Male coturnix attacking all other females

[bus2325]

Hi all, I have a male Rosetta quail who appears to have a "monogamous" relationship with a female pharaoh coturnix - they hatched together. He seems to be obsessed with her & is always very close by. The female is clearly over-bred based on the amount of head feathers she has lost. I tried to introduce several quail hens but he has attacked them all. In a few short moments of an introduction, I have had a couple of hens which were "knocked out" (literally, fainted), bleeding from pecked faces or scalped. That was over 3 weeks ago when he was about 11 weeks old. 2 introductions of new hens were clearly failures then. He does not seem to subscribe to the harem arrangement of 5-females-to-1 male. I didn't think monogamy amongst coturnix was even a thing. Short of putting him down, which I am loathe to do, anybody here has helpful suggestions?

 

[vall]

You'll need to add a wire separator to that pen so they can see each other but not attack. Give them at least a week to get adjusted and remove the separator. If he still hates them, he needs to go. I don't tolerate any male who draws blood on a female. There are plenty of nicer males around.

 

[Nabiki]

Have you tried putting him in with the hens rather than the hens in with him? If you put him into unfamiliar territory he's less likely to be aggressive. There are always exceptions, though, so watch him.

 

[bus2325]

Thanks for all your replies. As that's the only male I've got, culling is a no-go. I tried the separator idea once after he started crowing loudly & incessantly throughout the night when I removed his hen out of his box & out of his sight. I then had to put in a transparent box separator & placed her back. He piped down as soon as he saw his favorite hen. I did place other hens with her in that cordoned section of the box, which were later introduced to him after 2 days when the separator was removed. However, that didn't work, as the attacks soon happened. Whilst he did not attack his "wife", he went around & attacked all other stranger hens. Clearly, he didn't get "used" to the presence of these new hens even though he saw them through the box separator for a couple of days.

Nabiki, I think I will try your suggestion - perhaps a new environment will distract him & render him less territorial.

 

[bhaugh]

Look for a different male to replace him. Aggression is genetic why produce that. He may be the only male you have but the hens would probably say " Thank God he's gone" Why should they have to suffer.

 

[threeepeat]

I haven't tried this but I read on another forum that someone successfully sprayed a group of quail with 50% white vinegar and 50% water before placing them all together in a new, unfamiliar environment. The poster said that his result was they all got along. Your roo sounds like an extreme case however. I can't suggest you try this because I have no experience with it, but I'm hoping that some experienced breeders can give their 2cents on this 50/50 vinegar-water intervention. Do you think it could be useful (and not harmful) in some cases?

 

[This Happy Farm]

I haven't tried this but I read on another forum that someone successfully sprayed a group of quail with 50% white vinegar and 50% water before placing them all together in a new, unfamiliar environment. The poster said that his result was they all got along. Your roo sounds like an extreme case however. I can't suggest you try this because I have no experience with it, but I'm hoping that some experienced breeders can give their 2cents on this 50/50 vinegar-water intervention. Do you think it could be useful (and not harmful) in some cases?

I tried the vinegar trick when introducing roosters to the hens in the breeding cage. At first, some of the hens got territorial and fought viciously. I removed them from the cage for a couple of hours, cleaned the cage, and moved them in with the new quail, and I sprayed them with vinegar too. It didn't work as quickly as I expected it, and the fact that they stopped fighting may have had to do more with them getting used to each other rather than not being able to distinguish each other by the smell.

 

[Sibel]

Most of a chicken's body sodium is in its blood. Salt deficiency therefore can cause chickens to crave blood. Resolve this issue by adding 1 tablespoon of salt per gallon of water in the drinker for one morning. Repeat the salt treatment 3 days later

 

[Nabiki]

Most of a chicken's body sodium is in its blood. Salt deficiency therefore can cause chickens to crave blood. Resolve this issue by adding 1 tablespoon of salt per gallon of water in the drinker for one morning. Repeat the salt treatment 3 days later

I don't know if that applies to quail...