Why are my females scalping each other?

[QuailTail]

Hi everyone

I've had my coturnix quail for around a year now - they've all lived very happily together with no fighting or dominance issues. I have 6 females and no males.

About 3 weeks ago they stopped laying (I'm in Australia and we're coming out of winter, which about half of them laid throughout), which surprised me since we're now coming into longer, milder days. At the time I noticed some feathers around the coop so I assumed they'd stopped laying and started moulting.

Today, though, I've realised that about 3-4 of them are missing the feathers on the crowns of their heads - this is where the feathers are coming from around the coop, which makes sense as there were never a huge amount lying around.

Can anyone tell me why they would suddenly start doing this to each other? I've not seen it happen so I don't know if there's one or multiple culprits.
Would this also explain why they've stopped laying at a weird time of year?

I'm attaching some photos - the scalping isn't super severe yet, but without intervention I feel like there's no reason it wouldn't continue.

Thanks for any advice!

 

[vall]

That is definitely pecking. You can set up some more clutter (boxes, anything will work) so it's harder for them to see each other, or figure out who is doing it and separate her for a day or two. How many waterers/feeders do you have? Consider adding extra for now.

 

[QuailTail]

Did you see the pecking on the heads,, or just assumed it was pecking??? It may be a light molting,, and the head area is where it is happening now.
If it is molting,, good idea to increase protein in their diet. I only keep chickens,, so not familiar about quail feed mix. I am assuming,, that my Alflock, feed would work.
You being Down Under,, not sure what kind of feed is available there. You can try giving some additional dried cat food, (crushed into small bits) as an instant protein boost.

WISHING YOU BEST,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Thank you!
I haven't seen the pecking, but to me it looks exactly like when one of my females was getting over mated by two males I used to keep.
I did a deeper google dive and found some more info- apparently because we're going into Spring here it's normal for female quail to become aggressive towards each other. Has to do with their hormones going into breeding season. Fingers crossed that's what's happening and stops in a week or two

 

[QuailTail]

That is definitely pecking. You can set up some more clutter (boxes, anything will work) so it's harder for them to see each other, or figure out who is doing it and separate her for a day or two. How many waterers/feeders do you have? Consider adding extra for now.

Good tips, thank you!
This is their current set up - only one feeder and waterer so I will put an extra set in to avoid squabbling. I'll also see what I can find to give them more places to hide.

 

[vall]

Oh, and do you think that's also why they've suddenly stopped laying?

Could be but they tend to slow down when they molt anyway.

 

[Kiki]

What does it look like to you?

This is what I call scalped:
Thread 'Scalped Quail - GRAPHIC PICS' https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/scalped-quail-graphic-pics.940742/

 

[Kiki]

Oh my ever lovin' goodness!! That's horrible. I now understand why you said no to scalping. Unless it's just the beginning and will end up at this point

Do you have any idea what is going on with these birds?

No, I do not know.
The first thing I would look at is what they are eating to make sure it's a balanced diet with enough protein and calcium.

 

[cavemanrich]

Did you see the pecking on the heads,, or just assumed it was pecking??? It may be a light molting,, and the head area is where it is happening now.
If it is molting,, good idea to increase protein in their diet. I only keep chickens,, so not familiar about quail feed mix. I am assuming,, that my Alflock, feed would work.
You being Down Under,, not sure what kind of feed is available there. You can try giving some additional dried cat food, (crushed into small bits) as an instant protein boost.

WISHING YOU BEST,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

 

[QuailTail]

That is definitely pecking. You can set up some more clutter (boxes, anything will work) so it's harder for them to see each other, or figure out who is doing it and separate her for a day or two. How many waterers/feeders do you have? Consider adding extra for now.

Oh, and do you think that's also why they've suddenly stopped laying?

 

[Kiki]

It doesn't look anything like a scalping to me.
It doesn't look like they are beating each other up either.