Male Quail Being Absolutely Vicious To Others

[Coturnix Quail]

Ok. So up till the brooder, I haven't had many problems.. But now, My males are being absolutely vicious to each other. I've came back from work and seen bloody heads with no feathers (all males) I was assuming the males were doing it for the females, but today I saw a female pick at the poor male. I do seperate the inured ones, and they seem happy to be alone with water, food, straw, and sand. But what can I do to stop this? I tried identifying which ones are mean and take them away. But I was wrong.. So help, what do I do to prevent this?

 

[QuailCo Eggs]

There could be a lot of factors that can cause them to do that:

- Stress
- Sickness
- Cage is to small
- Male to female ratio
- Low protein feed

It makes it hard to help unless we know more about your situation. With my experience, any of these factors can cause what you described in your post.



Chad

 

[Coturnix Quail]

Cage should be big enough. What's the ratio suppose to be? Low protein, I doubt it I feed them all the protein they need. Why would they be stressed? They seem okay. Also, sickness is highly unlikely. They're all active all day, eating and drinking well. Thanks.

 

[geniash]

Here is my experience:

- Optimal ratio male to female is 1:5.
- Bigger space helps to offset hostility. I have 16 quails (2 males) in 50 sq ft with 2 feeders and 2 water containers in 2 separate corners.
- Hiding places help a lot
- Some males are more hostile by their nature then the others.

 

[Wayback]

I would start with lowering the temp if possible.

 

[Coturnix Quail]

I should just give away my quail to a better owner... Today I found one dead in the water container that I thought they couldn't fit in... He must've.... Froze... Overnight..... I feel terrible.. He was so innocent.. And maybe he wasn't the one who was doing the picking... I should just stop trying and give them away to someone who actually knows how to care for them.

 

[jenni wren]

I bought these for food and water, they are only about £3.50 here in the UK, it may help avert future problems.
I can't really help with your aggression problems as I'm new to quail keeping, but maybe if you post a picture of your set up someone more experienced could help a little more.
Take care, I hope you get it sorted out soon.

 

[Coturnix Quail]

Thank you.. I do have a similar waterer already like that, but its wayy to big and takes up too much space to put in their cage. Thanks again...

 

[jenni wren]

Maybe you could try one of these ^ (Hope the link works).

 

[Coturnix Quail]

Thanks you! The link did work