- Thread starter
- #41
Creede
Chirping
Could someone help, please?
I've had a group of 8 coturnix German pastel quail in one setup. Two of these were male. I figured that might be too aggressive of a male to female ratio but gave it a try none-the-less. Everything seemed fine while they were starting to mature until one weekend. I left for one evening and came back to three-four injured hens. Most of it looked like aggressive mating with the top of their heads bloody/scabbed. However, one in particular hen had the entire right side of her face and neck bald and bloody to the point her eye was swollen shut.
I studied the pen for a bit and concluded it might be one rooster in particular. So, I moved him out and the remaining birds were 1 rooster and 6 hens.
Again, everything seemed fine since then (this was probably about a week ago. Last night I retrieved my first three eggs out of this particular group. This morning, I woke up to a newly injured hen. The injury is on top of her head, where it would be for mating. This seems a little larger than typical though. The ages of these birds today are 6 weeks and 5 days.
What is going on? How do I resolve the issue? I have a separate group of five hens that are getting along great, but zero eggs. Do I not have enough room for 7 birds? The square footage seems to be plenty based on multiple opinions.
I've had a group of 8 coturnix German pastel quail in one setup. Two of these were male. I figured that might be too aggressive of a male to female ratio but gave it a try none-the-less. Everything seemed fine while they were starting to mature until one weekend. I left for one evening and came back to three-four injured hens. Most of it looked like aggressive mating with the top of their heads bloody/scabbed. However, one in particular hen had the entire right side of her face and neck bald and bloody to the point her eye was swollen shut.
I studied the pen for a bit and concluded it might be one rooster in particular. So, I moved him out and the remaining birds were 1 rooster and 6 hens.
Again, everything seemed fine since then (this was probably about a week ago. Last night I retrieved my first three eggs out of this particular group. This morning, I woke up to a newly injured hen. The injury is on top of her head, where it would be for mating. This seems a little larger than typical though. The ages of these birds today are 6 weeks and 5 days.
What is going on? How do I resolve the issue? I have a separate group of five hens that are getting along great, but zero eggs. Do I not have enough room for 7 birds? The square footage seems to be plenty based on multiple opinions.
