Springtime mating aggression?

[SarahGfa]

I have a male coturnix with 5 females. They were all getting along great until recently, when I noticed that two of the females were going bald on the back of the head and one was bleeding where her feathers had been pulled out. It looks like the male quail is mating more frequently and aggressively than before. He grabs onto the back of a hen's head and won't let go even as she's running around the cage dragging him behind her.

I don't know why he's suddenly being so aggressive about mating. Is it because the days are longer, or the weather is warmer? They are in a room with open windows and about 16 hours of daylight. Will he calm down if I give them less light? or lower the temperature? Or is he going to be like this forever?

 

[JaeG]

It's possibly just spring hormones but if your females are acting scared or getting beat up by him you will have to remove him. If they like their male they will graciously and patiently accept his advances. The fact they are trying to get away may indicate they don't like him. Group dynamics is very important for a happy quail covey and one bird, male or female, can make life miserable for the others, yet in a different group that same bird could be absolutely fine.

 

[SarahGfa]

It's possibly just spring hormones but if your females are acting scared or getting beat up by him you will have to remove him. If they like their male they will graciously and patiently accept his advances. The fact they are trying to get away may indicate they don't like him. Group dynamics is very important for a happy quail covey and one bird, male or female, can make life miserable for the others, yet in a different group that same bird could be absolutely fine.

Thanks for the reply! They were all getting along fine until recently, and I never saw him trying to mate with the other females before. So it was hard to say if they liked each other or just ignored each other. There is one female that crouches down for him, and he was only mating with that one for awhile. But now, even she is starting to go bald. Should I swap out some of the females for other females? He is the only male in the cage, so I'm hoping that he will either calm down, or I can match him with a group of females that like him.

 

[bhaugh]

Replace him. I agree hens will submit to a less dominant male. I'm having a problem with my male now. No feather loss Yet from my girls but he chases them down and one refuses to let him breed her

 

[SarahGfa]

I noticed that with the current set up, they were all under direct sunlight for most of the day. That must have been stressing them out since it stays light out until almost 9pm these days. I adjusted the window blinds so they're not getting as much direct sun, and they seem to be calmer now... I don't see any chasing going on anymore, although the bald ones don't have their feathers back yet.