- Jun 23, 2014
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We found a dead hen in one of our breeder pens this morning. There was a wound on it's chest that was distinctly a quail's beak bite (Two triangular wounds, close together.... about 1/2" apart) with no other marks.
Details:
The Hen was part of a breeding quad (Top cage), that came from the same hatch of 24 Jumbo Coturnix and were together in their breeder cage for over 3 weeks. The two breeder quads (The other actually has 5 hens), have been the calmest of all our birds, getting along great, laying eggs with occasional witnessing of the males mounting the hens, but not overly aggressive (I chose the roos based on size, having some aggression but being the calmest of the roos in the grow out cages). The roos were doing their thing, but not overly aggressive with no marks on any of the hen's necks, backs or heads and no missing feathers. There has been no pecking between any of the birds, including between the hens.
(In the photos, the breeder cages are to the left, grow out to the right, space below is for two more levels of breeder and grow out cages...Photos were taken before moving the batch from their brooders to their cages). The grow out cages In the photos contain all males and they have been more and more aggressive to the point that we set up a "Quail Jail" (Photo with individual slant front cages) to separate them all until they depart to "Freezer Camp". Feed and water are all automatic. Their feed is 28% and their water is always fresh. All cages have sand boxes (with the exception of the isolation (quail jail) cages, and we regularly clamp greens from our garden for them to snack on.The existing breeder and grow out cages are up at the top of the battery frame in our breezeway with no predators (closed up at night).
Our Quail Jail holds the aggressors AND those that have been wounded. a couple with bleeding head wounds and one other roo that had a much more extensive chest wound very similar to our dead hen and, in the exact same spot as the hen we found dead this morning.`(All wounded birds are healing nicely!) I have no idea if the culprit was another hen or the roo. Again... We have not seen ANY (and still see no), aggression at all between any of our two breeding quads.I truly believe this was not the act of a predator as the bite marks were two singular, triangular wounds that match the bite of a bird perfectly.
The pen that lost their hen now has 3 hens, while the pen below has 5... I would like to transfer one of the hens from the lower (5 hen), pen to the upper pen that now has 3 hens giving both breeder pens a ratio of 4:1.
I've read (but don't remember the details) about issues arising from transferring a new bird to an existing cage. I'm concerned about territorial and dominance disputes between the hens and/or aggression from the roo should I introduce the "new" hen to the upper cage. I could leave all as it is, but the transfer of a hen would give the quail below more room and provide the normally suggested 4:1 ratio...
Any thoughts? Advice?
Thank you!
Richard
Photos show their environment
:
Details:
The Hen was part of a breeding quad (Top cage), that came from the same hatch of 24 Jumbo Coturnix and were together in their breeder cage for over 3 weeks. The two breeder quads (The other actually has 5 hens), have been the calmest of all our birds, getting along great, laying eggs with occasional witnessing of the males mounting the hens, but not overly aggressive (I chose the roos based on size, having some aggression but being the calmest of the roos in the grow out cages). The roos were doing their thing, but not overly aggressive with no marks on any of the hen's necks, backs or heads and no missing feathers. There has been no pecking between any of the birds, including between the hens.
(In the photos, the breeder cages are to the left, grow out to the right, space below is for two more levels of breeder and grow out cages...Photos were taken before moving the batch from their brooders to their cages). The grow out cages In the photos contain all males and they have been more and more aggressive to the point that we set up a "Quail Jail" (Photo with individual slant front cages) to separate them all until they depart to "Freezer Camp". Feed and water are all automatic. Their feed is 28% and their water is always fresh. All cages have sand boxes (with the exception of the isolation (quail jail) cages, and we regularly clamp greens from our garden for them to snack on.The existing breeder and grow out cages are up at the top of the battery frame in our breezeway with no predators (closed up at night).
Our Quail Jail holds the aggressors AND those that have been wounded. a couple with bleeding head wounds and one other roo that had a much more extensive chest wound very similar to our dead hen and, in the exact same spot as the hen we found dead this morning.`(All wounded birds are healing nicely!) I have no idea if the culprit was another hen or the roo. Again... We have not seen ANY (and still see no), aggression at all between any of our two breeding quads.I truly believe this was not the act of a predator as the bite marks were two singular, triangular wounds that match the bite of a bird perfectly.
The pen that lost their hen now has 3 hens, while the pen below has 5... I would like to transfer one of the hens from the lower (5 hen), pen to the upper pen that now has 3 hens giving both breeder pens a ratio of 4:1.
I've read (but don't remember the details) about issues arising from transferring a new bird to an existing cage. I'm concerned about territorial and dominance disputes between the hens and/or aggression from the roo should I introduce the "new" hen to the upper cage. I could leave all as it is, but the transfer of a hen would give the quail below more room and provide the normally suggested 4:1 ratio...
Any thoughts? Advice?
Thank you!
Richard
Photos show their environment
:
