Quail - birds are undemanding to food and keeping, however, in their behavior, sometimes there is "wildness", which causes stupor in poultry farmers, especially in beginners. In nature, this behavior is understandable. To support a healthy population, there are no places in the pack for the weak and sick. But at home, aggression seems unnecessary. What are the reasons and how to deal with this problem - later in the article.
The main reasons for biting
Among the main reasons for "pecking each other" are the following:
- malnutrition;
- close conditions of detention;
- lack or excess of lighting;
- leadership struggle;
- stress;
- drafts.
Seeing a bloodied bird, and more often blows are applied to the head (eye injuries are dangerous), neck and paws, it is immediately worth isolating it. They also separate the aggressor separately so that it doesn’t injure other individuals and peace-loving birds do not follow its example. For example, males become very angry during puberty and rush at all indiscriminately. Next, you need to find out the cause of cannibalism.
Poor nutrition
Oddly enough, but poor nutrition, lack of diet of proteins, macro- and micronutrients, vitamin-poor food makes birds look for their completion in feathers, blood of their relatives.
The appearance of “bald” quail in the herd signals that the birds are missing:
- sodium;
- potassium;
- calcium.
The feathers of the bird can be plucked from each other and by themselves. The house regularly misses eggs in the nest, as quail can peck them. After all, eggs are a source of vitamins, calcium and protein.
Correcting the situation will help the purchase of high-quality feed, where in the optimal ratio are all vital nutrients for the body of the bird. Some experienced poultry farmers recommend including hemp seeds in their feed, which also have a rich chemical composition. White cabbage will help prevent cannibalism. It contains amino acids, vitamins and calcium.
Not enough protein is another reason for aggressive behavior. Protein starvation is reflected in the appearance of birds - it goes bald, that is, feather loss occurs, skin irritation appears, and the structure of the skeleton changes. Therefore, boiled fish, meat and bone meal, milk powder are introduced into the diet.
To replenish vitamins and minerals, quail should be fed with germinated grain, fresh grass, shells, chalk, limestone and yeast.
In rare cases, quails begin to peck each other due to small amounts of food. They do not have enough food and they, trying to win their place at the trough, attack the "competitors". In this case, you just need to increase the volume, for example, for each quail, a volume of 30-35 g of feed is considered normal.
The basics of feeding quail are described in this article.
Close content
Steppe representatives need personal space. Failure to comply with this simple rule leads to the fact that strong and healthy individuals will peck their neighbors.
Reducing the number of birds in cages or in a room quickly solves the problem. However, it should be borne in mind that when shuffling birds in different cages, aggressive behavior can also occur. Since birds do not like beginners. This is especially observed if several males are in the same cage. They are recommended to keep away from each other.
When planting birds in cages, the following rules must be observed:
- if the cell is large, then for every 1 square. m accommodate 80-100 representatives;
- if the cage is small, then for each bird it is necessary to observe a space equal to 130 square meters. cm;
- in a cage of standard sizes (90x40 sq. cm) it is not recommended to contain more than 30 individuals.
About how to make a quail cage yourself - read here.
Battle for leadership
Fighting for leadership between males is a common reason for mutilating other dominants. Since in the wild there are 5 females per male, approximately the same amount should be in captivity. However, in natural habitats, females with nests are located at large distances from each other and do not intersect, therefore, conflicts between males practically do not occur, and in a cage this cannot be avoided, due to limited space.
In captivity, aggression of males towards one another is often observed, this can occur both due to a lack of females and due to the fact that young males tend to “seize” leadership in the cage. Therefore, it is better to refrain from replanting young animals into already formed families.
The only way to solve this problem is to provide the males with the necessary number of females (4-5 quails for each male). It will also not be amiss to give the birds adequate personal space.
Although males are usually the instigators of cleavage, sometimes females who have finished laying eggs are also involved in this matter. The attack mainly affects sick, old and weakened individuals.
Quails that have finished laying eggs are recommended to be relocated for a while.
Stress
Quailing tender birds and stress they can experience not only because of the conditions of detention, but also on psychological aspects. So, for example, birds quickly get used to one owner. When the poultry breeder changes, discomfort occurs that can cause nervous conditions in quail, and this can become a reason for aggression, manifested in relation to each other.
Also, relocation to a new cell can cause biting and anger. Therefore, it is not recommended to change the habitat of quails too often, as they are difficult to get used to a new place of residence.
The correct content of quails is described here.
Lighting
Excessive or insufficient lighting annoys quail, which in turn makes them aggressive and pugnacious. Among the main reasons for the “twitching” behavior of the bird due to lighting can be identified:
- Frequent, sharp light on, especially annoying birds after dark. The light intensity should change smoothly, a sharp inclusion scares the birds. This is achieved using a dimmer - dimmer, which is designed to change the electrical power.
- Lack of ultraviolet rays. Lack of light (ultraviolet) usually occurs in the winter, when the day becomes very short.
- Too short or too long daylight hours for quail. For quail daylight hours should be 12-14 hours all year round.
- Long flickering light bulbscaused by temperature changes. Do not allow flickering of light, this can also become a trigger for the manifestation of aggression.
- Using lamps of the wrong power and spectrum. Suitable for the house are fluorescent lamps of blue or red spectrum with a power of 40 watts. Such a soothing light affects the bird.
- Placing cells too close to the light. High brightness is best avoided by birds. And it doesn’t matter, natural light or artificial.
Poor ventilation or drafts
Quailing is very sensitive to drafts. The loud sounds that accompany the wind can drive them into a stressful situation, as well as affect their health. Stress, irritability - two components that lead to the inadequate behavior of the birds. The complete absence of ventilation causes the same condition, air stagnates in the room, and oxygen is not enough. As a result, the steppe inhabitants, accustomed to open spaces and light winds, begin to show anxiety, which ends with aggressive behavior.
Therefore, the room where the birds live should be well sealed. Draft should not walk around the house. All cracks in the floor, roof, walls are well caulked, the window is closed with a thick layer of plastic film. It is necessary to provide ventilation holes with traction, with the help of which air exchange will occur in the barn. But air should be drawn in from the shed, and not blown into it from the outside.
What to do with wounded birds?
If the bird has already been crippled, then it must be relocated and kept until complete recovery separately from other individuals. Most often, at the initial stage, wounds are applied to the trunk and legs, since it’s easier to get into them, and the legs are generally a vulnerable spot.
Noticing a dead bird with wings down and eyes closed, which is in no hurry to the feeder and shows apathy to everything that happens around it, it is urgent to carefully inspect. Pay particular attention to the condition of the wounds. If bacteria or pathogens of pathogenic microorganisms get into them, then an antibiotic is required for treatment. Signs of a wound infection are:
- the presence of pus;
- abscesses;
- severe redness;
- local temperature increase.
The wound is regularly washed with a solution of the antibiotic of the penicillin group or Vetbitsin. In severe cases, antibiotics are administered intramuscularly, strictly observing the dosage of the drug.
Therefore, it is better to look at your livestock every day and identify wounded birds in the early stages. Wounds without signs of inflammation and infection heal faster and do not require the use of strong drugs. They are disinfected with hydrogen peroxide and lubricated with the healing ointment of Levomekol or Vishnevsky, the use of greens is allowed. The main thing is to prevent infection of the wound with pathogenic bacteria.
The cell in which the patient is kept must be hygienically clean. They clean it in a timely manner. Before placing a warped individual there, it is recommended to disinfect the cell.
A vitaminized diet helps a wounded bird recover well. Calcium-rich foods will help fast bone growth. It is worth noting that a healthy quail can recover on its own, while seriously injured birds are advised to kill.
It is not recommended to eat quail that died from biting, if the cause of the "inadequate" behavior is not clarified. It is not known what diseases the bird is infected with, and these may be diseases of an infectious nature that a person can become infected with.
Useful Tips
To avoid unpleasant situations, it is recommended to adhere to some basic rules for the maintenance of quails:
- Good care, proper nutrition, the required daylight hours and the optimal number of birds in the room reduce the conditions of quail to peck each other.
- Birds well soothe and relieve stress in their ash baths. To do this, they should be able to wallow in ash without any barriers.
- It is better to keep males and females separately from each other, letting the males for a short time to them. Young quails are not hooked to old individuals.
- Birds affected by the “cannibalistic inclinations” of their brethren are immediately resettled in another place. Wounds are treated to avoid infection. Paws are treated with hydrogen peroxide.
- If the aggressor can not calm down in any way, and behaves this way by virtue of his character, then radical measures are taken towards him. Gently cut the beak for a few millimeters with a sharp tool. The procedure should be carried out with great care, as one is not a smart move, and the bird may be left without a tongue.
Aggressive behavior is often for quail. Usually in the flock there is one instigator, after which the remaining birds begin to repeat bad behavior in relation to the slaughtered individual. However, timely calculation of the aggressor and isolating it from the rest of the birds can reduce the situation to nothing. And the creation of favorable and proper conditions for keeping birds will help not to learn about their cannibal inclinations at all.