violent quails

[shimzilla]

Hi,

I am new to quails and have a male and female Italian quail, he was hassling her to much so I got 3 more hens, I introduced them on a mutual ground they have plenty of space and food. he harasses them non stop! and this morning I found one of the hens with its scalp missing, blood everywhere! the others all have one eye, swollen or red and some blood on the back of the head.

are they always this violent? is the eye problem different to the aggressive breeding (male doesn't have it though) any advice please

 

[bingrancher]

some roosters are just plain mean. Cull him and find a new male if you can.

 

[TwoCrows]

Some males are just mean. A screw loose upstairs, if you know what I mean. There is little you can do other than keep him alone by himself in a cage, give him away or eat him. I have a lone male Bobwhite that I keep in a pen by himself. He refuses to play nice with others and even attacks me! Occasionally I give him parole in the aviary, until he bites me and draws blood or bites the others. Then back in he goes. LOL

 

[spikennipper]

Did you see the male actually do this? not saying males can't be aggressive just that this sound very much like a rogue female, each time I have had this happen in my flock a female has been the guilty party, they are often much worse than the males! can we see a pic of your flock

 

[shimzilla]

well the male is actually the tamest out of them to me lol. its all around the neck and head on all the females, where he has been grabbing them to mate. just been cleaning up their cuts and all females have bad eyes, ones got half its face swollen, the other is now missing an eye, and then theres the one with the scalp gone, we have super glued the head together and she is drinking by her self now, taking her to vets tomorrow. oh but the males now got a scratch on him lol. he is now separate.

I've only got a pic of the original male (white) and female (brown) im afraid

 

[laseterlass]

My bonded colony is kill driven to newcomers. Hens and roos.

 

[sphanges]

On advice from other quail experts I keep new groups or individuals in separate pens next to the existing quail for up to two weeks, then move all the cages around my lawn to confuse them and combine the new and old quail together. Apart from a one male who took a dislike to white females (out of the blue after living with them for weeks) and a very dominant female who bullies younger or smaller females, I haven't had any other problems.Once they have seen each other and heard each other for a while I think they get used to the idea that they are all part of the same flock.

B

 

[chickenshet]

How big is your space? I had some issues with a roo pecking and harassing until I doubled their cage space. Also, putting lots of hiding spots is helpful along with putting in toys like old CDs every once in a while. When I first got my quail, I had a roo that was violent and I thought it might just be the small space (my cage is 6' x 2') so I sent him to live at my FILs aviary. He turned out to be a complete psychopath, it wasn't just the cage.
Good luck!

 

[shimzilla]

thanks for all the comments everyone. I don't think the space is an issue, we had to take one of the hens to the vets, and they said it is the worst time of year to introduce new comers coz its the middle of breeding season. so I think later in the year i'll try what you said and switch them round, keep them next to each other and try again.