Grieving Coturnix Quail

[Adele6798]

Hi. A couple weeks ago one of my quails had a heart attack and died. His mate stopped laying and began to cry out for him (though I believe this is normal). I had raised these quails by hand from when they were 2 days old and they are very used to handling. In fact they like patting. However after this quail died the female started to act strange and she started making strange calls whenever I went to pick her up.

I couple months ago I got 3 more quails as I only had the two and i didn't want her to get exhausted. I started slowly moving them in together but after the male died his mate began to fight with the other quails. Now they are all in separate enclosures and I don't know what to do.

Please help.

 

[DK newbie]

When you say you started 'slowly moving them in together', what exactly did you do?
For now, you should probably just house them where they can see each other. Once you decide to try to put them together again, you should do so in a cage that is new to all of them - if anyone sees the cage as their territory, they will try to fight off strangers.

 

[Adele6798]

What I meant by "slowly moving them in together" was I put them in together to observe their behaviour for a short period then removed them if fighting started. I don't have to much room so having them in a situation where they can see each other is difficult but thank-you for the advice.

Is there any way I could help my quail return to normal as she is still quite distressed?

 

[JeremyS]

When you say you started 'slowly moving them in together', what exactly did you do?
For now, you should probably just house them where they can see each other. Once you decide to try to put them together again, you should do so in a cage that is new to all of them - if anyone sees the cage as their territory, they will try to fight off strangers.

totally! Ive had this problem in the past, I found out the female did better on her own for a few months then I introduced them in a new cage at the same time. Just try and keep a look out for what they do whatever you deciede to do.

Jezz