Quail “chicks” fighting when introduced

[Twhi7]

Hi everyone,

Please forgive me for making this beginner mistake. I’m brand new to raising coturnix quail. I hatched/raised 4 coturnix quail and they are 5 weeks old this weekend. I was given 5 coturnix chicks that I believe are 3/4 weeks old (not 100% sure their exact age), but they are considerably smaller than my original 4. The person that gave them to me said they have already been outside and said I can add them to my other 4 which just went to their outdoor enclosure a few days ago, and to keep an eye on them. So I did that, but my original 4 were being so mean to the younger 5 and a little blood was even drawn at one point (they pecked the side of one of their heads). I felt terrible! So I have the younger 5 inside in the brooder and they are calm, eating, drinking and perfectly fine.

I think the majority of the aggression came from my male, who just started crowing yesterday. But not sure if the others were fighting too.

This situation freaked me out as I’ve never dealt with anything like this. Before even trying to introduce them again I definitely want to make sure the younger ones are way bigger, and I may end up getting rid of my male.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance.

 

[BrandonsBirbs]

The best thing to do is do a side-by-side introduction, so either put them inside a cage in your aviary or in a cage next to the older one's cage (depending on your setup). It can take up to a couple of weeks for the birds to get used to each other and even then they don't always want to bond. Try not to introduce them by just mixing them as that will almost always cause a conflict.

Another thing you can try to do once you've introduced them is the spring-clean method, clean out your outdoor enclosure very well then move everything around and introduce all 9 to each other. They will know each other from the cage introductions and all be bewildered by their amazing new enclosure.

Good luck!

 

[Twhi7]

The best thing to do is do a side-by-side introduction, so either put them inside a cage in your aviary or in a cage next to the older one's cage (depending on your setup). It can take up to a couple of weeks for the birds to get used to each other and even then they don't always want to bond. Try not to introduce them by just mixing them as that will almost always cause a conflict.

Another thing you can try to do once you've introduced them is the spring-clean method, clean out your outdoor enclosure very well then move everything around and introduce all 9 to each other. They will know each other from the cage introductions and all be bewildered by their amazing new enclosure.

Good luck!

Thanks so much!

 

[Nabiki]

You should wait until they are all about the same size. The side by side introduction usually works, but if you still have fighting, you can take them all out, thoroughly clean the pen and rearrange it, then put them all in at the same time.

 

[Twhi7]

You should wait until they are all about the same size. The side by side introduction usually works, but if you still have fighting, you can take them all out, thoroughly clean the pen and rearrange it, then put them all in at the same time.

Will do. Thank you!

 

[CrspyChkn]

How did it go?