Please help!! Quails being attacked

[Flight Feathers]

Please help! Today I bought 2 new female Chinese button quail. As soon as I introduced them to my original pair of Chinese quails, my male put his wings out and started aggressively attacking them ?!? So I have removed him to the other aviairy for the time being. Now I come back to look at the other quails and my female is chasing them around! So she's been put in another cage and now it is just the 2 new females by themselves in the finch aviairy. Is this normal for quails to attack new ones as full on as this ?! The poor new quails are missing a coupe feathers now tho luckily nothing serious. What do I do? I don't want to leave them seperated for ever! I'm getting another male in 3 weeks and the plan is that he goes with my original female plus one of the new ones and then my infertile male (original male) will just go with one of the new females in the parrot aviairy so that he is not alone.
Is this a good idea or should I just keep the original pair together ? The reason I want the original female with a fertile male is because my original female is a really good sitter and layer and will sit on her eggs no matter what even if she is completely drenched from the rain getting in. Thanks in advance for any advice!

 

[FarmerGirl101]

Please help! Today I bought 2 new female Chinese button quail. As soon as I introduced them to my original pair of Chinese quails, my male put his wings out and started aggressively attacking them ?!? So I have removed him to the other aviairy for the time being. Now I come back to look at the other quails and my female is chasing them around! So she's been put in another cage and now it is just the 2 new females by themselves in the finch aviairy. Is this normal for quails to attack new ones as full on as this ?! The poor new quails are missing a coupe feathers now tho luckily nothing serious. What do I do? I don't want to leave them seperated for ever! I'm getting another male in 3 weeks and the plan is that he goes with my original female plus one of the new ones and then my infertile male (original male) will just go with one of the new females in the parrot aviairy so that he is not alone.
Is this a good idea or should I just keep the original pair together ? The reason I want the original female with a fertile male is because my original female is a really good sitter and layer and will sit on her eggs no matter what even if she is completely drenched from the rain getting in. Thanks in advance for any advice!

Put them in there for 30 mins max under your supervision then do that again in 15 mins or just put them in with the other for a bit while you work in the yard and then put them in somewhere else and do that until no more fighting. This is natural but do watch them in case anything goes wrong. Hope it goes well!

 

[Flight Feathers]

Put them in there for 30 mins max under your supervision then do that again in 15 mins or just put them in with the other for a bit while you work in the yard and then put them in somewhere else and do that until no more fighting. This is natural but do watch them in case anything goes wrong. Hope it goes well!

Okay thank you so much! Is this just the females together or the male as well?

 

[FarmerGirl101]

Okay thank you so much! Is this just the females together or the male as well?

Female first then male as the male is harsher

 

[Flight Feathers]

Female first then male as the male is harsher

Okay thank you very much!

 

[DK newbie]

Quail are territorial so when you just toss a couple of newcomers into the territory of an established pair, they will see them as a threat and try to fight them off.

Interestingly, the 'tossing in newcomers' seems to be more likely to work in all male groups - I guess they don't really establish a territory if there are no females.

Placing two single birds together or a male with several females usually gives a few scuffles - it doesn't have to be the one that's used to the cage that causes the trouble and it's also not a general rule whether it's the male or the female that causes problems. In general, however, they will work it out within a day or so - just make sure they have places to hide. A low shelf in the cage is also a great place for them to flee to if it gets too rough.

The kind of introduction you are doing is the hardest one - introducing new birds to a pair. I'd place the new birds (or the old ones) in a smaller cage inside the big enclosure so they can see each other through the cage bars but can't hurt each other. Leave them like that for a few days to a week before removing the cage, and then don't leave them unsupervised before you are convinced they are not going to hurt each other badly.

Your male might also have trouble bonding to the new females as long as the old one is around, as they are monogamous. 2 or 3 hens can work, but might require you to introduce all hens at the same time. I guess time will tell, but if the introductions just won't work, removing the old female with one of the new ones and trying to make them accept each other in a different location (preferably where the old pair can't hear each others calls) might make the male more receptive to one of the new females.

 

[007Sean]

X2 DK, only thing to add is, introduce the birds in a different enclosure, new to all the birds. This will give all the birds "equal footing" so to speak. They will establish a new pecking order, and hopefully not try to kill eachother. It's really a toss up, whether it will work or not work.

 

[Flight Feathers]

Quail are territorial so when you just toss a couple of newcomers into the territory of an established pair, they will see them as a threat and try to fight them off.

Interestingly, the 'tossing in newcomers' seems to be more likely to work in all male groups - I guess they don't really establish a territory if there are no females.

Placing two single birds together or a male with several females usually gives a few scuffles - it doesn't have to be the one that's used to the cage that causes the trouble and it's also not a general rule whether it's the male or the female that causes problems. In general, however, they will work it out within a day or so - just make sure they have places to hide. A low shelf in the cage is also a great place for them to flee to if it gets too rough.

The kind of introduction you are doing is the hardest one - introducing new birds to a pair. I'd place the new birds (or the old ones) in a smaller cage inside the big enclosure so they can see each other through the cage bars but can't hurt each other. Leave them like that for a few days to a week before removing the cage, and then don't leave them unsupervised before you are convinced they are not going to hurt each other badly.

Your male might also have trouble bonding to the new females as long as the old one is around, as they are monogamous. 2 or 3 hens can work, but might require you to introduce all hens at the same time. I guess time will tell, but if the introductions just won't work, removing the old female with one of the new ones and trying to make them accept each other in a different location (preferably where the old pair can't hear each others calls) might make the male more receptive to one of the new females.

Okay thank you very much! This is very helpful!! I have the original pair in a cage in the aviary where they can see the other quails but can't hurt them. I'm going to leave them there for a little while (3-7 days) and then let them out again and see how it goes. I have another aviairy I can try introducing them all into and then I can see how it goes if that would work?

 

[Flight Feathers]

X2 DK, only thing to add is, introduce the birds in a different enclosure, new to all the birds. This will give all the birds "equal footing" so to speak. They will establish a new pecking order, and hopefully not try to kill eachother. It's really a toss up, whether it will work or not work.

I have another aviairy which I can introduce them all too, only the male has already been in there before so wouldn't be as new to him.

 

[007Sean]

If he hasn't been in there in awhile, it should work.