Aggressive quail rooster,

[Rossi1969]

I have 12 coturnix quails in groups of 4. So 3 females 1 male. One of my male is very aggressive. The females all run away from him. I tried adding one more female but He seams to favour 2 females and mates them until their necks bleed. I made a separation and have him by himself. He can see the girls but he can't touch them. I read somewhere that they can be like this in their prime, then mellow out with time. They are 3 months old. He also pecks at us when we change food and water. My other 2 males are not like this. Will this pass? He's my most beautiful one. A silver, I was hoping to breed him in the future. Any thoughts? Advice?

 

[sourland]

You can keep him separated from the hens and allow conjugal visits when you want fertile eggs. Understand that temperament is a heritable trait, and any of his offspring MAY also be overly aggressive.

 

[Rossi1969]

You can keep him separated from the hens and allow conjugal visits when you want fertile eggs. Understand that temperament is a heritable trait, and any of his offspring MAY also be overly aggressive.

Ok, doesn't the male have to be with the females for a couple of weeks for the eggs to be fertile? I had heard the temperment could be passed down. Hmmm I'd like to test this theory...I wouldn't hatch 100 eggs from him just 5 or so. So you don't think he'll outgrow it? Thanks for your input,

 

[albinosilver]

I also had an aggressive roo that would pluck all of the hens so I replaced him with one of his sons who is actually the sweetest bird. He’s 3 months old and hasn’t hurt anyone.

I think some roos are just more aggressive and they won’t outgrow it unless you keep them in complete darkness to calm the breeding urge.

 

[007Sean]

Nothing to add, @sourland said it all.

 

[Erkenstein]

After he mates successfully with a female, she can produce fertile eggs for up to a couple of weeks. That's the beauty of the conjugal visit idea.

I have the opposite problem now where my biggest female has decided she doesn't like the male. She closed his eye (didn't take it out fortunately), so I moved him and she mellowed right out. I'm continuing to collect eggs from her for next week's batch of eggs.

 

[Rossi1969]

After he mates successfully with a female, she can produce fertile eggs for up to a couple of weeks. That's the beauty of the conjugal visit idea.

I have the opposite problem now where my biggest female has decided she doesn't like the male. She closed his eye (didn't take it out fortunately), so I moved him and she mellowed right out. I'm continuing to collect eggs from her for next week's batch of eggs.

Cool! So you're not worried the females aggressive trait will be passed down?

 

[Erkenstein]

She's about four months old and had never been aggressive, so I don't see it as something that would be passed down. Quail sometimes snap on each other.

Aggression is a bit of a dilemma when choosing breeders. I have a big male in another breeding group who is a sweetheart with his ladies but he hasn't managed to mate successfully and so their eggs haven't been fertile yet. This batch of eggs is his last chance before I try switching him out with a spunkier male.

 

[Mhays]

I also had an aggressive roo that would pluck all of the hens so I replaced him with one of his sons who is actually the sweetest bird. He’s 3 months old and hasn’t hurt anyone.

I think some roos are just more aggressive and they won’t outgrow it unless you keep them in complete darkness to calm the breeding urge.

Is the darkness thing a standard practice that works? I'm worried about bloody conjugal visits...might be willing to try anyway. Mine's a baby, so I'm assuming some of it is just teenage hormones...

 

[CovidtimeQuail]

This is an older thread, but I will say that aggressive roos do mellow a bit with age. I have one whose genes are desirable but whose nickname is "horny roo." He's gotten a little slower now that he's a year old.

I agree there are some "teenage hormones" that they need to get over before they settle down and become experienced mates.