Suicide gene

[Invision]

Is it just me or is there a suicide gene in Cots, I've been watching all my batches each time I hatch and it seems that I have the gene. 1 out of 40 birds always commits suicide after 8 weeks. I've been writing it down each time and for the last 6 hatches they have all had 1 or 2 commit suicide at week 8.... I have my quail in a 9 to 11 inch slope cage to cut back on that but for some reason these birds still insist on jumping and dieing... Just thought I would share, I'm going to continue to keep track of this and maybe after a year or two I can find the suicide gene.

 

[DK newbie]

My guess is it's actually a survival gene that's slightly misplaced in their current, domestic situation.. I suppose something scares them and causes them to try to get away from the scary thing. Could be the other quail, if it always happens at week 8 - right after they've reached sexual maturity, there could be some territorial/hormonal fighting going on.. Or maybe they are just more likely to try to hide when scared before week 8 and too fat and content to try to fly after that time

 

[enola]

How high is the top of your cage?

 

[Invision]

How high is the top of your cage?

I've been writing it down each time and for the last 6 hatches they have all had 1 or 2 commit suicide at week 8.... I have my quail in a 9 to 11 inch slope cage to cut back on that but for some reason these birds still insist on jumping and dieing...