Females are male aggressive?

[Ruby Rogue]

Wondering if anyone here has experience with this and if there is anything I can do about it.

I had 4 female coturnix in a pen with 1 male. (Indoors, 7.5 sq feet)

They are 14 weeks old. They've each been laying an egg a day for around 5-6 weeks.

About a week ago, the male began constantly mating with the girls, all girls were missing most feathers from the backs of their heads. I removed the male.

A couple of days later, introduced a different male, the girls didn't like him. Found him hiding in a hut with most head feathers gone.

Removed him, introduced another different male. Girls beat him up too.

Re-introduced the original male. Girls beat him up.

Introduced all 3 of the males to the 4 females, came back a couple of hours later, all 3 males were hiding in the hut, afraid of the females.

All of the other quail are fine, I have a pen with 5 females and 1 male that is getting along fine. I have 5 males living together in a large area and they never fight anymore.

What am I gonna do here? I would like fertile eggs from this group.

 

[muddy75]

Wondering if anyone here has experience with this and if there is anything I can do about it.

I had 4 female coturnix in a pen with 1 male. (Indoors, 7.5 sq feet)

They are 14 weeks old. They've each been laying an egg a day for around 5-6 weeks.

About a week ago, the male began constantly mating with the girls, all girls were missing most feathers from the backs of their heads. I removed the male.

A couple of days later, introduced a different male, the girls didn't like him. Found him hiding in a hut with most head feathers gone.

Removed him, introduced another different male. Girls beat him up too.

Re-introduced the original male. Girls beat him up.

Introduced all 3 of the males to the 4 females, came back a couple of hours later, all 3 males were hiding in the hut, afraid of the females.

All of the other quail are fine, I have a pen with 5 females and 1 male that is getting along fine. I have 5 males living together in a large area and they never fight anymore.

What am I gonna do here? I would like fertile eggs from this group.

maybe introduce the females to a male in the bachelor cage (his turf) to see if the dynamic changes. or wait until spring when the testosterone levels increase to try again?? but will most definitely require a change in environment to break the female aggressive tendencies.

 

[Ruby Rogue]

Thanks for the reply.

They were quite frazzled by the original male and seemed discontent, but I didn't expect them to become completely male aggressive savage man haters.

I will definitely try introducing the females to a male in the spring on different turf to see how that plays out.

 

[FloorCandy]

I would put the males in the pen first, mist everything and everyone with vinegar/water, move the furnishings around, and then add 1 hen at a time. Give it a few hours each and see who brings the trouble, I find it’s usually one ring leader who riles everyone up.

 

[Ruby Rogue]

I watched the girlies for a bit and think I did pinpoint an aggressor.

I now have 3 single ladies in a pen, and 1 nasty girl out with 5 boys. They want nothing to do with her.

I'm working on a separate pen to try to better suit myself and the birds.

 

[CovidtimeQuail]

I watched the girlies for a bit and think I did pinpoint an aggressor.

I now have 3 single ladies in a pen, and 1 nasty girl out with 5 boys. They want nothing to do with her.

I'm working on a separate pen to try to better suit myself and the birds.

I like to build pens with dividers. It makes it easier to both separate and integrate them.

 

[Ruby Rogue]

This is the original male... just read the caption on the newspaper. Coincidentally, it fits.

 

[NY Coturnix]

your male to female ratio should be 4 or 5 females to 1 male. If you had a 4 to 1 ratio and wanted to add a new male you should remove the other. Your asking for trouble putting 1 hen in with 4 or 5 males same with 4 hens to 4 male. There will be nothing but fighting and over breeding. Hens may stop laying as well

 

[NY Coturnix]

I like to build pens with dividers. It makes it easier to both separate and integrate them.

Wish I would have done the same. Making screens to try and add to my pens now but it would have been easier had I done that first

 

[Quailobsessed]

I had a group of females who beat up a male as well. I ended up giving them a more dominant male to teach them a lesson. They all get along fine now.

These females though, don't seem to want anything to do with males. Perhaps splitting up the group may help.