two new boys

[rita2paul]

went out and got some new boys to go with the girls.
so far so good. one boys has lots of feathers missing from his head, they were kept in a small cage in a shed, they were all squashed in and not enough room.
they have been led out in the sunshine with their feather fully extended and in the sand bath, they are loving it.

this one has lost feathers on his head. this one is shy but has made friends with my white quail.

 

[rita2paul]

hi all need some advice please, i spoke to soon.
they boys are now being chased by the silver girl and will not leave them alone, which now stressing the group out.
am i doing the right thing by isolating her in a run adjoined to the original but she get in the run with the others, she can still see them they are only separated by chicken wire. or should i move the boys out, the others don't really bother them that much, not like her.

 

[DK newbie]

If you are sure the silver girl is a girl, then yes, you are likely doing the right thing. Some people have good experiences keeping bullies in their own cage for just an hour, then returning them, but it might take longer in your case as the boys might need a little time to settle in before they can stand their ground. But two boys are very likely to start causing trouble eventually, no matter what you do - and it's not entirely impossible that the girl is chasing them because they were trying to mate with her more than she liked.

 

[rita2paul]

If you are sure the silver girl is a girl, then yes, you are likely doing the right thing. Some people have good experiences keeping bullies in their own cage for just an hour, then returning them, but it might take longer in your case as the boys might need a little time to settle in before they can stand their ground. But two boys are very likely to start causing trouble eventually, no matter what you do - and it's not entirely impossible that the girl is chasing them because they were trying to mate with her more than she liked.

hi thank you for your response, yes she is a girl. they boys have not started to mate the girls yet as they are still a bit nervous.
but all is ok at the moment, i have sat out there with them for most of the afternoon and all is quiet. i know what you mean, if the boys become to much i will be removing them.

 

[Binki]

hi all need some advice please, i spoke to soon.
they boys are now being chased by the silver girl and will not leave them alone, which now stressing the group out.
am i doing the right thing by isolating her in a run adjoined to the original but she get in the run with the others, she can still see them they are only separated by chicken wire. or should i move the boys out, the others don't really bother them that much, not like her.

Aww cute boys ^^ they look very mature to me as my pharaoh male was hatched last summer and didn't get his darker brown face until his spring most recently

Yes it is recommended when having to seperate to keep them beside each other, still providing hiding spots and things to break the line of sight to each other in some places so they don't stress each other out as much.

After a week or two depending on her reaction through the wire to the other birds you can reintroduce with supervision, usually good to change their big dust bath and hide seeds and such in there to keep them busy/rearrange the shared enclosure so nobody feels overly territorial and again having lots of places to hide if they're being chased so there will be minimal attacking/damage until you can address it

Good luck!! Bet the boys are still loving it

 

[rita2paul]

Aww cute boys ^^ they look very mature to me as my pharaoh male was hatched last summer and didn't get his darker brown face until his spring most recently

Yes it is recommended when having to seperate to keep them beside each other, still providing hiding spots and things to break the line of sight to each other in some places so they don't stress each other out as much.

After a week or two depending on her reaction through the wire to the other birds you can reintroduce with supervision, usually good to change their big dust bath and hide seeds and such in there to keep them busy/rearrange the shared enclosure so nobody feels overly territorial and again having lots of places to hide if they're being chased so there will be minimal attacking/damage until you can address it

Good luck!! Bet the boys are still loving it

thank you Binki, i took her out yesterday as she is the only one who jumps on them and peck them and will continually chase them, so she stayed on her own in the pen next to the others.
so today we have had peace and harmony with the other quails, there has been a little bit of chasing from one other but nothing much, so the boys started to come out of their hiding places and started to enjoy them self. so i let the silver girl back in the pen and instantly she started chasing them and pecking them, all the quail were upset with this. so i have put her in a separate pen.
how long should i keep her away from the others. it such a shame she is a really pretty bird, i am wondering if i should sell her, i sold 4 other girls at the weekend so i am down to 10 girls. i just don't know what to do. i want peace and harmony with my flock.

 

[Binki]

thank you Binki, i took her out yesterday as she is the only one who jumps on them and peck them and will continually chase them, so she stayed on her own in the pen next to the others.
so today we have had peace and harmony with the other quails, there has been a little bit of chasing from one other but nothing much, so the boys started to come out of their hiding places and started to enjoy them self. so i let the silver girl back in the pen and instantly she started chasing them and pecking them, all the quail were upset with this. so i have put her in a separate pen.
how long should i keep her away from the others. it such a shame she is a really pretty bird, i am wondering if i should sell her, i sold 4 other girls at the weekend so i am down to 10 girls. i just don't know what to do. i want peace and harmony with my flock.

Keep her seperated for a week to several weeks. If they're not stressing when they can see each other, you could place their waterers beside each other on either side of the barrier so they go about their business but sometimes close to each other when going for a drink.

I have a female quail who HATED the male since last year, I had to seperate her a few times because it caused stress to the group when she would get spastic about his presence, reintroduced her recently and things got stirred up and thought I would have to take her out again but she's squatting for him now - growling while doing it, but she has accepted him finally

I was literally a day away from making the decision to keep her away from him permanently. There was never any damage just chasing and jumping and stressing.

 

[rita2paul]

now i know why, she is a he, i have been checking and vent checking and saw nothing, but today i put her back in and straight away jumped on one of the girls, so i got her out and checked again and this time i got foam, up to then i have never got any foam from him. so now i know why. so i have 3 boys and 9 girls, so should i remove one of the boys and leave just two, i don't want them to over chase the girls.

 

[Binki]

I only have experience keeping one male with females, I have heard that two males can live together if they don't hear/see any female quail but I have never tried it out.

 

[rita2paul]

i have spoken to a few people in America and they said that they often keep two boys with a few girls, as long as there is plenty of hiding spaces and lots of room they have not had any problems. but i don't think i will be able to keep 3 boys with the girls, i will have to make a decision on which 2 i will keep. it's such a shame. i will keep my silver boy as he is really lovely looking boy.