Choosing a Male

[teradragon]

hahah, brilliant! I've only heard one crow a handful of times, but mostly one makes a deep cuk cuk cuk sound, which I think is an aggressive male, but I pressed above and below the vent today and nothing came out...

I'll keep my sharpie at the ready!!

 

[James the Bald]

8 quail shouldn't be too hard... my last hatch had 13 roos and 17 hens. It's all about being patient.
James

 

[teradragon]

I do sit next to their box... when I pop my head over they all freeze and stare at me. It's hilarious! They start doing their quail business after a couple of minutes if I keep still enough!

 

[teradragon]

I've separated 2 quail from the others and I witnessed mating for the first time... From my (hopefully) chosen male. Wondering if I should buy another plastic box to put 2 more in.... And some more fancy puddings that come with glass rammekin jars which make perfect mini food and water dishes

 

[James the Bald]

Good luck, I hope you made the right choice.
James

 

[teradragon]

Ive got a couple of weeks until processing day, so might drop a different male in for a few days at a time and observe their behaviour.

 

[teradragon]

Ok, looked at the vent on my chosen male. It's totally got a massive lump, when pushed, gives white foam... So definitely male. The others which were suspects don't have this at all. Females? Or do the males only get like this when they actually breed?

 

[WaterfowlWierdo]

Ok, looked at the vent on my chosen male. It's totally got a massive lump, when pushed, gives white foam... So definitely male. The others which were suspects don't have this at all. Females? Or do the males only get like this when they actually breed?

I would seperate him and only leave 1 suspected male in with your females until you confirm its sex and keep doing that with all your suspected roosters

 

[teradragon]

Right 2 confirmed males who are currently in the bachelor pad (pink box) and the rest in the big box. The one with the red pen on is the aggressive one. We shall see if it's a male. No crowing from it though... just the deep cuk cuk noises. In hindsight, probably shouldn't have used red pen on account of it looking like blood!

 

[bigrob83]

I wont keep a male who for lack of the better term "wont leave the ladies alone"
they dont need that kind of stress in the pen
I have a pack of 3 docile roosters who do the job just fine and let the females live in peace

2 of which just happen to be pure white, fertile as can be