What to do? Pecked quail hen

[504707]

When I went to check on the birbs this morning I found one of the quails in a sorry state. I caught the male quail redhanded, he pecked out her neck feathers (not even mounting) and another hen went for her head. I separated her from the flock in the other pen I have. What should I do? Any advice?
Her eye is now swollen shut as well

 

[feedman77]

Keep her separated til her head heals.
Then put her back in the pen and separate the male for a day or 2.

While she is in there with other hens see how they interact. If all is well then put male back.
Once quail peck til blood is drawn they will peck until the injured quail will die if not separated.

Hope all works out for your birds.

 

[504707]

Keep her separated til her head heals.
Then put her back in the pen and separate the male for a day or 2.

While she is in there with other hens see how they interact. If all is well then put male back.
Once quail peck til blood is drawn they will peck until the injured quail will die if not separated.

Hope all works out for your birds.

Thank you!

 

[Acre4Me]

How many quail do you have? Are they only in one cage?

We have a small animal carrier that is our "hospital" - where injured quail go to heal up for a day or so. If it looks like they need separation for longer than a day to heal, we often put another friendly quail in with them for company.

When we had 9 females and 2 males per cage - there were problems. When we rearranged things and now only have 1 male to 5 females - no problems. We did have one aggressive female though and so we tried switching out the "victims" with other quail, but the aggressive hen was still aggressive. So, we role reversed and made the bully be the new one in another cage - no problems since.

We've had bloody eyes - so bad we thought bird was blinded...but turned out ok. We've had torn toe nails - due to some overlapping wire - talk about blood - Yikes! and we've had gouged necks, which look rather gory as they had obviously been "stabbed" by another quail's beak. Luckily, they heal up fast!

 

[504707]

I have 1 male and 5 female quails in a rabbit hutch, 150*60cm. Fortunately its a double decker so I have space for a quail hospital
I have separated them and the poor pecked one is now on the way to recovery, her eye is no longer bloody or swollen.

 

[Acre4Me]

I have 1 male and 5 female quails in a rabbit hutch, 150*60cm. Fortunately its a double decker so I have space for a quail hospital
I have separated them and the poor pecked one is now on the way to recovery, her eye is no longer bloody or swollen.

You will need to keep your eye on them, once injured quail is returned. They may still pick on this one bird.

 

[paneubert]

We've had bloody eyes - so bad we thought bird was blinded...but turned out ok. We've had torn toe nails - due to some overlapping wire - talk about blood - Yikes! and we've had gouged necks, which look rather gory as they had obviously been "stabbed" by another quail's beak. Luckily, they heal up fast!

Same experience here. I have had two males who each seemed to have an eye that was completely gone. One even had some damage around the eye on the face. A little separation and rest caused everything to magically heal in each case! They are tough little birds.

 

[Rooftop808]

Why do you think this happens?

I have 3 females and 1 male in a 8’x2’x1.5’ cage on the grass. So I don’t think it’s a male to female ratio or space issue.

I saw the male pecking the eye of one female. None of the other females are wounded. It’s like he’s targarting one specific bird.

I separated the wounded bird. And the 1 male and 2 females seems to be getting along. I think the wounded bird wants to go back! Crazy.

 

[paneubert]

Why do you think this happens?

I have 3 females and 1 male in a 8’x2’x1.5’ cage on the grass. So I don’t think it’s a male to female ratio or space issue.

I saw the male pecking the eye of one female. None of the other females are wounded. It’s like he’s targarting one specific bird.

I separated the wounded bird. And the 1 male and 2 females seems to be getting along. I think the wounded bird wants to go back! Crazy.

Once injured, birds like to pick on the injury. It was probably just that once the eye got hurt, it stayed hurt due to him picking on it constantly.

 

[504707]

I have 5 to 1 f/m ratio. They have a comfortably big cage and no shortage of food. I just had to cull a very very aggressive female that literally pecked another one till there was no skin left on her skull and turned on the other ones after. I have no idea why she went crazy. The injured quail is enjoying the solitary pen atm.