Let me just say that I don’t actually know if this process is repeatable as I have only recently done this and it is the first time I have ever successfully integrated quail. I must stress how big of a deal it is to me because Coturnix quail are aggressive as hell and will turn on each other in the drop of a hat.
This is the species of quail that I keep, and that I once had half massacre the other half all because I sold a couple to give them more space. This is also the species where I once had one escape the enclosure for less than 4 hours and when I erroneously thought I could just put it back in with the others, resulting in a birdicide.
This is also the species where I was one day late in separating out the barely 8 week old males and it turned into the coliseum overnight. One day they were fine as can be and the next day they had decided it’s every quail for himself and only one can be the winner. I stress again that these are not birds that could be considered easy to integrate by any means.
I had even tried integrating the two females (that were the final success story to this saga) into the existing breeding quad during the daytime and it did not go well the first few times at all—but because I was there to watch, no damage could be done and I separated them out again.
But here is what I did to finally succeed in this integration, and maybe, if it worked for me, it could work for you. I do caution that you absolutely should have another cage prepped just in case it doesn’t work.
- There is no way (or none that I have found) to integrate a male into a flock that already has one. I would even say it might be impossible, so make sure if you do have a male quail that you aren’t attempting to integrate another one in, or else they will gravely injure one another.
- Put a wire or other sort of stiff netting separator in the existing flock’s cage, cutting it in half (or however small depending on how many you are trying to integrate). One side you should put the ones you wish to integrate, the other the existing flock. This way they can see and hear and interact, but can’t cause any harm. Mine had this separator between them for 3 weeks before the success, but I imagine one week could be enough (however, I don’t know so I can’t guarantee that.)
- Provide hiding boxes that is only big enough for one quail to go in. I used small cardboard boxes. I don’t know if this does anything as I had these before as well and it didn’t seem to help the first few times—but better to have them than not.
- The day you decide to integrate, do it after the sun has gone down and there is very little light. For mine, they could probably still make out shapes and shades (there’s enough light through the windows so I could see what I was doing) so absolute darkness isn’t necessary. Remove the separator and watch for 30 minutes. Some very light pecking is to be expected but they should not be chased down and cornered. If chased down and cornered more than once, place back into the separated area and try again in a week.
- Check every hour or so until you sleep (if you sleep—I barely did because I was so worried) to make sure they are not hurting each other. Once full darkness has set in, there should be no squabbles. If they are fine in the morning, monitor throughout the day. No injuries equals success and they can very quickly hurt one another.
If you try this method, PLEASE let me know if it works. I don’t know if it also matters for aggression, but I also did this the last week of October, so well into Autumn when their drive may not be as high. Hope you found my article on integrating Coturnix quail helpful!
You can also add an extra step in step 4, where on the day you integrate them, you first put all the quail (both old and new) in a new box which will disorient them for about 20 minutes, and then place them back into their cage.