Sunny_Quail
Hatching
- Dec 16, 2021
- 1
- 0
- 2
Hi everyone. I have 3 coturnix quails, 1 roo named Sunny, 2 hens named Omelette and Benny. I am keeping them as pets and for eggs only.
They all hatched at the same time and have been raised together until they were ~6 weeks old.
That's when one of the hen started bullying the other hen.
Sunny is the roo and he crows but very rarely until I moved him away from Omelette.
One day when they were about 6 weeks old, I noticed that Omelette was chasing Benny around and pecking at her. And I've noticed this a few times before but didn't make much of it. Benny seemed so stressed out and tries to jump out of their enclosure and peck at the walls all the time trying to get away.
So I separated Benny and moved her into her own box. And I would move Sunny around to live with Omelette one day, and go live with Benny the other day.
They were still in the same bedroom in my house so they can hear each other but not see. Sunny only rarely crows when he's around Omelette.
I did this for about a week until while building their permanent enclosure.
The new enclosure is 8 sq ft with a cardboard box in the middle for a hiding spot. The new enclosure is in my garage (just down the hall from the bedroom).
They are about 7 weeks old now, and I moved Sunny and Benny into the new enclosure first. I let them live there for a few days first. I rarely saw Sunny try to mount Benny. Omelette is living by herself since the others moved. Every morning, Sunny would crow A LOT, and Omelette would call back. Sunny and Omelette are in different rooms in the house now.
Last night, I decided to introduce Omelette into the new enclosure hoping that everyone will get along again. The new enclosure is much bigger than their old one and have hiding spot so they can't see each other all the time. I have extra food and water dispensers too.
Sunny was so 'happy' to see Omelette and mounts her immediately. Omelette was in a new space so she wasn't bullying Benny or anything.
This morning Sunny didn't crow at all. Not a peep.
When I went to check on them, Sunny and Omelette are on one side of the cage while Benny is on the opposite side by herself. Sunny was mounting Omelette and then Omelette was chasing Benny. And Benny seems so stressed out again, pecking at the cage walls and trying to jump and get out like she did before.
Benny only gets stressed out when Omelette is in the same space as her, she didn't act like that when only Sunny was in the enclosure. But Sunny would crow A LOT for Omelette.
Are Sunny and Omelette a bonded pair and can't tolerate Benny living with them? Would adding in more hens help?
Sunny is A LOT more interested in Omelette than Benny. Is that making Omelette stressed and taking it out on Benny?
There has been no bleeding or any serious damage, but it is so hard to see Benny super stressed out and trying to escape all the time.
Thank you for reading and please let me know if you have any ideas.
They all hatched at the same time and have been raised together until they were ~6 weeks old.
That's when one of the hen started bullying the other hen.
Sunny is the roo and he crows but very rarely until I moved him away from Omelette.
One day when they were about 6 weeks old, I noticed that Omelette was chasing Benny around and pecking at her. And I've noticed this a few times before but didn't make much of it. Benny seemed so stressed out and tries to jump out of their enclosure and peck at the walls all the time trying to get away.
So I separated Benny and moved her into her own box. And I would move Sunny around to live with Omelette one day, and go live with Benny the other day.
They were still in the same bedroom in my house so they can hear each other but not see. Sunny only rarely crows when he's around Omelette.
I did this for about a week until while building their permanent enclosure.
The new enclosure is 8 sq ft with a cardboard box in the middle for a hiding spot. The new enclosure is in my garage (just down the hall from the bedroom).
They are about 7 weeks old now, and I moved Sunny and Benny into the new enclosure first. I let them live there for a few days first. I rarely saw Sunny try to mount Benny. Omelette is living by herself since the others moved. Every morning, Sunny would crow A LOT, and Omelette would call back. Sunny and Omelette are in different rooms in the house now.
Last night, I decided to introduce Omelette into the new enclosure hoping that everyone will get along again. The new enclosure is much bigger than their old one and have hiding spot so they can't see each other all the time. I have extra food and water dispensers too.
Sunny was so 'happy' to see Omelette and mounts her immediately. Omelette was in a new space so she wasn't bullying Benny or anything.
This morning Sunny didn't crow at all. Not a peep.
When I went to check on them, Sunny and Omelette are on one side of the cage while Benny is on the opposite side by herself. Sunny was mounting Omelette and then Omelette was chasing Benny. And Benny seems so stressed out again, pecking at the cage walls and trying to jump and get out like she did before.
Benny only gets stressed out when Omelette is in the same space as her, she didn't act like that when only Sunny was in the enclosure. But Sunny would crow A LOT for Omelette.
Are Sunny and Omelette a bonded pair and can't tolerate Benny living with them? Would adding in more hens help?
Sunny is A LOT more interested in Omelette than Benny. Is that making Omelette stressed and taking it out on Benny?
There has been no bleeding or any serious damage, but it is so hard to see Benny super stressed out and trying to escape all the time.
Thank you for reading and please let me know if you have any ideas.
