Male quail dethroned by his hens

[MichelleKing]

I walked out to feed the quail their treats today and well, my rooster had gotten his a$$ kicked. Like HARD. The hens destroyed his head. Think - freddy krueger just with some feathers. Thats what this poor lad looks like. It looks like most of the damage is around his ear. I don't understand what exactly happened. There were 11 females to 1 male. He was on top of a tree stump shaking when I found him, it was absolutely horrifying.

I removed him from the habitat, wet his wounds down generously with vetericin (I wore a fresh new pair of gloves for this), and then proceeded to apply COPIOUS amounts of antibacterial ointment on the wound as gently as I could. I put Baytril in his water with some flavoring (sugar free non-vitamin), and gave him a bowl meal worms for extra protein (next to his game bird food).

I brought him inside and am keeping him in a dry, quiet place - in a cage with his necessities and soft paper towels to sleep on, along with his sandbox. He looks pathetic. He ate and drank, but other wise just slept or stood still. He looks defeated.

Anyone ever see a male come back from such torture from females? I have questions.
1. Yall think he will pull through?
2. Will he fear females now
3.. Will he breed to the females
4. Will he be able to grow back skin
5. WHY did my females all of a sudden attack him????? I have ONE rooster. ONE. Not two. ONE. he is the sole rooster I have and he is used for breeding. That's it.

Maybe they were sick of his sh*t and ganged up on him. Im betting yall will have a better answer though. I need him. Thanks!

 

[le_bwah]

How much space do the 12 birds have? Anything new in their environment lately? Can you post a pic of your poor roo (would help to see the extent of the injuries).

Sounds like you've done what you can for him. I've heard of quail coming back from scalpings before—those owners had to keep them separate the whole time they healed. No clue if he'll be averse to the hens now.

 

[Fishkeeper]

Are you sure they attacked him? Maybe he ran into something and hurt his head, and they just picked at the wound.

 

[MichelleKing]

Are you sure they attacked him? Maybe he ran into something and hurt his head, and they just picked at the wound.

No not totally sure......but it seems like an unlikely scenario. Anything is possible I guess.

 

[MichelleKing]

How much space do the 12 birds have? Anything new in their environment lately? Can you post a pic of your poor roo (would help to see the extent of the injuries).

Sounds like you've done what you can for him. I've heard of quail coming back from scalpings before—those owners had to keep them separate the whole time they healed. No clue if he'll be averse to the hens now.

Birds have a 10x3 habitat. I did put a new cave in there recently with some fake foliage. THe hens like to lay their eggs in there.

If he survives tonight he might pull through. Its pretty nasty though. I'll post pics later in the morning. I want him to be sleeping now.

 

[DK newbie]

I had a roo in a somewhat similar condition - his head was all blood and no feathers. The first day or two he was like yours - ate and drank and didn't do much else His eyelids were swollen so he couldn't see well. In about 3 days the blood had fallen off and what had previously looked like a badly injured bird just looked like a bald bird - I couldn't even see a wound. In his case, only one hen was hurting him. I had him in a solitary cage until he was acting his usual self again, then swapped him for the hen and kept her caged up inside their enclosure for a couple of weeks before releasing her again. She wasn't exactly an angel after that, but she didn't hurt anyone.
As to what causes the hens to hurt the roo, a possible explanation is he hurt himself somehow, causing him to bleed a little - and at the sight of blood, the hens turn on him, trying to chase him away because weak birds attract predators.