KILLER QUAIL

..Or mystery drama as small bird turns psycho

 ONE of our quail has turned psycho and started attacking the remaining hen quail for no apparent reason. I've now had to seperate the two as I fear he will really kill her next time they're put together.
 And while I know very little about the habits of quail, this is more than just rough and tumble in the straw or some sort of elaborate mating ceremony. He really wants to kill his partner and she has a terrible head wound to prove it as you can see on the picture immediately below left. That dark patch is her head wound!

BATTERED quail: In recovery

and clearly unhappy

BRUISER: Male quail 

silent and violent

 They've lived quite happily together for some months now but all hell broke loose just a few days ago and several attempts to reunite the pair has ended in disaster with more fighting.
 And they don't seem that happy apart either; she has stopped laying eggs and he just spends most of his time sulking in the corner of their cage. While they clearly can't live together they appear to be quite miserable on their own as well. The only new factor in their lives in recent days is I've changed the bedding from wood shavings to straw. Their diet is mixed corn and a fat ball to peck.
 He-who-should-be-obeyed-but-rarely-is has come up with the usual response when there's trouble with the livestock: "Why don't we just eat it?"
 If you know much about quail please contribute to this blog and share your knowledge because I'm at a complete loss as are my hen and turkey friends. I've checked several quail-related websites but other than warring, rival male birds I've been unable to find any reason why my little quail has turned into a killer.