Why are my Quail fighting?

[amandastiles]

I have two female Coturnix Quail who are not so much fighting as one is constantly chasing and pecking the other. They have been together for months now with no problems. Both lay regularly. They are outside in a chicken coop that is at least 6 square feet. We keep lamp on for them at night or when it is below freezing during the day. They have been together about 3 months now and were purchased together from the same breeder at the same time. The only thing that was different the other morning, when the fighting started was one layer a soft shelled egg. I'm not sure which. Not sure what to do now but I had to separate them. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[dc3085]

Soft shelled eggs are caused by stress. Check both of them over for wounds, any sores on the feet of sources of discomfort can make them aggressive. Sometimes they just 'lose if' too. If it gets too bad separate them for a week or so but keep them in full sight of each other.

 

[DK newbie]

Couldn't the lamp have something to do with it? I read something about chicks becoming aggressive if they didn't have it dark at night, guess the same thing could be the case for adults. And as far as I know, grown cots do well in freezing temps, as long as they have been slowly acclimatized, so the lamp really shouldn't be necessary..