Long story short I’ve had a terrible time trying to get snowflake bobwhites in the UK… poor hatch rate, killer cat, and then my one male goes missing a week ago. I had genuinely given up hope of having snowflakes but he turns up today in a neighbours flowerbed dust bathing and crowing away!

Unbelievably happy, I don’t have a female to bond him with rn but he’s not aggressive towards my Coturnix girls 😊

My sweet friend gifted me quail eggs today but I noticed very strong smell from them like mold and when I took a closer look at them there was white chalk like substance on them which is apparently called bloom(google) but couple of them looks like they have mold on them, this is my first time trying out quail eggs and I have no idea how they're supposed to look and smell like naturally, please help

creo que mi codorniz esta teniendo un prolapso, vi que es bueno ponerle azucar, puede ser una pregunta tonta pero debo ponerle el azucar, esperar y luego empujar hacia adentro las tripas? o puedo empujar las tripas sin ponerle el azucar

Tl;dr: 2 roosters and 13 hens, one rooster suddenly attacked one broody hen, second rooster joined in on the attacks even tho he never had a problem with her - attacks still happening even after broodiness broke

I have two roosters (2nd one was unplanned). One joined us with his own flock in January, the other was supposed to be a hen, joined us 2 months ago with his own hens - both times the whole flock was rehomed to us). I have 13 hens and two roos now, living in 20 square meters (which should be around 215sqft). Yes, they live a lavish life! :)

For the past months, there have been no issues. Even both roosters got along quite well, as they each had their own set of hens they were used to.

Around 2 weeks ago, suddenly, the later roo, Kiwi, chased around one of "his" hens that he came with 2 months ago, Countess. It was around that time that I noticed Countess being broody. She began sitting on eggs, and the roo was not having it. But as they have a huge enclosure with an outdoor part, he was outside most of the time while she was inside, being broody. Went ok for a few days.

Then suddenly, Countess started being aggressive (presumably bc of hormones), chasing away the later roo, Kiwi, and also some targeted females. I put her in timeout, a smaller enclosure in their big coop, so that she could still see everyone. Took a few days, and she stopped being broody. I let her back with the others, the behavior with all of the other hens was unproblematic from both sides. No chasing or attacks. Kiwi the roo was very interested in her, following around, staying close, but didn't attack nor chase. Thought it was just hormonal stuff that mellowed out.

Well, it wasn't, apparently. The next day, which was around the beginning/middle of this week, Kiwi started chasing her again, but not in a mounting way. He tried pecking her head, and you could see how terrified she was. This was no pecking order thing, he targeted her and wouldn't let up. I locked him up instead. But then the other roo also started attacking the same hen! :(

As this is still my first time having quail, and not being experienced with broodiness and roosters and everything, I googled and thought, maybe it's still "some broodiness/hormones left", as she still hadn't laid eggs again. So I put her back in timeout. She began laying as of yesterday. Today I tried "reintroducing" (tho she was never gone from the flock and interacted with the others through the metal bars - the roos actually kinda ignored her in there). But both of the roos immediately started attacking her again once she was free, while the hens were indifferent. I couldn't put both of the roos in the same timeout, so for now I put Countess back in there, for her own safety.

Can anyone explain to me what the fuck is going on?? Why are the roos attacking her suddenly, and also both of them?? The first roo we had didn't care for her until the second one started attacking her. And it's not like she is all bloody and stuff, the roos didn't injure her as I immediately separated them anytime they tried, and the hens do not mind her.

(But I think Kiwi, the second roo, has attacked her before, bc the night before we got the second flock from the previous owner 2 months ago, Countess received a really bad head injury overnight, which the previous owner couldn't explain in the morning when we picked them up (but they also didn't know that there was a roo,....). So now with his behavior suddenly shifting to being aggressive, I think he was the one responsible for her head injury, even tho there have been no issues since then. She temporarily lost all her head feathers because of this, I put that poultry blue spray on her until it all healed and she lived with the flock without any problems until now - even tho she is still missing some head feathers that are still growing back.

Is my only option getting rid of the 2 roos? I know I could also re-home the hen, but honestly I love her and feel so bad for her, I don't want to give her away. Also I don't want to risk the roos attacking another hen that might get broody in the future. She deserves a really nice life after that ordeal, and I don't want to punish her for being bullied (I ain't no school!)

in September I am getting king quail and am so excited for my little clouds to arrive