NC_Quail
Would rather be gardening
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 =)
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 =)