Quail color and recovery from pecking injury

[Susan Skylark]

Here’s another weird bird PhD thesis idea: affects of skin/plumage color and subsequent recovery from bleeding skin wounds in group housing. Brown birds recover and white birds are subjected to continual reinjury from pecking cage mates. They just can’t help pecking at a red wound on a white bird but apparently don’t notice on a Rosetta! I culled a pearl hen over the summer as she just kept getting re injured after 3 attempts at isolation and healing, I’d put her back in and she’d be bloody in the morning (though she seemed healed up to me, if bald!). When we were gone had my Rosetta male get out and was accidentally replaced in the pen with the other male, he got pretty beat up around one eye but didn’t separate him, just got him back in the right pen, his ladies haven’t touched it (the same birds that beat up the white hen). Apparently the scabs blend right in, bird brains!

 

[Debbie292d]

Well it does stand to reason that sores will stand out more in a light colored bird than a dark one. I haven't had much for pecking issues though.

 

[Susan Skylark]

Poor guy looks like a turken (naked neck chicken breed) but doing fine!