Breeding ??

[davedavey]

If you got hens that are aggressive but good layers. Can you just stick them with the Roos 2 times a week for a few minutes. To get fertile eggs? Has anyone tried this with success. The roosters usually get to them before the hens start attacking them. Dave

 

[da1goth2]

Hi, yes that probably would work but I wouldn't recommend you breed from the aggressive hens as the aggressive behaviour is usually genetic so breeding from those hens is likely to give you problems with aggressive birds in the future. Hope that helps

 

[Fat Daddy]

JJ used to do it with a huge butler hen and it worked out...... I cant speak to the attitude of the off spring....

 

[davedavey]

Thanks for the replies! The offspring will just be used for meat. So I think on the aggression side I should be ok.

 

[Fat Daddy]

To tell you true, I'd really like to see you track this.... It's been said that aggression is a trait passed on. But this little voice in the back of my head( on the smaller, logical side) says that this is a learned trait. More like tameness or trust... Lets put on the white lab coat and touch on this when these birds come of age.... I say it's horse feathers and if you hatch the birds and raise them in a brioder. The aggression or lack of, will be determined by the care and how well their needs are met as chicks.... To a extent anyway..... Got a hypothesis?

 

[TwoCrows]

I have found that aggressiveness goes both ways....it CAN be passed down through the genes, but it can also be an environmental factor as well. So until it is truly determined that you have aggressive quail, you don't really know if they are aggressive or not. Lots of things stress birds out and cause them to turn on their flock mates. When these stressors are removed, usually the birds return to their normal state. However if you really do have aggressive birds, it is very possible to pass this gene on down the line.

 

[Camp Julsby]

Glad to see this post. I recently separated my females and a few males, I wanted to use for breeding, from the bachelor group. Hate seeing the young females get over bred. However I don't have their breeding pens free at the moment so kept them as a community. Any how 1 male apparently got very aggressive with the other 2 males over night scalping them. The Question I now have, is should I remove the culprit and replace him with males from the Bachelor pen that seem to be getting along together? Or leave him and his girls in the Community pen. He is at a 1-8 ratio right now, but I really wanted to make two breeding groups from these youngsters. Plus I am not keen on such aggressive behavior in a 7 week old. Any thoughts on this?