[Chookster]

I rear quails and chickens.  I've recently had a problem with my one of my sets of quails...

there were four fertile eggs which hatched out great.  Healthy and strong little things which grew very fast - they're fully grown just this week.  They've grown up doing everything together at the same time - rest, eat, drink, have a practice fly and so on


The problem is that about a week or two back, suddenly one of the quails had a problem with one particular quail (male with a pretty female).  I separated them as i couldn't work out why it was going on so long and then i thought - oh - perhaps it's a mating thing so i put her back in the enclosure with her buddies since birth and he made a bee line for her so i waited and watched.  I didn't think it too bad so i left them to it.

Next morning i came downstairs and she looked hunched and 'henpecked'.  When i got her out to have a proper look at her and give her a break he had pecked her so much she had feathers missing and all round her head at eye level she was bleeding and the top of her head was made bruised and swollen by him.  I felt really awful!!

Since then i have taken care of her and given her peace and rest and food and water etc by herself and then i let her walk around the enclosure so they couldn't attack her and got used to each other again.  It seemed to be working after a week so i let her back in with her birth buddies. WRONG!!! It only took about a minute and another one had a problem with her.  WHAT is going on here? There are 2 males and 2 females - why out a female??? I can only imagine she is too pretty for them.  She looks a bit like a thrush - is that why??


There is  ahappy ending to date... the next batch are a week old now and to cut a long story short (i hope you haven't dropped off with this long email by now), she has become a young step in mum to six babies and her feathers are growing back.

At some point though they have to go into the big aviary together the lot of them.

I'm rather fond of her and rather attached now (i'm following the rules though , hard as it is to not get her attached to me) and she's saved me having the heat lamp on bless her!

Any ideas as to what's going on guys?

[Kate and her Ducks]

Wish I knew as then I might understand why my drake constantly chases just one of my ducklings, she is his daughter and he ignores all of her hatchmates. She is a beautiful grey colour rather than the black the others are.