There are many different reasons a quail might be missing feathers. The five most common places a quail goes bald are the back of the head, the neck or chest, down its entire back, its lower back, and its belly.
The location of the missing feathers are a good indication of what is going on with the quail. Missing feathers could mean a hen is being over mated, or a quail is being bullied, molting excessively hot, or trying to brood eggs.
For more details on what missing feathers could be indicating and how to fix it, read on.
Quail with Missing Head Feathers
The most common reason a quail is missing feathers on its head is due to mating. (A quick and simply trick to telling the difference between a hen and rooster is by looking to see if they’re missing any head feathers.)
If your hen is missing head feathers it means that she’s either the favorite or there are too many roosters per hen. When there are too many roosters they become more aggressive.
The best practice is to have 1 rooster per 5 hens. Otherwise, the hens get beat up. At times a rooster is simply just a little too enthusiastic and he’ll pull head feathers out even with the proper ratio.
Missing head feathers isn’t really a need for concern. If you have the proper ratio of hens to roosters, there isn’t much else you can do to help the hen.
Quail with Missing Back Feathers
The most common reason for missing back feathers is molting, a lack of protein, or a quail being too hot.
Quail with missing feathers all down their back are most likely molting. This could take up to 2 weeks. During this time, their egg production will slow down, and in extreme cases, stop completely. When a quail is missing feathers all down their back, but they don’t seem to be molting, could be a sign of a lack of protein.
To help a quail through this process, add mealworms to their feed. I also like to add in Black Oil Sunflower Seeds, non-GMO cracked corn, millet, and split peas.
When quail are missing feathers on their lower back, there’s a chance that they are molting. However, if they continue to have a bald spot after they molt, it could be that the quail is too hot. To help regulate their body temperature, they’ll pull out their own back feathers.
This happens in brooders when the heat’s too high. But it can happen when they’re outside as well. Quail need to be kept in the shade, kept in an enclosure with good air flow, and there should be no more than 1-3 quail per square foot.
This year, the weather changed drastically in a short period of time where I live. It went from 19-degree nights to 70 degree days. Since I winterize my quail coops with greenhouse plastic (affiliate link), they were getting too hot during the day, and pulling out their back feathers. I allowed more air flow, and they were fine.
Quail with Missing Neck or Chest Feathers
When quail are overcrowded, or there’s too many roosters per hen, they’ll start to bully each other. Many times, they’ll pull out the feathers on their fellow quail’s neck. Less often they pull out chest feathers. And in extreme cases they’ll scalp quail in their flock.
To stop the bullying, there’s several things that could be employed. Double check to ensure there’s 1 rooster per 5 hens. Allow no more than 3 quail per square foot. And always keep waters and food in their enclosure.
Even when all these rules are followed, bullying could still occur. This means there’s an aggressive quail in the flock. It’s best to cull the quail.
That may seem extreme to some, but an aggressive quail can cause serious harm. They stress out the other quail, which will lower egg production, and they can kill the other quail as well. It’s not worth the loss. You also don’t want to allow them to pass the aggression down to their offspring.
Quail with Missing Belly Feathers
If your quail is missing feathers along its belly, it’s likely that she’s trying to brood and hatch eggs. A quail hen will pull out the feathers on her belly so that she can have direct contact between her skin and the egg.
However, it’s not common that a quail will go broody, especially if kept in wire cages. Quail are more likely to want to hatch their own eggs when they’re given a natural setting.
Quail in my aviary are always collecting eggs and trying to sit on them. They bring the eggs into their buckets or potting plants, and sometimes make nests in corners. Yet the quail in my breeding pens rarely try to sit on eggs.
If you don’t want to allow your quail to hatch eggs, you’ll have to break their broodiness. The best way to do this is to collect eggs as often as possible or put the hen in an area where she won’t want to nest. Once a quail no longer wants to hatch eggs, her belly feathers will grow back.