Something is eating my Bobwhite Quail's toes!!

[birdturds]

We have 10 Bobwhite Quail in a large flight pen with a pair of Red Golden Pheasants. They always get along great and the female Pheasant treats the Quail like her babies.

Anyhow, today the smallest of the Quail had several of her toes chewed off. I can't imagine that it was the other birds in the pen. I also remember hearing that sometimes rodents will do this.(?) I don't think a rat could get in but mice could. But she is a healthy active bird in general....... so wouldn't she just fly up to one of the perches if she were being attacked?

It's not making a lot of sense to me so I wanted to ask for thoughts.

 

[Allsfairinloveandbugs]

I dont have quail, so dont know if quails have good night vision. If quail cannot see well in the dark (same as chickens), mice are probably your culprits. Chickens have almost no night vision at all. They cannot see well enough to run or fly away from a predator and so are helpless when a predator attacks. Chickens have been known to get their toes chewed off by rodents including rats and sometimes mice.

 

[Al Gerhart]

If inside a coop, rats. If on a welded wire floor where dogs can get under, I have seen dogs chew off rabbit toes through the hardware cloth. Quail are way too small and light for a treadle feeder so your only hope is to try to rat proof the coop.

Good luck.

 

[cmom]

I would suspect rats too. If you have a camera put it up. Good luck...