HELP - Reintroducing quails

[BillyBeans]

Hey all! Thank you for taking the time to read. I am new to the community, and also new to Quail keeping and raising.

We got our first flock from our neighbours, 1 male and 3 females, all the females were laying when we got them, but I’m not sure exactly how old they are. We noticed one lady was getting picked on quite heavily right off the bat (missing head feathers and scabby, some blood under her wing). We separated her within the larger enclosure to let her rest and hang out for a little (she has no line of sight to the other birds and has healed up nicely, and has been there about 2 weeks) But ultimately, from all the reading I have done, they are social birds and I wanted to integrate her back into the flock, also because the ratio is off and the male might start to overbreed the remaining females?

Yesterday morning we pulled the three birds (1 male and 2 females) to a new cage, cleaned and rearranged the old cage, removed the barrier holding the isolated one back and then put the 3 back in the main enclosure (the one that was isolated that I wanted to integrate was always in the main enclosure, I never moved her into the temporary cage with the others while I cleaned and rearranged things, problem?). Immediately upon integration the same bird was getting picked on, pretty much exclusively by the male, a bit by another female. We removed her and went back to the original setup, but all hell has broken loose with the other three birds now. The male was picking on a different female, and then one of the ladies was beating up badly on him. So currently, they are all separated individually to ovoid injury or worse. I’ve definitely messed with the pecking order, and didn’t do the reintroduction properly. I’m wondering if now I face a whole other problem, as I have separated all 4 birds individually, Or if I should just try again and be patient. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks all!

 

[CliftonQuail]

It sounds like you did the right thing. Out of curiosity, did you wait till after dark to reintegrate them after cleaning the cage? That's the usual suggestion so that they wake up in a "new" place with "new" companions. It doesn't always work. Alternatively, you mentioned that the injured bird didn't have line of sight to/from the other birds. Usually, it's best to allow them to see, but not touch, each other during the isolation time. Quail are social birds and don't like being alone. @Nabiki could probably provide additional suggestions.

PS.

 

[Nabiki]

I agree with @CliftonQuail about putting all of the birds in at night after cleaning and rearranging the pen.

By any chance is the one that is getting picked on a different colour than the rest? Quail will often pick on one if it's different. Do you have any source to pick up a couple more hens as well? Introducing more than a single bird at a time can also be helpful.

Edit:
How much space do they have?
Do they have enough hiding places? Adding a few might help.

 

[Esc_Quaily]

Hello. My situation is slightly different to yours. I'll share what I did. I had 2 hens and 4 cocks. They were all happy together until puberty hit. I removed all the confirmed cocks from the pen and popped them together in a much larger space to see who the main aggressor was. Once detected I segregated him so he could see the other boys but not attack them. The boys calmed down.

I then slowly introduced my hens to the greenhouse in separate pens until they all calmed down. I must admit I didn't do this in the dark, I did it in the evening when there was still light but it was dim. Now I have 4 confirmed hens and a maybe hen in a pen in the greenhouse with 1 confirmed cock and the 3 extra boys roam around the greenhouse where they can see the hens but not attack them. I had 3 in one pen, 3 cocks in a large space together and the aggressor in another pen where he can see everyone but not attack them. Everyone has reintegrate except the aggressor.

Your covey is small so perhaps you could rehome or freeze the cock and let the girls live in harmony? I notice a big difference in serenity if there isn't a rooster around. The hens still lay.

It's recommended to let the segregated hen see the rest of the covey. Can you keep her separate but let her see the others? I think that will help when reintroducing. I remove the birds when I'm cleaning because it makes the task much easier for me and less stressful for the birds.

Did your neighbour say why she needed to rehome them? Perhaps the boy has been mean for a while. Easiest solution is to remove the boy but you're going to get a bit of feather pulling regardless. Hope this helps until someone more experienced comes along.

As a side thought how many feeders and water dispensers do they have? Some birds become territorial over food. You could try adding an extra source in the coop to reduce the risk of attacks.