Quail trouble!

[chicksonline]

Hello, we have hatched some quails and are about 5/6 weeks old! We introduced them into the adult batch and straight away the male got scaled and killed I was warned this was going to happen but I went down today and realised all the other newbies were really scruffy so I picked them up and checked them out they all had these massive holes in their skin and honestly it’s horrible to look at!! I took them out of the main coop and put them in a meanwhile empty one and and I am wondering how they could have done this and is this completey normal. We caught one being pushed into a corner like the other one like playground bullies but after a week of settiling in I assumed no more scalping and they were fine. I am guineinnly worried for my poor babies! Any tips on how to recover and if this has happened before what to do!!

 

[JaeG]

Yes it is normal for an established group to view newcomers as a threat to their territory and drive them off. If the newcomers cannot get away they will be killed. You need to integrate the two groups carefully. They need to be where they can see but not touch each other for a week then introduce them into neutral territory if possible - just moving the main cage and rearranging it can make it all seem new - maybe add some pieces of wood or rocks to create visual barriers. There's still the possibility that some won't get along (sometimes personalities clash) and you'll need to decide if you want to keep two groups or rehome the troublemakers.

 

[Acre4Me]

1 lone male with 4 or more girls provides the best harmony. 2 males with 9 females was bloody in my experience. Lots of injuries. The males don’t like to share. I now have separate cages -all in view of each other, but about 1 foot apart and some stacked with 1 male and 4 females. They are relaxed and content and no more bloody battles.

 

[chicksonline]

1 lone male with 4 or more girls provides the best harmony. 2 males with 9 females was bloody in my experience. Lots of injuries. The males don’t like to share. I now have separate cages -all in view of each other, but about 1 foot apart and some stacked with 1 male and 4 females. They are relaxed and content and no more bloody battles.

We had one male with 7 females and were introducing 1 males with 4 females I thought they would have been happy together obviously not