Sudden Change in Behavior

[glendart]

I have 5 coturnix quail 4 females and 1 male in a 5x3 coop. They have always been very relaxed until a couple weeks ago. When I approach the coop now they dart around and sometimes bounce off the screen on front of coop. Also the male almost always mounts a female when I approach as if hes showing off. Also, they have started scattering their food so much it's like they're wasting it on purpose just to spite me. They are used to nightly visits by raccoons so I don't think thats the problem. I have the coop fortified and they don't freak out when the raccoons show up. Just me and my family. Any ideas? Thanks.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

Hi, welcome to BYC!

My first thought was predator visits, but you've covered that.

My second thought is age/hormones. How old are they?

 

[glendart]

The male is about 10 months. Females about 3-4 months.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

The male is about 10 months. Females about 3-4 months.

My only experience is with chickens. But personally, I would hatch me out some chicks to keep a new male and cull that one. Sounds like he may be the source of the issue.

I know wasting feed can be frustrating... trust me, it isn't personal.

Have you tried raising the feeder or putting a larger catch container underneath? It might help.

Maybe they need some sort of enrichment/entertainment?

Wish I could be more help... BYC has truly improved my fowl life.. so keep trying for good answers. These things go by pretty fast on the home page. So if you don't get much response, try "bumping" it. Might also just be the wrong time of day.

 

[BaJa]

possibly rats scattering the food. rats really freak them out as well. look for tunnels and rat droppings.

 

[glendart]

possibly rats scattering the food. rats really freak them out as well. look for tunnels and rat droppings.

I'll watch a little closer. However, the coop is 4' off the ground. I keep a game camera on it every night. I've seen possum and raccoons but no rats yet.

 

[Dani xxx]

Quails do tend to startle easily I always talk to mine as I approach their house to feed them . In my quail book it say to try and wear the same thing when tending to ur quail or avoid bright colours mine but mine don't seem too bothered about what I am wearing but if there is a loud noise or big gust of wind it will make them jump up suddenly. I placed garden nettin a couple of inchs below the roof of the run so if they do jump up they hit that and don't hurt themselves

 

[Binki]

Hello

Try getting a bag of mixed finch seed and toss a little bit in there when you visit, after a few times they should associate you with awesome seed

Do they have a dust bath? As another poster mentioned, the skittishness could be due to lack of enrichment?

 

[JaeG]

The male mounting the females is a territorial display to you and if he's feeling stressed he may do it more which in turn may be upsetting the females. Your approach means he mounts them which they don't like in excess which causes them to flee from him, causing chaos. How long ago were the females introduced to him? Females do not appreciate an overly aggressive male. Do they willingly let him mount them sometimes? Are there one or two females who just don't like him and run away whenever he tries to approach them? You may need to sit and observe them for awhile to see how they are interacting as a group.

Can you give them more hidey holes in their cage? Even just some cardboard boxes with multiple doors/entries will make them feel like they have somewhere to hide (and an escape route). It will also break up the line of site and mean the females can (hopefully) escape from the attentions of the male for awhile.

Fermenting the feed and putting it in chick feeder troughs (the long ones with holes in the top) will greatly reduce the mess they make with food (and reduce the amount you need to feed them overall).

 

[glendart]

My quail do have a dust bath and of course they go nuts in it. I moved the male and have only noticed a slight improvement in the female's behavior. One of them is still nervous as ever. I can reach in and grab the feeder and 3 of them will brush right against my hand while the one just paces and hops around. Some females would run from the male more than others. It's all very strange really. They were so calm before. I'll keep experimenting though.