When raising quail, there are many variables that must come together to keep them healthy. Most quail farmers think first of hatching their eggs and then being able to keep the quail disease free. These are very important factors when raising quail and require a significant amount of knowledge and proper handling.
But there is also another very dangerous problem that can occur when raising quail that is often overlooked. This problem is cannibalism, also known as pecking. It can cause injury or even death when raising quail.
It can start as a simple pinching of the toes and beak area of the quail. this type of cannibalism usually occurs with quail chicks. If not addressed at this point, it will continue to progress as the quail ages. You will also lose quite a few quail along the way. As your quail gets older, the harvest will progress further to the back and vent area of your quail. Once you’ve raised your quail to production age, you certainly don’t want to lose them to this problem. You have a lot of time and money invested in them.
The most common causes of cannibalism when raising quail are overcrowding, insufficient food, insufficient water, excessive or insufficient heat. As with disease, the best solution is prevention.
When your quail chicks are in their brooding stage, use colored lights for warmth. Blue is highly recommended, but red will work too. It’s not a bad idea to give quail chicks enough light to find food and water. Make sure they have enough space and follow proper temperature guidelines.
Provide more than enough food and water for your quail. It doesn’t matter if you’re raising quail for a hobby or to make money, you don’t want to lose them for the small cost of a few extra feeders or waterers.
Always provide enough space, no matter what stage of life your quail is in. This point cannot be overlooked when breeding quail. This can and usually will cause cannibalism and can also cause a lot more problems. This is just an unnecessary mistake that should not be made.
Try to keep only birds of uniform size together. Your quail can be just as bad as humans in this regard, if they look a little different, are a little smaller, or something that makes them stand out. There’s a good chance they’ll be picked on.
Check your quail several times a day, immediately remove any dead or injured birds. Nurse your injured birds back to health before attempting to add them back to the flock. When you add the quail back to the flock, keep a close eye on the quail to make sure they accept them. If not, you will have to remove it again. You may have to wait until cooler weather or breeding season is over before trying again.
Give your quail places to hide, make them small brush mounds with twigs or little houses. You can also provide them with something to snack on, other than each other. Put a small tightly tied ball of hay, ripe apples, tomatoes, or green corn stalks in the quail’s cage. I also had someone give me a very unique idea who said it worked well for him. He took an old CD, put it on a string and hung it in front of them and the quail bit it.
The other option is to cut off the beak, I would only use it as a last resort. But if nothing else works, you’re raising quail for a reason and that reason is so they don’t peck each other to death. If you have to resort to this method to stop the cannibalism, remember to catch the birds to do it. Trapping your quail is a danger in itself.
You can use scissors, nail clippers, or there is a special device made especially for this process. This device will re-flare the beak to the desired length, typically removing about a third of the top of the beak. I don’t like to remove the spout nor do I recommend it, but when all else fails. You do what you have to do.
