Coturnix Quail - The Good and The Bad

[Henrietta23]

I came home from church to find one of my female coturnix with a bloody head and blood all over everybody else. These have been together since hatching and we haven't seen any problems before today. I'm wondering if they're hitting quail puberty or something. I think they're about 6 weeks old? I separated the injured one and she's eating and drinking. I think they may need more space than they have in their temporary home. I had the opportunity to observe them today and it seems one of the females may be bullying the others. We'll be building their outdoor facility this week. The sooner the better. What a mess! I can't imagine what that must have been like for you Miss P. Well, I have a slightly better idea after this morning. Ew!

 

[monarc23]

Since I saw this post back up, I thought i'd update.

I now have 2 button quail in with my batch of coturnix and no problems.

Both are hens and theres nooo issues. I wouldnt reccomend it for anyone else as I'm taking a risk to my BQs doing this but since I'm keepin those two BQ's outdoors this winter I decided if they'd do okay together then they'd stay warmer with more body heat.

My Coturnix are now almost 8 weeks old, no problems, no fighting nada.

I feel blessed after all the problems others seem to have with bloody heads and what not. I really wonder if room is a factor. My guys have a lot of room and have an indoor and an outdoor area...not sure if this makes a difference but i've had no problems as of yet, but will update if i ever do.

They will be separated into trios once spring arives so I can do selective matings.

My oldest button quail hen is the only one who seems to be the boss of the whole flock. If one of the much larger than her coturnix are eating some thing she wants she runs over does this clucking growl, and pecks at their meal until they let it go and yelk like (eek sorry)!

No blood shed, just a spit spat over a tidbit.

I love my coturnix, and to anyone considering raising them, and who are being detered by the possibility of them fighting and hurting and killing eachother. Just look at it this way, chickens can do the same to eachother, just keep a good eye on your birds, try to keep space comfortable enough for them and if you notice any bullies take them out of the pen to see if it minimizes any problems. Just saying, don't omit them from your future plans if you're really interestd in them they're great little birds. Mine dont mind being petted, and eat out of my hand and even "perch" on my hands. They call for me when they see me coming up with food for them, they're just my lil babies and I Love them dearly and wouldnt want to see someone else miss out on the cuties so don't be detered!

 

[Henrietta23]

I agree that the issues I had here are most likely related to not quite enough space and I think I'm seeing them "mature" at this time. I enjoy them like crazy too. My little girl who was injured is still isolated but strong and eating and drinking well. Her wounds don't look to be too bad. I tried dabbing at her with a warm moist wash cloth to see if I could clean her up a bit but she got so squirmy I was worried she'd injure herself worse so I'm leaving her alone and watching them all very carefully. I noticed the males are making a slightly different noise than they were last week. Kind of a chattering that goes on for a long time then they make the noise they've been making. They sure are interesting little birds!

 

[danny40]

I introduce quails into established cages at night. Grab out your torch and do it just after dusk. The females tend to get along well. A couple of other attempts failed when a mob of adult birds were mixed with a mob of immature birds, huge battles erupted. It was resolved with a quick cull and a very delicious meal.