Looking for advice for troublesome quail group

[quail2000]

Hi all - I've had quail before but this current group of three week olds I bought a couple of weeks ago are causing a lot of trouble. About a week ago, so when they were about four weeks old, a female had its neck ripped open, which I stitched - it seemed to be getting better then died a few days later, there was a lot of blood between it's skin and meat so I figure it was internal bleeding - and at the same time, a male was scalped. Stitching didn't work so I used superglue to mend the ripped skin and he's now fine.
Just yesterday I had a white male pecked all around the eyes, really bloody and swollen, I rinsed him off and have him alone right now, hopefully to heal. Similarly, the two white females (I have three all-whites in total out of this group) started to get pecked around the eyes/scalp, and I separated them in their own cage. THEN, today, I had a light brown female pecked and bleeding, also on the scalp. I brought her out to the cage with the two white females and they all seem to be getting along. The three currently injured females have what look to be very minor injuries, but I didn't want to have their injuries further pecked on by putting them back with the others.
I've never witnessed any aggression in that cage, but when I introduced the healed male, two of the remaining males wouldn't leave him alone so I culled those two males. I'm hoping those were the two that injured the others. I've been checking the cage a lot but also can't stand there all day waiting for something to happen. I've even considered setting up a laptop to record video but most of them are so similar-looking I doubt I'd be able to identify the aggressor if there is still one.
I've never come across aggression like this before - I've had females alone, males alone, females with males. Especially at this young age, I'm surprised. Any advice would be most appreciated. Thanks

 

[Susan Skylark]

Sounds like you have some mean birds and bbq is a good solution (if you can figure out The Who!). Separating them into smaller groups, watching or video often, and culling offenders and providing plenty of space and hidey holes are your best bet.

 

[quail2000]

Thanks. One thing that's challenging about quail is that they can get together fine for a while, then suddenly one turns on another and there's a major injury or death. Since culling the two males this morning the cage has been very peaceful, though I may keep the whites separate - I've read quail can pick on the minority color. I do keep brush in the cages, but will add boxes or something similar for them to really hide in.

 

[Susan Skylark]

I have a bruised hen this morning, totally get the group violence thing! Have another pen with an apparently bum roo that I’m half convinced won’t do his thing thanks to a hen that beat him up. We continue to have Italian feathers every where in that pen (never catch them fighting) and he’s the only Italian. We’re doing a complete pen rearrangement tonight under cover of darkness (cue melodramatic music).

 

[Nabiki]

How many do you have?
How much space do they have?
Do they have plenty of hiding places?
Do you have multiple feeding/watering stations?

 

[quail2000]

How many do you have?
How much space do they have?
Do they have plenty of hiding places?
Do you have multiple feeding/watering stations?

So - I had 12 in 8 square feet originally (as three week olds). Hiding places - I place evergreen branches in the cage so they something to hide in/behind, but I'll be adding boxes or tubes to that. I have one large feeder (about 16 inches long) and one waterer.

 

[Nabiki]

So, they were a little crowded at first, but should be fairly happy after that. What is your male to female ratio? It sounds like it was very high, which is part of the problem. Are you down to 1 male to 5 females yet?

 

[quail2000]

In the cage right now I have two males and six females, which I know is still a little high, but everyone seems to be getting along. Originally it was three males (I thought, actually it was four) and the rest females, though I didn't think at 3-4 weeks having some additional males could cause this much trouble.

 

[Nabiki]

When the males start getting troublesome can vary quite a bit. I would choose the male you want and get rid of the other one.

 

[quail2000]

Yeah, I have 18 Egyptian Jumbos in a brooder right now, and I'm going to try separating out any additional males as soon as they come out of the brooder. Same with any I purchase, to do it right away. What surprises me is that it's mostly females that were attacked, I thought it was mostly male-male violence among quail.