Male jap quail attacking our hands

[bridget123]

Hey guys, i have a 3 year old japanese male quail that has suddenly just become agressive towards us.. whenever we put our hands in his cage to give water and food or if we walk past the cage even if we are cleaning his cage
He attacks our hands viciously chest bumping and biting he even growls and makes a whole lot of noises when we go near him.
He has been acting this way for about a month now.

I suppose my question is why all of a sudden the change of behaviour?
He doesnt seem sick or anything he seems the same as usual so i have no idea
And we do not plan to cull him.

He did have a female but she died lastnight it was our mistake not understanding the male to female ratio

Also we brought him 5 females that are in quarantine right now

 

[Nabiki]

3 years old is actually rather elderly for a coturnix quail. His agressiveness could be due to not having enough females. That would be normal in spring, but I'm guessing that you're in Australia or NZ?

I would see how he's acting once you've introduced his new harem.

 

[bridget123]

In tasmania australia! Thankyou for the fast response i will update when he meets the new girls

 

[muddy75]

It sounds like he is stressed out right now with hormones raging with breeding season and no females. You may want to try giving him some electrolytes or rooster booster added to water and maybe some treats like mealworms or fresh green veggies. Hopefully he integrates well with his new females and calms down.

 

[bridget123]

Yes thankyou i will get him some meal worms and he loves peas also.
How long do i quarantine the new ladies for i got them 2 days ago?

 

[Nabiki]

Yes thankyou i will get him some meal worms and he loves peas also.
How long do i quarantine the new ladies for i got them 2 days ago?

I've read 6-8 weeks, but I don't think I've ever quarantined that long. I've only gotten adult birds from people that I've met, though, so I have an idea of how their birds are kept.

One advantage of hatching is not having to worry about quarantine!

 

[muddy75]

Yes thankyou i will get him some meal worms and he loves peas also.
How long do i quarantine the new ladies for i got them 2 days ago?

Personally I would say 1 week especially if the lone male is the only bird you are integrating.

 

[bridget123]

Yes i will wait 1 week then they look super healthy and they did come from clean living conditions

 

[Quaicken108]

@bridget123 haven’t seen you on the Aussie thread before...

https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...-little-island.598568/page-3486#post-24289830

 

[bridget123]

I let the girls in with him i felt comfortable enough with the health of the girls, he now wont let me near his enclosure he really gets super angry chest bumping the cage (kind of funny)..
He is really protective over the females
He will not let me speak to them or put my hand near them!
He was really gentle with them and i watched the girls bow down to him, so i assume they think hes good looking
But yeah i can put up with his attitude i just wanted to know if he was okay!