button quail's legs are in trouble!

[Johnchickens2]

I have 4 button quails. 1 male and 3 females. There is a big problem. The females always peck the male's legs! the legs started to bleed. He cant walk so well and got injured. why do the females peck his legs? and what should I do? It may be because of the leg's color? maybe the orange color atracts them?

 

[DK newbie]

First thing to do is separate the male so his legs can heal. Once blood is present they are likely to keep pecking till he dies.
As for the reason - do you feed them meal worms? Or could they have been given meal worms where you got them from? According to some sources, feeding meal worms can cause toe picking. Is it actually the legs they are picking or is it the toes? Could you post a picture of his legs?

 

[Johnchickens2]

 

[Johnchickens2]

 

[Johnchickens2]

 

[Johnchickens2]

No. I dont feed them any worms.
I took him out. I dont know what to do now..

 

[DK newbie]

He looks a lot better than I feared. I think I see a single little wound? Anyway, better to keep him separated till that is gone, to avoid drawing the interest of the girls. I'd just put him right beside them - preferably even inside their enclosure, but separated from the others by a single layer of wire mesh. That way they shouldn't call too much, be too stressed by the separation nor be difficult to reintroduce.
Do you feed them anything that has the color of his legs? Carrots? Oranges? I don't see anything particularly interesting about them, but the girls might see something I don't. Are they getting everything they need from their feed or what are you feeding them? I guess a deficiency could cause them to look for alternative feed sources.

It looks like the roo is missing a couple of toe nails, do you know if he was like that when you got him?

 

[Johnchickens2]

First let me thank you for your help.
I dont feed them anything orange.
I do know they get everything they need from their food.
That's how I got this male. he doesnt have some nails.
the wound in his leg is really small, but he still cant walk properly.
I hope his legs didnt get broken or anything like that. He cant run as he did before.

 

[DK newbie]

I hope he gets better being separated. I doubt the wound itself is preventing him from walking, but it could of cause be infected without showing on the picture (I'd feel for any warm spots along the leg to rule this out).
I recently had a hen with a bad leg - she could walk but didn't put her full weight on the leg so she was just wobbling along. She also got poop on her but - not sure why, but maybe she didn't stand straight when pooping so it got stuck in her feathers? Anyway it didn't get better in 3 weeks so I ended up having her put down

 

[Johnchickens2]

Hello... He looks calmer but still cant run.
I had a similar case in the past, I had a quail chick who got poop on his but. I called a Vet and he told me to take off, actually tear off, all the feathers that close to the but, and all the feathers that got poop on them, near the but. It worked perfect!! he got better and better and completly healed and his feathers grew again. I bet it was really hurt to him, but on the other hand, that saved him.