dividing quails up into families

[veggiecanner]

I think I have 2 males and 6 females of Brown cotunix quails.
One male is just starting to crow.
should I seperate them into 2 groups?
My idea was to put the non crowing male and the 3 smaller (younger) females into a new cage.
I am raising them in 24 in. x 30 in. rabbit cages. I am putting a small rabbit nest box in each cage.
All my equipment is left over from rasing rabbits. The quail use the rabbit bottles too.
But in order for my automatic water system to work for them I have to change out the nipples.
Another question I have. Can I hatch eggs from related chicks for meat?
Or will I have genetic problems. I guess I should have asked the person I bought them from if they were line bred at all.
While I hatch and raise some eggs from another breeder for breeding stock.

 

[TwoCrows]

It sounds like it is time to separate them into groups now.

Yes, you can hatch out eggs from brothers and sisters, mother to son, father to daughter. Genetic issues will take a long time to crop up.

Good luck with your quail ventures!

 

[veggiecanner]

I e-mailed the breeder I got my starter stock from and found out they are from mostly related hens and roos from several sources. So now I know how to divide them up.
Now I have to figure out how to make my rabbit soft ware keep track of quails.