I have a quail problem...

[sniper338]

I got all my new coturnix and A&M quail home, have them in their cages, separated them 1 male to 4 females

I have a 3 young males that are not plumed out or even rusty colored yet and two females that I put together in the last big cage... ( the were left over from the separation of birds... They young males seem to do fine together, they are chilled out.... One of the females is chilled out no problems... But the second female in the cage with them just runs crazy pecking and jumping all over the other birds... she wont quite fighting.... I have no problems with all the other birds.... In fact I think it is this same female that wouldnt stop fighting for the past few days while I was home for xmas... I had to separate her from all the rest of the birds in a little cage by herself... I had no problems after this...

Question is, what do I do with this problem bird? I would like to have all my females breeding and laying eggs so I can get a good clutch started to get the ol incubator fired up... But I am thinking if she doesnt calm down and keeps pulling feathers she may just have to be the first bird in the freezer...

What should I do with a problem bird like this to try to mellow it out?

 

[phil666]

I have put a wire partition between the offending bird and the rest for a couple of days,so they can visually get to know each other without doing any damage,dont forget to supply food and water to the sectioned off bird,this has worked for me most times,but i must add not always successful, freezer is my next option.

 

[sniper338]

Ok, makes since. They may need to get a little acquainted. I'll give it some time and see if she chills out. When I bought them they were all overcrowded in a cage, way too many birds for each to get used to each other, so it it kind of like the birds dont know each other very well yet.

 

[USAmma]

I agree. I have a problem bird and every so often she starts picking and chasing. I put her in a small carry cage inside the big enclosure with food and water. A 24 hour time out usually solves the problem-- for awhile. Then after a few weeks she does it again.

 

[dc3085]

Ok, makes since. They may need to get a little acquainted. I'll give it some time and see if she chills out. When I bought them they were all overcrowded in a cage, way too many birds for each to get used to each other, so it it kind of like the birds dont know each other very well yet.

when you re introduce her do it in the middle of the night with the lights off. They can't see to fight and in the morning everything is usually kosher. Sometimes you can put the aggressive bird in a pillow case or a burlap sack and spin it until the bird is dizzy then put it back with the others (bird dog training trick) it makes them feel insecure and they usually quit being mean, might take a couple times to get her to quit. If all that fails eat it. Sometimes coturnix just "go bad" and won't stop the aggressive behavior. You see it more the more of them you raise, sometimes it will happen after the birds have been together for months one just loses a screw and goes all ted bundy on the rest. Good luck!

 

[sniper338]

I put her in the freezer. She wouldnt stop and got worse. I guess those are going to be the culls. I don't need that mess in my cages getting started!

she started making others bleed too so I kind of figured she got the taste of blood. I didnt want to keep her around for other birds to watch as a role model where they started in on it too... she started throwing the food everywhere and going nuts when I put her in a cage by herself too, just aggervated me enough to where I was tired of it.

 

[dc3085]

I put her in the freezer. She wouldnt stop and got worse. I guess those are going to be the culls. I don't need that mess in my cages getting started!

she started making others bleed too so I kind of figured she got the taste of blood. I didnt want to keep her around for other birds to watch as a role model where they started in on it too... she started throwing the food everywhere and going nuts when I put her in a cage by herself too, just aggervated me enough to where I was tired of it.

I know the feeling. I'm the shepherd of my flock and ill eat you for picking on them too much lol. The big problem with the aggression is that once there is blood flowing from a bird the whole flock will usually kill it to conserve resources they don't care that it can get better they just don't want it wasting their food trying to.

 

[sniper338]

Quote:
Thats what I hear. I have another hen I havent had problems with aggression wise, but she got bloody feet from running around on the wire cage floor so much getting chased around. I put her in a separate little cage by herself and took some duct tape and put it on her feet as a bandaid last night, gave her food and water in the cage, shes content so far, she doesnt like the tape though, shes clumsy with it... Ill take it off this afternoon though and let her have a few days to recover... I am going to try to get that plastic cardboard and put it in the bottom of my cages and around the sides them put some hay in there. so hopefully I wont have that problem again... learned the hard way, their feed get messed up from that wire pretty easily just like my hands did building the cages!

 

[dc3085]

Quote: Yeah they will find any little sharp edges around the cage with their feet. I use an old credit card and scrape the wire with it, you'll hear it ping on anything that sticks up, but basically they will find most problems the hard way. Sounds like you have it under control. .

 

[sniper338]

Yeah im mother henning these spoiled birds... I take care of them fill their food... they eat before I feed myself!