Cots with bloody heads

[mikeh53]

Two quick questions for the group

Setting up breeding groups with young quail I hatched... Each cage has 15 hens 3 roosters, Have 7 groups...

Hens just starting to lay,

1) So far none of the eggs have hatched, (cause? (Roosters inactive due to season?)

2) noticing a few with bloody (pecked?) Heads (to crowded? Two many rooster in one cage?) (When I see one with lots of head wound, I just process them for dinner) Is it true that if I separate into a separate cage the other quail will still pick on them when I return them to the group.... (best jus the .. even after no broken skin (like they would do if they saw a bug on another
Have

 

[SimonGrow]

How large are your breeding pens? If you have small cages, I would only recommend 1 male per breeding group of 3-6 females. If you have large cages, you should be able to keep several males in a large breeding colony with many females.

Have you seen any of the males mounting the females? The quails breeding season is dictated by the amount of light they receive. When there is not enough light such as in winter, the males are less likely to breed and females may stop laying eggs. I use T5 lights set for 16 hours of light for my jumbo coturnix in my garage. My males are constantly mounting my females.

If your males are sexually mature, they will start crowing, they may start fighting and you may see white foam in their droppings. My birds became sexually mature around 5-6 weeks.

Your eggs may not be fertile because the males may be too young or the males are simply not mating with females because of lack of light.

When breeding animals, I like for my animals to mature a bit before I actually keep any eggs for incubation.

If you remove a bird to allow it to recover, the other birds in the flock will very likely attack it when you return it. One thing you can try is to clean and re arrange the entire cage so it feels like a new home. The birds will get slightly disoriented and may not notice the new introduction.

Simon

 

[mikeh53]

Thank you, I am trying to set up my families (10 hens with 3 roosters) I tried putting 3 young Texas A MS in one family (have 8 families) left the aver for a few and within 30 one of the had half it's scull exposed...and bleeding I separated them yesterday, I think the little one will be fine (just ordered 50 more jumbo Am eggs, should be in in a day or so, will put them in incubator with a hundred of mine... and see... I think my roosters just to young still... so we are eating lots Of eggs and giving some away....

 

[Del1977]

I've had to swap my males around as they attacked each other and ended up with bloody heads. They are just over 8 weeks old and mounting everything in site. Was about to sell 3 males to the pet store, but have had to postpone the sale until their heads heal as they don't look too pretty at the moment. Wounds have now healed so just waiting for feathers to grow back. I have two separate pens both roughly 2x2 metres, although one is a converted cubby that has a bonus veranda. There is currently 2 males 2 females in one and 3 males 3 females in the other. Will be selling the 'extra' males asap, and introducing more female when our 2.5 week old chicks are old enough to sex. We are also just starting up, although it's actually my 12yo daughters little hobby to earn some pocket money. I'm her advisor.

So far she is yet to make a profit as set up has cost her a bit as we've have to buy fertile eggs so introduce new bloodlines to build numbers. First hatch, the 8weeks olds,unfortunately consisted of a lot of males.

Still waiting for the females to start laying. Should be any day now I hope. Will their eggs be fertile straight away given the males have been mounting several times a day for a good 2 weeks?

 

[mikeh53]

My thanks all the feedback, have now re-1intergrated my groups (families) to include 10 hens and 3 roosters. And put several of the more ornery roosters in the freezer. With one acception I have had no other problems...

I do have a question though... I put 3 young Texas AMS (3 weeks old) in with a group regular cots... (long story... all I have left after a hatch) One was immediately attacked... to the point I had to remove them to save it... The other two were ignored. All the AM'S are the same color... White with a dark spot on head... does that mean the one attacked was a rooster? And the other two hens? IF SO... LOOKS LIKE I have the start of a new group... I now have them in there own cage... With 46 more ebay purchased AM Eggs in bator.

 

[dc3085]

No all it means it is you need to properly integrate those birds, quail are too territorial for you to just throw new birds in their cage, they will try to kill them. When you mix quail you have to leave them side by side for a week or two then add them all to a cage theyve never been in.

 

[mikeh53]

Thanks... Lots to learn! I have tin dividers between my cages....Quail cannot see those I the cages next to them... Would it work to try moving like 3 adult Cots to another cage.... add the three young AMs (after the ones head heals) then a few days introduce a rooster?