Cannibal Coturnix

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CHickMama4

In the Brooder
May 17, 2019
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Hi everyone- we have coturnix quail. We started out with 4, got 4 more, and now we are down to 3. We lost some to magpies outside. Today I found a really disturbing sight. Two of my quail had their heads sticking out of the cage with open, bloody, wounds. The other one had blood all over her beak and down the front. While I was out there, I saw the one peck at both of the others some more. I even gave them more food because they were out. When I saw the one pecking more at the others, I opened the gate to remove her. She gave the creepiest almost maniacal laugh/sound. I picked her up and moved her to a different pen. My question is: What do I do now? I know I should cull her. The others are barely alive. How should I treat them? This isn’t a case of neglect. They are given food and water regularly. Has anyone ever had this happen? What should I do?
 
Hi there! That's pretty bad but it happens. I had a scalped female recover fine. Separate them, put them on paper towels so you can monitor potential bleeding, give them clean water with electrolytes and vitamins (and a teeny bit of aspirin if you like but look up dosing recs), and there's a chance they'll bounce back.

As to why it's happened, what feed are you using? Lack of protein is a common culprit.
 
Some birds tend to be more territorial than others. Given enough space, hiding places and other things to do (bedding to dig around in, a dust bath, grass clippings, shrubs and branches to hide under - that kind of thing) - and of cause the right feed, as CC mentions - you can usually keep such issues at bay or at least give the other birds a chance to get away from the culprit so it doesn't get too bad.
Once a bird manages to break the skin so the victim starts bleeding, there will be no mercy - they just keep pecking at the blood. Even birds that were not aggressive originally will peck at blood.

Like CC, I've also experienced it once. I had a very dominant hen that was chasing the others around a lot (in an aviary, so they had room to get away - I just grew tired of looking at it) so I put her in a guinea pig cage inside the aviary.
A few days later I though my roo was being too aggressive and put him in with her. Observed them for a few minutes to make sure nothing happened - came back a few hours later and the head of the roo was a bloody mess, looking even worse than yours.
I removed the aggressive female and left the roo in the cage.
He barely moved the first day. The second day he was at least sitting in a different corner of the cage and he showed interest in feed. By the third day all the dried up blood on his head was falling off and I couldn't even tell where the blood had come from. He looked nearly normal except for the lacking feathers and a slight swelling around one eye and was pretty much behaving as usual.
A few days later I put the hen back in the cage and let the roo out to roam the aviary. I later reintroduced the hen to the aviary and whereas she went back to occasionally chasing the others after a week or two, she's never drawn blood while in the aviary.
 
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CoturnixComplex said:
Hi there! That's pretty bad but it happens. I had a scalped female recover fine. Separate them, put them on paper towels so you can monitor potential bleeding, give them clean water with electrolytes
Click to expand...
DK newbie said:
Some birds tend to be more territorial than others. Given enough space, hiding places and other things to do (bedding to dig around in, a dust bath, grass clippings, shrubs and branches to hide under - that kind of thing) - and of cause the right feed, as CC mentions - you can usually keep such issues at bay or at least give the other birds a chance to get away from the culprit so it doesn't get too bad.
Once a bird manages to break the skin so the victim starts bleeding, there will be no mercy - they just keep pecking at the blood. Even birds that were not aggressive originally will peck at blood.

Like CC, I've also experienced it once. I had a very dominant hen that was chasing the others around a lot (in an aviary, so they had room to get away - I just grew tired of looking at it) so I put her in a guinea pig cage inside the aviary.
A few days later I though my roo was being too aggressive and put him in with her. Observed them for a few minutes to make sure nothing happened - came back a few hours later and the head of the roo was a bloody mess, looking even worse than yours.
I removed the aggressive female and left the roo in the cage.
He barely moved the first day. The second day he was at least sitting in a different corner of the cage and he showed interest in feed. By the third day all the dried up blood on his head was falling off and I couldn't even tell where the blood had come from. He looked nearly normal except for the lacking feathers and a slight swelling around one eye and was pretty much behaving as usual.
A few days later I put the hen back in the cage and let the roo out to roam the aviary. I later reintroduced the hen to the aviary and whereas she went back to occasionally chasing the others after a week or two, she's never drawn blood while in the aviary.
Click to expand...
We give them IFA poultry feed that’s what was recommended to us when we got them. DK Newbie: do you suggest I keep them separated until the others are healed and then reintroduce the aggressor?
 
CoturnixComplex said:
Can we see the nutrition label? It needs to have at least 24% protein and high levels of specific vitamins.

That does not look like gamebird feed. You may have gotten a poor recommendation.
Click to expand...
I couldn’t find a nutrition label on it. Looks like I will be heading to the store to get different feed.
 
I wouldn't reintroduce her unless you make some serious changes to their living arrangements. Otherwise there is every chance she'll do it again - that would just be plain animal abuse. But if you can get them off the wire and into a larger and more enriching cage (which I'd recommend anyway) - then yes, I'd probably give her a second chance.
 
DK newbie said:
I wouldn't reintroduce her unless you make some serious changes to their living arrangements. Otherwise there is every chance she'll do it again - that would just be plain animal abuse. But if you can get them off the wire and into a larger and more enriching cage (which I'd recommend anyway) - then yes, I'd probably give her a second chance.
Click to expand...
Definitely. I want to make them a whole new predator proof aviary outside with bushes and vines and places to hide and play. Thanks for your advice.
 

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