Abstract
When young quail are kept crowded together, in considerable numbers, in very small brooder pens, they soon develop the “nose-picking” form of cannibalism. It may start at any age from about the second up to the sixth or seventh week. It seldom or never starts after the eighth week; or, if it has already started, it usually stops at about that time.
One or more birds (usually the larger and stronger ones) start pecking the upper bills of other birds (usually the smaller and weaker ones). The nostril is the point of injury. The wound is small and superficial at first but it is enlarged and deepened from the repeated picking by the offending bird or birds, until, within 2 or 3 days, it is quite serious. This weeping and bleeding wound invites further injury. The bill at this point may be cut half through. The victim is in pain, droops around, eats and drinks very little and becomes weak. The weaker he grows the more the other birds attack him. Usually he is soon trampled and smothered to death by the other stronger birds. Within a few days a large percent of all the birds in the pen may be injured. If nothing is done to stop it, most of them may die. Birds that recover usually have badly deformed bills and are worthless for breeders.
This trouble occurs only when the quail chicks are brooded in artificial brooders. It does not occur if they are kept in large pens, especially if the pens are on the ground where there is plenty of trash and litter for them to pick at and scratch in.
Many quail breeders believe this form of cannibalism is due to some fault or deficiency in the diet.
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