I have 7 coturnix hens at 5 weeks old, 4 golden and 3 brown. They had some pecking issues in a bigger flock before I bought them, since most have lost some feathers on back or neck, and the situation did not seem to improve one week after I got them. A couple of them got pecked so bad they start bleeding around neck and tail.
I finally decided to sit in front of the cage and watch them and track down the culprit, and then finally I was able to identify this one brown hen that keeps pecking hard on others' back, neck or tail. The rest if any pecking at all, are all very mild and looks to me more like out of curiosity than anything else.
I took her out and put her in a small holding cage. After watching the rest for a while, I think the problem is gone because no more pecking is happening.
But now what do I do with this young hen? Would it be possible after being isolated for some days, its behavior will return to more docile and I can return it to the flock? Or that is not likely to happen?
Would it make a difference to her behavior if it is put into a different flock of older ones, or maybe put it together with some male? If that's the case, then I would definitely try to find her a different home.
Also, would a group of young quails always try to establish some pecking order within the flock and some conflict or even blood-shed is inevitable? I am just curious if I remove this bully one, would a different one within the flock turn into a bully again?
TIA for any suggestion!
I finally decided to sit in front of the cage and watch them and track down the culprit, and then finally I was able to identify this one brown hen that keeps pecking hard on others' back, neck or tail. The rest if any pecking at all, are all very mild and looks to me more like out of curiosity than anything else.
I took her out and put her in a small holding cage. After watching the rest for a while, I think the problem is gone because no more pecking is happening.
But now what do I do with this young hen? Would it be possible after being isolated for some days, its behavior will return to more docile and I can return it to the flock? Or that is not likely to happen?
Would it make a difference to her behavior if it is put into a different flock of older ones, or maybe put it together with some male? If that's the case, then I would definitely try to find her a different home.
Also, would a group of young quails always try to establish some pecking order within the flock and some conflict or even blood-shed is inevitable? I am just curious if I remove this bully one, would a different one within the flock turn into a bully again?
TIA for any suggestion!
