,

Hoping for a bit of advice. I’ve got a group of 6 female jumbo Italians kept in a 12sq foot enclosure. They’re a new group of birds to me, who I’ve had for about a month without any problems and have all been laying an egg a day since they arrived.

This week I noticed that 5 of them have some missing feathers. And that one of the 5 had been pecked to the point of being bloody - she’s been separated out for a couple of days to recover and is already looking much better. Whilst she’s been out the pecking has worsened a bit in the remaining girls.

I have found the perpetrator, the largest of the bunch who has all of her feather in tact. I caught her red handed chasing the others and pecking them. I have the Pecker now separated out in quail jail. How long would you suggest keeping her away from the others before reintroducing? Or is reintroduction futile?

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated!

 

[muddy75]

Hi all,

Hoping for a bit of advice. I’ve got a group of 6 female jumbo Italians kept in a 12sq foot enclosure. They’re a new group of birds to me, who I’ve had for about a month without any problems and have all been laying an egg a day since they arrived.

This week I noticed that 5 of them have some missing feathers. And that one of the 5 had been pecked to the point of being bloody - she’s been separated out for a couple of days to recover and is already looking much better. Whilst she’s been out the pecking has worsened a bit in the remaining girls.

I have found the perpetrator, the largest of the bunch who has all of her feather in tact. I caught her red handed chasing the others and pecking them. I have the Pecker now separated out in quail jail. How long would you suggest keeping her away from the others before reintroducing? Or is reintroduction futile?

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated!

that can be a difficult situation.....you can try reintroduction maybe after rearranging the cage and/or misting birds and cage with a bit of vinegar solution but sometimes the only option for an aggressive bird is to cull.

 

[Fenrisulfr]

In my experience the over-dominat bird will rarely change its behaviour.

Reintroducing (and I put together a lot of new groups last year, for breeding purposes) has a chance of under 10%, from what I had.
All my bully hens started to terrorize the group again, after reintroducing from single conceilment, but of only one.

And second problem is, ... with any new try, the group got more panic.

Introducing into a different group works a little bit better, but it is also difficult.
Kinda Roulette.

 

[CovidtimeQuail]

You might check with the person you got the hens from to see if they have a male you can borrow. It might make a difference in the pecking order and keep peace in the pen. If it does, keep the roo.

Otherwise, I agree with the others that changing behavior is hard. It happens sometimes, but usually only after a major shuffle that puts stress on the other birds.

 

[JHCleeve]

By way of an update, I reintroduced her to the group today and all is calm for the moment. I reorganised the enclosure a bit and put her in a mesh sided box inside the enclosure for a few hours before letting her out so she could acclimatise to being back in the group.

I am keeping a close eye on them in case she starts again.

Thanks for all your suggestions, I am really hoping she’s going to behave herself because she lays a wonderful number of double yolk eggs!

 

[CovidtimeQuail]

In my experience the over-dominat bird will rarely change its behaviour.

Reintroducing (and I put together a lot of new groups last year, for breeding purposes) has a chance of under 10%, from what I had.
All my bully hens started to terrorize the group again, after reintroducing from single conceilment, but of only one.

And second problem is, ... with any new try, the group got more panic.

Introducing into a different group works a little bit better, but it is also difficult.
Kinda Roulette.

Yep, beginning to realize that you either have to cull until you have the group you want, or have enough birds to rearrange at will. Sometimes -- as @JHCleeve has pointed out, something changes and birds that were happy together no longer are. I can see why raising quail is a niche enterprise.