Aggressive Quail Behavior?

[aurora_bahuki]

Edit:  Well, we don't have to worry about this problem anymore... I gave the little brat to a bird farm... the other quails are a LOT happier without him around and nobody else is being mean... *sigh*


I have eleven baby quails (five different types in all) that I've incubated and raised since birth.  We kept them in one aquarium as babies and then around two weeks to a month or age we split up the eleven of them into two seperate aquariums (six in one, five in the other) because they were getting too big for one aquarium.  Well, in the aquarium with six quials, we have three black ones, one white one, and two brown-ish ones.  In the other aquarium we have mainly the striped looking ones and one semi-black one.  Well anyways, one of the black ones from the aquarium with the six quails, is extremely aggressive.  He constantly pecks and attacks especially the white quail.  So we decided to put him in the cage with the mostly striped ones, and he started attacking EVERYONE.  He pecks, bites, and latches onto them with his beak until they can struggle away.  He is extremely aggressive and will not "play nice" with anyone!!!  He's left CHUNKS of feathers missing from the white quail.  So, for now, we've completely seperated him from the other quails in fear of their lives, quite literally.  Was it wrong to seperate them, even though the aquariums are right next to eachother?  When we switch quails from one aqarium to the other, they attack becauseh they don't really know the others.  But this black one doesn't just attack, he's brutal.  We're worried he'll kill another quail.  Is there any reason for this?  Is there anything I can do?  Should I just give him to a bird farm and let them deal with him?  HELP!!!  :(

[CharlieHorse]

My opinion is that alot of the problem is the aquariums themselves, even a "big" aquarium would be too small for full grown birds if you ask me. As long as you keep putting them back in aquariums there enviroment probably doesn't seem to change from their point of view, so mixing the birds around wouldn't help any because the bird thinks that it is still protecting it's territory. If you read some of the other threads about "mixing birds" etc., I think that you'll find that the general opinion is that you need a new "bigger" enviroment. Example: Put all the birds that get along in a new (bigger) area for a couple weeks, then introduce the "meanie" into "their" enviroment. He may be the one that gets picked on then! He may just be plain mean and still pick at the others. All of my bobs are scared to death of me, but a friend of mine has a male that as soon as he sees someone coming he starts pacing, wanting a piece of ya! He can't wait for you to stick your hand in the cage, he'll take a big bite and hang right on, clawing at you with his feet! He is definitely a "handle with gloves only" kinda bird. I have never seen or heard tell of any other being so agressive. He will even try to get to you thru the sides of the pen. I think that he thinks he is a "Bobcat" instead of a "Bobwhite"!!  He is kept in a cage to himself because of his temper.  Another thing that might be contributing to your problem is the fact that you have all different colored birds, this may be triggering an instinct to attack the strangers. Regardless, I still believe that you are keeping them in "too close" quarters, they need to be able to have places (brush, pine tree, etc.) to hide and run from "meanies".

Just my Opinion

[wvgirl]

You usually have a couple of bobwhites that get aggressive and some times will mame or kill another one. You have to make sure they have plenty of room to get away from the bullies and things to hide in. I take tree branches, hang them from the ceiling of my cages. This gives the something to hide in. Of course when I put them in their flight pens they have shrubbery and grass to hid in. But you must give them alot of room.

Getting rid of the trouble maker is also a good idea.

[deadeye1]

Quail are tribal and have ids and know each other,when you put a quail from another flock in, the others will kill it time.That has been my experiance if they don.'t have enough room and foliage cover to escape.