Coturnix Quail gender balance? Attacks!

[Boppo]

I have 3 coturnix quail males, and what I am pretty sure are 4 females. All 3 of the males are Jumbo Egyptian, so the coloring and crowing gives them away. But I have one white one that I am pretty sure is a female. Just today (or yesterday and today maybe), the cock in the mixed pen started pecking the white one on her head.

I am going to put some blue spray on her head. Should I isolate her? Should I put her back in?

2 of the males are in a bachelor cage. One of 2 beats up the other every time I do anything that disturbs them (feed, water, cleaning). I discovered that covering most of the cage with a tarp (loosely) keeps them a lot quieter and happier. Once I finish with the cage, they seem to settle down, but I worry about the aggression.

Should I start a 3rd cage? It would always end up with one bird left alone. Perhaps I need to offer him away? Kill him? Arrgh! Advice please!

I am in Eastern Massachusetts, just south of Boston, if anybody wants a quail.

 

[muddy75]

I have 3 coturnix quail males, and what I am pretty sure are 4 females. All 3 of the males are Jumbo Egyptian, so the coloring and crowing gives them away. But I have one white one that I am pretty sure is a female. Just today (or yesterday and today maybe), the cock in the mixed pen started pecking the white one on her head.

I am going to put some blue spray on her head. Should I isolate her? Should I put her back in?

2 of the males are in a bachelor cage. One of 2 beats up the other every time I do anything that disturbs them (feed, water, cleaning). I discovered that covering most of the cage with a tarp (loosely) keeps them a lot quieter and happier. Once I finish with the cage, they seem to settle down, but I worry about the aggression.

Should I start a 3rd cage? It would always end up with one bird left alone. Perhaps I need to offer him away? Kill him? Arrgh! Advice please!

I am in Eastern Massachusetts, just south of Boston, if anybody wants a quail.

Personally, i would cull the unnecessary males…..half quail can be a good breakfast treat! Males just like with any other livestock are difficult to sell/give away.

 

[Nabiki]

I would vent sex the white one to make sure it's a hen. In any case, with the number of hens that you have, you should only keep one roo. The boys are going to fight.

You should probably isolate the injured one until it scabs over, at least. The others will peck at the wound and reopen it otherwise. This should only take a day, two if the injury is bad.

 

[Boppo]

Welp, when I took the white one out, I lost control and she flew away. I don't know if I will be able to find her. I set out some food and there is water and a lot of shelter (hence why I can't find her). The weather is mild and no rain for more than a week in the forecast. There is shelter under the pen with the females, and their old nest, so she may come back for that.

Thank you for the helpful advice. I don't know how to vent sex a quail. I can say it was not crowing. But it has always been a lot more skittish than the larger Egyptians. It was thrown in by the breeder as a consolation in case I lost any of the chicks. I feel bad about losing her though, and hope she will return.

I guess I have to rehome the extra males or cull them. Time to "person up" and get my scissors sharpened, I guess. Thank you by the way for the extremely helpful posts about quail!

 

[Nabiki]

Welp, when I took the white one out, I lost control and she flew away. I don't know if I will be able to find her. I set out some food and there is water and a lot of shelter (hence why I can't find her). The weather is mild and no rain for more than a week in the forecast. There is shelter under the pen with the females, and their old nest, so she may come back for that.

Thank you for the helpful advice. I don't know how to vent sex a quail. I can say it was not crowing. But it has always been a lot more skittish than the larger Egyptians. It was thrown in by the breeder as a consolation in case I lost any of the chicks. I feel bad about losing her though, and hope she will return.

I guess I have to rehome the extra males or cull them. Time to "person up" and get my scissors sharpened, I guess. Thank you by the way for the extremely helpful posts about quail!

I'm sorry for your loss. The odds are against getting your white one back, but it has happened!

 

[muddy75]

Welp, when I took the white one out, I lost control and she flew away. I don't know if I will be able to find her. I set out some food and there is water and a lot of shelter (hence why I can't find her). The weather is mild and no rain for more than a week in the forecast. There is shelter under the pen with the females, and their old nest, so she may come back for that.

Thank you for the helpful advice. I don't know how to vent sex a quail. I can say it was not crowing. But it has always been a lot more skittish than the larger Egyptians. It was thrown in by the breeder as a consolation in case I lost any of the chicks. I feel bad about losing her though, and hope she will return.

I guess I have to rehome the extra males or cull them. Time to "person up" and get my scissors sharpened, I guess. Thank you by the way for the extremely helpful posts about quail!

So sorry for loss of your quail…..it’s a learning curve and some have a greater flight ability than others at different stages of life. I have gotten lucky and retrieved a few, but it’s rare. It’s always a good idea to have a small net handy when working with them outside their enclosure.

 

[muddy75]

Welp, when I took the white one out, I lost control and she flew away. I don't know if I will be able to find her. I set out some food and there is water and a lot of shelter (hence why I can't find her). The weather is mild and no rain for more than a week in the forecast. There is shelter under the pen with the females, and their old nest, so she may come back for that.

Thank you for the helpful advice. I don't know how to vent sex a quail. I can say it was not crowing. But it has always been a lot more skittish than the larger Egyptians. It was thrown in by the breeder as a consolation in case I lost any of the chicks. I feel bad about losing her though, and hope she will return.

I guess I have to rehome the extra males or cull them. Time to "person up" and get my scissors sharpened, I guess. Thank you by the way for the extremely helpful posts about quail!

Vent sexing is a bit easier this time of year when the males are active. Just gently flip them over and press on the vent. If foam comes out, you have a male. Males will also have a bulge under the vent while females just have a round vent. It takes a bit of practice but there’s always a few that may never crow.

 

[muddy75]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/➡-quail-hatch-along🥚.1276785/post-20544391
Here’s a diagram

 

[Boppo]

Thank you!!