Nasty Hen

[josand]

I had a pair of golden quail that i had to separate as the male wouldn't leave her alone. I put the hen in with a mother chook and her chicks in a run ( bad mistake) and she got attacked and hurt around the neck. I removed her and she has been on her own for a couple of weeks and is healing really well. Yesterday I purchased 3 more hens to put with her to give her company and she was really nasty with them She is nasty to me now obviously from her terrible ordeal with the chook as prior to that she was a loveable hand reared wee quail, Very sad.
I have taken her out this morning as she was not leaving the 3 new quail alone and have put her back on her own. I then decided to put the golden male in with the 3 girls, and I hope things will be ok. Do new quail normally socialise together when mixed? Is it ok to have put the male with the 3 new girls?
Can anyone give me any suggestions what I can do with my golden hen that has turned so viscous?? It really upsets me to think it was my doing in the first place by stupidly putting her in with a mother hen and chickens!!!
Thank you all again for your wonderful help on this forum and wealth of information. I really appreciate it!!

 

[TwoCrows]

I doubt that the incident with the chooks cause this hen to become aggressive. Birds have their personalities and incidents do not cause their personalities to change. Being ill of health can cause a bird to become aggressive. A bad diet can also cause aggression, as can simple things like mites or lice. Infections or even a bonk to the head can effect their ability to deal with the other birds.

And...some birds are just hatched with a screw loose and this screw does not fall out, LOL, for many months after hatching. I have had males go bad at 10 months old, out of no where.

Mixing new birds into flocks should be done slowly so that the original flock does not see the new bird as a threat. They can attack.

If this hen just does not get along with any other of your birds, and you can try to mix and match, then either keep her separate and alone or eat her. And never breed her and hatch her eggs. You do not know what genes you are passing down to the offspring.