islandpoultry
In the Brooder
- Jun 17, 2020
- 6
- 3
- 29
Hello - I have 8 Chinese-painted quail which I hatched out in an incubator and they have grown up together in the brooder. 4 male, 4 female. From what I read online, colonies of quail like this should be fine if they have grown up together. They have an aviary to themselves, which I moved them out to about 5 days ago, which is 3.6m x 2.4m, with a coop and branches, twigs and hiding places and they are 7.5 weeks old. This morning when I went to them, 2 males had died, and the 2 others were sitting motionless with their eyes closed. The 4 females are fine except one has a wound above the beak (see photos) but otherwise they are all carrying on as normal. The 3rd male then died, and the other which I've removed and nursed a bit still has its head up and seems to be feeding and drinking a bit, but I wouldn't be surprised if he died too. None of the males have any signs of blood or loss of feathers, so does anyone know what's happened? I've tried to read up about it online, but there doesn't seem to be the same situation, where usually a female dies as the male prefers another female he is in with. Initially I thought the female with blood on the beak had attacked and killed them, but the more I look at it, it looks like a wound, rather than blood from killing. Because they are 7.5 weeks old, they are transitioning from being siblings getting on to being sexually mature and maybe trying to mate, so I don't know whether this has changed their dynamic. But they have always been getting on just fine, and I've never seem them fight or even squabble. Even yesterday all 8 of them were happily running around, so it seems quite a mystery, so can anyone help solve it?
Also, as an additional thought, if the 4th male pulls through, presumably it wouldn't be safe to put him back in with the females?
Also, as an additional thought, if the 4th male pulls through, presumably it wouldn't be safe to put him back in with the females?