what is WRONG with my Coturnix..?

[mhwc56]

they are outside without any type of added lights but they have all decided to go into breeding mode and are being VISCIOUS! every morning for the last week when i get out there to feed them someone is beaten to a bloody mess. i have 2 roos in the house now b/c they need medical attention,1 who was 1/2 scalped and the other who nearly lost an eye.
WHY have they suddenly decided that it's breeding season ?!?

 

[BobwhiteQuailLover]

Sorry, I can't help you.

 

[aprophet]

do you have any outdoor lights street lights etc it does not take much light for them

 

[mhwc56]

the closest light is from the other side of the yard where the neighbor has a motion activated light...that's really all.
The BIGGEST issue/ concern is their recent aggression towards each other. they are ripping each other to pieces .They weren't like this when they were in breeding mode this fall and they were all together then ,same cage,same birds( only fewer males now..) I just don't get it.

 

[Robo]

What is your rooster to hen ratio?

 

[Buttercup Chillin]

We helped her with the ratio before, so is probably not the problem.

I just separated my 6 week olds 2 days ago and went out this morning to the only 2 Manchurian Gold females with bloody eyes. Saw the Jumbo Brown male being way to rough. So my 2 girls are in the house and he is in a pen of Jumbo Browns, until his date comes with the freezer. Don't want that behavior in my little flock. Its to bad, he was a good size boy. But there are other males with better behavior to keep as breeders from that hatch.

Around here its 79* one day and 52* the next. Freezing (well with frost anyway) once or twice a week, other nights it's in the 50's*. I think the weather is messing with their bodies. Now its Spring, now it isn"t. They just can't keep up with the fast changes in the weather.

My adults are dealing with it better, temperament wise, but the juveniles are going nuts. Juvenile delinquents with hormone swings is what they act like.

What did the H.S. admin. at orientation say years ago - hormones in tennis shoes. That's what I picture when they are at this stage or act like this. Coturnix in itty bitty tennis shoes.

 

[mhwc56]

it's freezing cold here in MD. teens and 20s. we are only getting 9-91/2 hours of daylight now.
i thought i'd given away all but a total of 2 males in in the 13 remaining birds that i have but i guess i was wrong ( stupid E.W.s that i cannot sex properly!) cuz i know i have at least 3 more than that since they have all decided to start crowing this past week.
i HATE to get rid of all this batch of E.W.s since they are the bloodline that the 1 true Champagne female came from ( who i had to ..put down) but i am ready to wring ALL of the whites' necks ! They are SPASTIC and NOW this...ugh!

O and i separated the known males to a completely different area away from females and they started jumping on each other and trying to put eyes out and tear out feathers and ...they are INSANE!! i don't have enough cages to put each 1 by itself....the idea of freezer camp is starting to look GOOD!

 

[Buttercup Chillin]

Quote:
Just how old are the Whites, I quess I haven't been paying attention. You could always put the Whites in a deep basket, with a blanket on top and take them for a drive......to your friends place. Hand them over and say here, you take care of these brats this winter, I'll pick them up in the Spring when they have learned some manners. Of coarse she might give you a:

Tonight for dinner I am having quail wrapped in bacon and roasted to perfection (I hope). Does this give you a do able idea?

 

[mhwc56]

they hatched out in june or july can't remember which ...5-6 months. They were reeeeeal slow to mature too.
well i'm going to hang on to them for now, come spring we'll see what 's what since there is no room for separate cages once i get more eggs for hatching ....
yeah, i didn't think i'd say it but the bacon wrapped roasted quail is starting to be more fascinating by the minute.

 

[Stellar]

I have 20 EW males in a pen and as long as they have food water and controlled lighting as all the others they are fine. There was a fight a day ago but the bleeder healed up and is acting like nothing happened. In a pharaoh pen there was a masacre because a hen was sitting in the food dish (she got her eye pecked), she got angry and beat up the male. They are like humans. Something bugs them, they fight, then they brush it off. I try to have ratios of 1:4 or 3:10, something like that as some cages are bigger than others in length (the heights are low to achieve max size in the birds). I have some birds that have such attitude that they cannot be with others. I Have an androgenous hen from Shelley (egg hatched today lol) and she crows, mounts and kills males she doesn't like.