Can these quail get along? Also, gender question

NC_Quail

Would rather be gardening
Aug 28, 2021
1,302
7,251
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Raleigh, North Carolina
I recently posted a thread about a quail who had been injured by a male quail, and fortunately, she has recovered! Because of this issue, I had to separate our two roosters and our two females (I know this isn’t enough, we currently have eggs in the incubator but it will be awhile before they hatch) Our current problem is that I am beginning to suspect that one of our hens is actually a docile male. Here is our current setup:

enclosure 1
hen 1 (pretty sure is a hen)
hen 2 (suspected roo)

enclosure 2
rooster 1 (pretty sure is male)
rooster 2 (pretty sure was a rooster but now suspected hen?)

The first problem is the situation with the hen 2/suspected rooster. In the first enclosure, I have only been getting one egg, when I should be getting 2. Originaly, i thought this was because hen 1 was injured, but now she has fully recovered, and I am suspicious that hen 2 (suspected rooster) is not the one laying eggs. Also, i have seen some suspicious foamy poo (like what males have) in the enclousure. The weird part is that i have not seen the suspected male try to chase or mate with the hen at all, which is surprising considering that there is only one hen in there. They seem to get along better that i suspected. I cannot seem to determine the gender by coloring on this quail (he is completely very dark brown, I believe this coloring is called dark Tibetan) and i do not know if he/she is crowing or not.

The second problem is with rooster 2 in the second enclosure. I am still pretty sure that this one is a male, he has the coloring of a rooster, and we have not gotten any eggs from him. The odd part is that today i saw the other rooster (rooster 1, definitely a rooster) try and mount rooster 2 like he was trying to mate him, which is odd considering they are both male. I know that two roosters will sometimes try and kill each other, but this is the first male-to-male aggression that i have seen after they have been together for a month. Also, i looked them both over and have not seen any injuries or feather-pulling, which also seems odd if they really were trying to kill each other. I tried moving rooster 2 to enclosure 1 with the hens, but hen 2 (suspected rooster) immediately began viciously attacking rooster 2 (which would also provide evidence that hen 2 is male)

So, my final quaesion is, can we get these quail to get along? Will more females solve the problem, or do I need to cull all and start over? I know I have to cull one of my roosters, but now I’m not sure which one! Should I separate all the quail to individual enclosures? I was worried about them being alone, but that might be better than them tearing each other apart.
Would it be helpful for me to post picture of the quail in question? Also, apologies for any typos, this is a long message =)
 
I recently posted a thread about a quail who had been injured by a male quail, and fortunately, she has recovered! Because of this issue, I had to separate our two roosters and our two females (I know this isn’t enough, we currently have eggs in the incubator but it will be awhile before they hatch) Our current problem is that I am beginning to suspect that one of our hens is actually a docile male. Here is our current setup:

enclosure 1
hen 1 (pretty sure is a hen)
hen 2 (suspected roo)

enclosure 2
rooster 1 (pretty sure is male)
rooster 2 (pretty sure was a rooster but now suspected hen?)

The first problem is the situation with the hen 2/suspected rooster. In the first enclosure, I have only been getting one egg, when I should be getting 2. Originaly, i thought this was because hen 1 was injured, but now she has fully recovered, and I am suspicious that hen 2 (suspected rooster) is not the one laying eggs. Also, i have seen some suspicious foamy poo (like what males have) in the enclousure. The weird part is that i have not seen the suspected male try to chase or mate with the hen at all, which is surprising considering that there is only one hen in there. They seem to get along better that i suspected. I cannot seem to determine the gender by coloring on this quail (he is completely very dark brown, I believe this coloring is called dark Tibetan) and i do not know if he/she is crowing or not.
Vent sex them, this website has good pictures of vent sexing
https://www.brimwoodfarm.com/articles/2018/7/5/coturnix-quail-sexing

The second problem is with rooster 2 in the second enclosure. I am still pretty sure that this one is a male, he has the coloring of a rooster, and we have not gotten any eggs from him. The odd part is that today i saw the other rooster (rooster 1, definitely a rooster) try and mount rooster 2 like he was trying to mate him, which is odd considering they are both male. I know that two roosters will sometimes try and kill each other, but this is the first male-to-male aggression that i have seen after they have been together for a month. Also, i looked them both over and have not seen any injuries or feather-pulling, which also seems odd if they really were trying to kill each other. I tried moving rooster 2 to enclosure 1 with the hens, but hen 2 (suspected rooster) immediately began viciously attacking rooster 2 (which would also provide evidence that hen 2 is male)
Males will try and breed other males, they can also get along for a while then suddenly not
So, my final quaesion is, can we get these quail to get along? Will more females solve the problem, or do I need to cull all and start over? I know I have to cull one of my roosters, but now I’m not sure which one! Should I separate all the quail to individual enclosures? I was worried about them being alone, but that might be better than them tearing each other apart.
Would it be helpful for me to post picture of the quail in question? Also, apologies for any typos, this is a long message =)
I seem to be missing what the problem is, are they not in separate cages or not? Because the first bit sounds like they are but then your talking about them maybe fighting
 
I seem to be missing what the problem is, are they not in separate cages or not? Because the first bit sounds like they are but then your talking about them maybe fighting.
yes, they are in separate enclosures, but there are two quail in each enclosure. What i meant by them being “alone” is that i was considering separating them each into thier own individual enclosures (one quail to a space)
Also, thanks for the information! Who knew quail were so ornery.
 
Pictures might help.

Roosters will mount other roosters. It's about dominance and plain old horniness.

To be honest, if you have more than one male, the chances of them getting along in the same enclosure are slim. I have managed to do it when there is a lot of space and plenty of hiding places, but even then, it doesn't always work.
Sounds like quail dinner tonight. I will try and get photos.
 
Hello, just like the rest said a rooster will mount another rooster and especially if they don’t have enough female friends (1 roo to 4-5 hens). Vent sexing will be the best way to determine M/F, I watched a few YouTube videos and compared my female vents to male and sometimes there is little white in the female if it was just mounted. Also I’ve noticed it’s a little easier to vent sex when they are older ( the female vents seem larger because of the egg lying). I’ve had 4-8 males in my coop with 20-35 females (different flocks) and had no issue or minimal issues with the males fighting, maybe they just need space my coop is 7ft x 12 ft. If your quail are young enough (under 6 months) and you want to keep them you can mix them in with the new flock once the new flock is 4 weeks old, or like you said quail for dinner tonight and problems over.
 
Which male would you reccommend I keep, if any? Since we only have one hen right now, it seems like a good idea to cull all of the males until I can hatch some more, but I was worried about her being all by herself. I also considered keeping the quail that is with her now (hen 2). I tried vent sexing and i am pretty sure that he is a male at this point, but he has been so good this far that i was thinking about keeping him for when we get more hens. Granted, because he has been so calm, I was concerned that he would not fertilize 4-5 hens. Any opinions?
 
Which male would you reccommend I keep, if any? Since we only have one hen right now, it seems like a good idea to cull all of the males until I can hatch some more, but I was worried about her being all by herself. I also considered keeping the quail that is with her now (hen 2). I tried vent sexing and i am pretty sure that he is a male at this point, but he has been so good this far that i was thinking about keeping him for when we get more hens. Granted, because he has been so calm, I was concerned that he would not fertilize 4-5 hens. Any opinions?
You could keep him until you have more quails, then decide if you want to keep him or one of the new males
 

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