Huge fight this morning

[Kelly]

I was getting the boys school work ready when I heard screeching coming from the bird cage and lots of noise (flapping and such) I run in to see what's going on and a huge fight had broke out in the zebra flight.
The girls were fighting and the boys were really fighting..waited to see if things would calm down but it didn't and when Lestrade had Watson by the wing on the bottom and I saw blood I grabbed my net and got him out.

Thankfully I hadn't gotten rid of some of my smaller cages I got Watson in one. The fighting continued with the girls and Lestrade would join in every once in a while so I grabbed him with the net and without thinking put him in the cage with Watson but they were fine together. They even started preening each other.

What caused this fight? I have no nest boxes in the zebra flight anymore so I didn't think it was over who got the coolest nest..Was it over the girls?

Mary and Mrs. Hudson were fine once I got the boys out too

[Sally]

Sometimes two pairs simply won't work out, especially with the more pushy species like Zebras. Each pair is too worried about what the other pair might be doing, and they start fighting over territory, food, females, you name it. When there are three or more pairs in a cage, for whatever reason they seem to get along better. Perhaps it is because each pair has two (or more) other pairs to worry about, so they can't put all their aggression on just one other pair.

[Kelly]

Sally

So if I had more than the 2 pair they might be ok?

[lovezebs]

Kelly

They are calling to you from the pet shop Beep-Meep.... save us!!!

On a serious note, I agree with Sally.

Zebras, can be somewhat aggressive at times. Some more so than others. Three or more pairs ARE better than two.

Many years ago, I used to work in a Drop In Centre, for people who live on the street, some with different mental issues, addictions etc. I remember one afternoon, when one fellow went tearing across this huge room and attacked another chap, pounding him into the floor. Major fight. It took four of us to pull them apart.

'Why did you attack him?' Was the big question.

'I didn't like the way he was looking at me.' Was the simple answer.

Whenever my Zebras get into it (and they do), it always makes me think of that situation.

Anyhow, now you have a legit excuse to make another trip, to you know where... teeheehee.

[Babs _Owner]

lovezebs@Kelly

Hahahahah! Bird Shopping TIME!!!

[MiaCarter]

Bird shopping time, indeed!

I've also found this is true that 3 pairs tend to do well in cases where 2 pairs don't work out. Though I have a couple cages with 2 zebra pairs and they do fine. So I think it's just a matter of the individual dynamics.

With all my birds, I try to let them pick their mates and housemates as much as possible.

I let them out for free fly and watch to see who gets along and pals around. (Though sometimes they get along great during free fly, but can't live together....But then I think I've had a couple relationships like that! LOL)

When I've got a cage that's not-so-happy and I'm not sure how to rearrange, I've picked a couple cages and left them open at night for about a week to see where they go to eat and sleep once given a choice.

A couple times, it has worked and they reassigned themselves to new home cages. Other times, it wasn't so successful as everyone choose to sleep together inside 1 cage or all outside the cage. (or 6 in 1, 2 in another).

But if you have a safe free-fly space and/or multiple cages, you might let them out for a bit to see if they can find a harmonious balance in terms of pairings.

It's also helpful to add in some foliage to break up the space a bit.

I think of it in human terms. If you put a bunch of testosterone-fueled dominant males in an empty room, where they're just peering at each other all day, then they're going to fight because someone looks at another the wrong way -- just like Elana's funny story!

But if you put up some cubicles and add some furniture to break up the room a bit, those same dominant males have a much better chance of getting on nicely!

[cindy]

I have been breeding zebras for over 8 yrs now... and have a good number of them... some are great in groups but others are better in a cage as a pair. Zebras are very very territorial. You need more than one of everything...multiple feeding dishes water stations, swings, perches at the same height and with all that it may not work.

The one male may have favors the other's hen and the fighting began or the one male came over to the perch the other claimed as his.

More than two pairs may or may not work so be prepared with cages ready for pairs.

The also make stress perches either in wood or plastic (snap together to create as many areas as you want... you can hang these in different areas to give them a private space to sleep in...
http://www.glamgouldians.com/product-stress-plastic.php
http://glamgouldians.com/product-stress-perch.php

[lovezebs]

cindy

Those are an excellent idea. I'll have to figure out how to make them. They look fairly easy to put together.

Thanks.

[Lucille]

Sometimes two pairs simply won't work out

Do you think 4 of one gender would work better than two male/female pairs?

[cindy]

oh no..males will fight in all males and so would females. If the males are fighting now they will fight in an all male cage.

[MiaCarter]

Lucille - Agreed with cindy.

There's a very good chance they'll fight if you did all males or all females.

I would try to ascertain what they're upset about, as that will enable you to troubleshoot more effectively.

Sometimes it's over territory; in that case, breaking up the space visually can really help.

Sometimes it's fighting over a hen. In that case, removing the other male usually does the trick. I've also had luck adding 2 more females, so they outnumber the males 2 to 1.

Sometimes, it's a combo of both territory and mates.

You also have to remember that animals have a tendency of getting stuck in a behavioral rut when it comes to behaviors like fighting, plucking (others or themselves) and even anxiety-related self-mutilation in dogs.

Once the behavior happens once, it becomes more likely to happen again....and again. I first noticed it with dog fights. They'd be fine for months and one day, two would just start going at it, without any stressors or apparent shift in pack dynamics (which are the factors that would typically cause that sort of aggression in longtime peaceful housemates).
And once that pattern of fighting started, it would just keep happening.

So I found that if I just separated the two offenders for a period of 1-2 weeks - no contact at all, whatsoever - it was like a "reset" button and they got out of that behavioral rut. I'd reintroduce them and everything would be just fine.

I started doing the same with my birds who were fighting and have found the result is the same - it serves like a re-set button of sorts, enabling them to get out of that aggressive (or plucky) behavioral pattern.
So that may be something to try - just separate totally for a couple weeks.

[cindy]

how big is the cage the two pairs are housed in? I noticed that in your picture above the cage has a peaked roof, was this the cage the fight broke out in?

[Lucille]

oh no..males will fight in all males and so would females. If the males are fighting now they will fight in an all male cage.

I've mentioned at least twice in other posts that in order to not have a population explosion I was going to separate by gender, no one ever said anything about fighting.

[cindy]

they will still do at it so you need to watch them... there is usually an alpha/dominant male that may chase to pluck others.

[cindy]

Stress perches or roosting areas...you can also get creative and use large tube inserts to the butcher paper or PVC piping cut into sections to make stress perches... these are about 2 1/2 inches deep... drill two holes in the top and using a zip tie attach it to the top of the cage.... put 2 to a pair so it gives the birds a choice and they are not bickering over one. You can mount them along the back or sides in corners (move it away from the back of the cage to avoid any droppings from running down the cage bars. Tuck a few in some greens... no nesting material.

Some take CD discs and run a dowel bar through the holes and make sections....the dowel need to it snug in the holes to prevent moving. Keep in mind the birds may not be keen on the shiny surface o the CD's do some cover them.