Stupid quail....pecking

[possumhunter]

LOL...I really thought I had this all figured out since I was able to sex all the birds and make sure I didn't have too many males in a pen. Unfortunately I didn't have as many females as I had hoped for. So one pen has just one male and one female. Well after 3 days together, the female is missing quite a few feathers on her head/neck. I didn't know that males could be aggressive toward the females...do I need to worry about him killing her? Should I separate them? Sorry for the questions, I didn't know that quail were so bent on killing each other!

 

[Olive Hill]

I'm far from an expert, I'm just researching getting into this myself but I personally would probably separate them. Do you have space in another pen for an extra female and just leave that male alone until you can get a few more girls to shack him up with?

 

[Olive Hill]

Whoops. Forgot to say, from reading I would say you shouldn't just put the female in another pen with an already established group but if you can fit an extra bird in one pen then swap, swap them all around so she's in a mostly new flock and the others get moved around too. I think if you put her in with an already established group she may get picked on anyway -- and by more birds to boot.

 

[First To Hatch]

When hes mating with her sometimes feathers come off... personally never had any blood drawn injuries from mating, but I think your hen would be happier with another group where theres more hens and fewer males, considering switching her in with another group at night (if they are from the same hatch) if not then when you have time put all the birds in a new cage for 20 minutes or so then put them all back. As for the male you can eat him, lol.

 

[peewee]

If the feather loss is only on the head and the back of the neck you probably have a breeding pair. Males can get really rough when they are in the mood. My suggestion to you would be to get him a couple of other females ASAP and then put all of them into another pen. Males like I said can get very rough during breeding season and can do some very serious damage to a single female. You really need to have at least 3-4 females in there with him to spread out the the abuse. If that is not feasible then the only thing I can tell you is to separate them. You might want to try putting some hidey-holes in there for them. Maybe a pot turned on its side. Or may be a mug or some such thing that will only have enough space for one bird. Give the female some place to hide from him.
Good luck.

 

[possumhunter]

I've been watching for a few other females, but haven't found any yet. I'll try to get the female in her own pen for awhile (guess I better hurry up and get another one built). I only have 2 pens and one little one that is already occupied by a "picked on bird". Oh these birds are driving me crazy! Haha...thanks!

 

[martie47]

I have 1 male and 3 female (one pair and 2 extra females). The male was way too aggressive with the female. Her head was bleeding very badly so I separated the male until she healed. Then I put them all together. The aggressive mating stopped, but they all began picking on one female. Now I have a tank with the male and 2 female and that works great. I have to find a mate for the lonely female she keeps calling out.

 

[Stellar]

What breed?