Female attacking male

[annapablo]

for the last three days one of my female quails has been viciously attacking the male (i have one male, three females, in a coop 6'x2'). he's taken to hiding at the back of the coop and as soon as you approach, she wakes up and goes straight to the back and starts attacking him. he's lost quite a few feathers already and she's showing no signs of letting off. the other two girls are trying to stay out of the way. any ideas why this might be happening and what i should do? i could segregate one for a day or so, but not permanently. would that help, and which one? thanks.

 

[TwoCrows]

Welcome to the quail forums!

All birds have their personalities and like humans, some quail just don't like other quail. This behavior is probably not going to fix it's self as it stands now, and will most likely get worse and she may go after the others. So I would recommend you give this female a time out for a while. Put her in a separate cage for a while, possibly out of view of the other quail. Keep her isolated for several weeks.

Then in about a month, you can reintroduce her. She will be like the new bird in town and possibly her loneliness will have corrected her behavior. Many times this complete isolation resets the aggression. If she continues to be a bully, then either find others that do get along with her and separate them, rehome her or eat her.

 

[Ntsees]

I've had that experience but to a lesser degree. I bought a trio (1 male and 2 females) a couple years back. Lost the male and bought a new male. When I introduced the new male, the dominant female chased him. Good thing she later stopped. They all got along afterwards.

 

[annapablo]

glad they stopped - did it take long? mine seemed a little better last night, and the vicious one ran over to the eggs as soon as i arrived and then didn't move for 15 minutes, so i wonder if she's just broody and so being vicious to protect the eggs. i left them in, so we'll see if that calms her down!

 

[Ntsees]

glad they stopped - did it take long?

The females aggression ended after a day. But I guess it can vary depending on the temperament of the individual bird as well as the species.