One quail trying to kill the rest

[Kodie]

I have pet quail. I started with three, Voodoo, Magic, and Jinx. All females.

Voodoo sadly passed away a few weeks ago.

Magic and Jinx were completely depressed, they didn't play, just sat all sad.

I bought my 3 quail from my friend, who raises quail for meat and eggs in a very large enclosure. I bought 3 more from her, so Magic and Jinx have met these quail before.

One male, two females.

I put the 3 in a small cat kennel, and pressed it against the girls enclosure so they could get used to eachother. I kept it that was for 24 hours.

I put them all together the following morning. Jinx loves the new ones, Magic instantly attacked ALL 3. The 3 do not retaliate at all.

Disturbed, I separated them again for another day.

Then I put all 5 in a big dog kennel so it would be neutral ground. Jinx was ecstatic, Magic was an absolute demon. The new quail are terrified of her, even Jinx is starting to get scared of Magic. All Magic does is attack.

They started to get better by the end of the day. I separated them again during the night time.

In the morning, I let them all in the enclosure together. Magic was worse than shes ever been, attacking all 3. The 3 still don't attack back. They hide and cower.

Now I have the 3 and Jinx all together, and Magic in the cat kennel alone, but she can see everyone having fun WITHOUT HER.

I'm so upset over these little quail social politics. Jinx loves her new friends, but Magic is horrible. I break up the fighting and gently hold Magic down for a moment, she goes right back to attacking afterwards.

How can I get them all to get along?

 

[sourland]

Remove Magic from the flock until the others have integrated - this will take days/perhaps weeks not hours. Then reintroduce Magic.

 

[Nabiki]

Another thing you might try is cleaning out the kennel, rearrange all of their hiding places, move their feeder and waterer, then put in the good birds. Put the mean one in last.

 

[DK newbie]

Hi Kodie and
I second sourland's suggestion to keep Magic on her own while the others settle in their new environment and get to know each other. I'd probably try to introduce her once a day or so, at least if she seems calm when you keep her right next to the others. If you can distract her with her favorite treat when trying to introduce her, that might make things easier.
Most likely she was the alfa before you got the new ones and she does not want to give up on that role, so she's trying to scare all the invaders away. Eventually she should realize that they are not all that bad and could actually be part of her flock - and they should become less scared of her as they get more settled. Make sure they have enough space though, at least one sqft/bird (assuming they are coturnix quail?) but preferably more than that.
Good luck!

 

[Kodie]

I put Jinx in with Magic for bedtime, and Magic instantly started attacking Jinx now! Jinx was so upset.

I thought it would be good for them to still sleep together, but now Magic has truly got nuts and wants to be the only little quail.

I will keep Magic in her pen longer, with no cuddle buddies. She can still see the other quail.

 

[Kodie]

Shes still just as vicious as ever. Once a day I let her go back in and its hellish

 

[PolishAllTheWay]

I’ve never worked with quail, but I know a little about their personality. Maybe if you try holding magic with one of the others in hand, let them be slightly separated where magic can’t hurt them and then just let them get to know each other a little bit at a time. Magic doesn’t seem to be improving at all it sounds like, but I’ve had this with my chickens before. They eventually got over their anger, but then separated into 2 groups which was a little sad

 

[PolishAllTheWay]

Also are they getting wounds from her, or is it just pecking order?

 

[Kodie]

Also are they getting wounds from her, or is it just pecking order?

No wounds, but I'm sure it would quickly become wounds or death if I didn't step in. She doesn't stop and thr others don't fight back

 

[FloorCandy]

When I have a bully, I watch the pen, and when it acts up I use a squirt bottle to squirt it with vinegar water. I would say 75% of the time, 10-15 minutes of spraying and reminding clear up the issues, 90+% of the time, repeat reminders randomly over 6-10 hours fix the issue, sometimes, in 5-10% of cases, I’ve found the culprit to be incorrigible, and then they spend the night on the rough streets of male jail (I’ve done this with males and females), and they become more receptive to my suggestions of peace in the normal pens. In very few cases I find them vicious and unchangeable, and they move to the freezer.