Young male coturnix quail is now trying to kill two others

[Rafnel]

Hi all, wondering what to do. I have 8 7-week old quails. One confirmed rooster so far, 5 confirmed females, and 2 unconfirmed. The 2 unconfirmed (haven't seen them mate or crow, no white foam from vent sexing though) started being brutally attacked by my one confirmed male yesterday. This morning I wake up to thispics attached).

I'm now keeping the bullied ones in a different cage and they are passed out exhausted.

Questions:
1) can the hurt one survive this type of head trauma? Super bloody head. It isn't actively bleeding now and has dried up. The quail has occasionally moved around but is mostly sleeping (understandable)
2) does this fighting mean that these two bullied quail are males? Is my confirmed male targeting them because they are males? I have tried vent sexing but no bulge and no white foam for these two. Could be females then? Is this surefire at 7 weeks old? My confirmed male does have white foam when vent sexing.
3) can i ever reintroduce or will the confirmed male always try to kill these? Seems like i need to start a new flock with them

 

[Rafnel]

Extra notes: I have 1 sq foot per bird in their enclosure. Keeping the two bullied ones together now in a 6 sq ft rabbit hutch with each other

 

[vall]

1. Yes, as long as he is eating and drinking
2. Probably, considering the attack and 5 of 8 are already female
3. They will never get along if all 3 are male. My extra males become dinner. If you want to try keeping the bullied two in a bachelor pad, you will have better luck if they can't see the females.

Keep an eye on your known male in case he isn't nice to the ladies either, but aggression toward other males doesn't necessarily mean he'll be a bad mate.

 

[Rafnel]

Thanks for the response! Yeah seems likely that the bullied ones are going to be males, just really late bloomers I guess. For now I think I'm going to build a second enclosure and keep these two together permanently until I decide if I should cull them or have them together in a new flock.

 

[Boppo]

Best wishes! It's tough.

 

[Rafnel]

Lol funny update but all of the bullied ones ended up being females. Not sure what the issue was, but my male would not stop trying to kill them. I made a second level to my handmade coop and I keep 4 on this level and then the male+3 females on the top level. All seems to be happy for them for the past two weeks now.

 

[Aliciaquails]

Hi all, wondering what to do. I have 8 7-week old quails. One confirmed rooster so far, 5 confirmed females, and 2 unconfirmed. The 2 unconfirmed (haven't seen them mate or crow, no white foam from vent sexing though) started being brutally attacked by my one confirmed male yesterday. This morning I wake up to thispics attached).

I'm now keeping the bullied ones in a different cage and they are passed out exhausted.

Questions:
1) can the hurt one survive this type of head trauma? Super bloody head. It isn't actively bleeding now and has dried up. The quail has occasionally moved around but is mostly sleeping (understandable)
2) does this fighting mean that these two bullied quail are males? Is my confirmed male targeting them because they are males? I have tried vent sexing but no bulge and no white foam for these two. Could be females then? Is this surefire at 7 weeks old? My confirmed male does have white foam when vent sexing.
3) can i ever reintroduce or will the confirmed male always try to kill these? Seems like i need to start a new flock with them

That would be a confirmations that they are males if they are fighting mating season. About 8 weeks this starts to happen. You can either keep 1 male to 4 females house them together or a pair 1 female and one male in a separate cage. Depends how many cages you have but 1 male in a cage with 1 to 4 females. Never 2 males in a cage or you will see them fight and be very aggressive. Unless you have a very big cage like a chicken coop. I learned this very fast I had bloody males quails fighting every day. They even scalped the all feathers and skin off the head. I cried, I learned to cull quails real fast.Till I learned a family is 1 male up to 4 females and never had any problems that way. Less stress for them and me too.

 

[Aliciaquails]

That would be a confirmations that they are males if they are fighting mating season. About 8 weeks this starts to happen. You can either keep 1 male to 4 females house them together or a pair 1 female and one male in a separate cage. Depends how many cages you have but 1 male in a cage with 1 to 4 females. Never 2 males in a cage or you will see them fight and be very aggressive. Unless you have a very big cage like a chicken coop. I learned this very fast I had bloody males quails fighting every day. They even scalped the all feathers and skin off the head. I cried, I learned to cull quails real fast.Till I learned a family is 1 male up to 4 females and never had any problems that way. Less stress for them and me too.

Put neosporin ointment on the injured head it will heal up.