Egging Quail: What to do with a Roo?

[GoldyKai]

Hello, I’m back in the poultry scene and getting ready for some Coturnix quail! I just have a few questions.
1) Can male and female quail be kept together? I’d prefer to get 6 hens and 1 roo, but I know that ratio isn’t ideal. Could it still produce fertile eggs?
2) I plan on keeping the girls for egging, but with quail having a somewhat short lifespan, I want *some* fertile eggs. How can I tell them apart without risking the non-fertile eggs being spoiled from waiting too long?
3) Is there a way to prevent breakage when collecting eggs? I worry with them being so small that I’m going to break a lot of them.

Thank you in advance for your advice. If I do this, I want to do it right. I may be back with more questions, but I’ll ask those in a different post if I have any.

 

[nuthatched]

There's no way to tell a fertile egg without opening it.

 

[Susan Skylark]

As long as you keep your eggs below 70F and don’t clean them, they’ll keep at room temp for several weeks and since you want to incubate eggs within 7-9 days of being laid, you should be fine (though sooner is better!). You’ll also want to turn potential incubation eggs daily to prevent sticking to the shell. Your male to hen ratio should be fine too.

 

[Susan Skylark]

They don’t break too easily, I’ve had one hen somehow determined to lay her eggs outside the pen, they drop a couple feet and haven’t cracked!

 

[Nabiki]

Hello, I’m back in the poultry scene and getting ready for some Coturnix quail! I just have a few questions.
1) Can male and female quail be kept together? I’d prefer to get 6 hens and 1 roo, but I know that ratio isn’t ideal. Could it still produce fertile eggs?
2) I plan on keeping the girls for egging, but with quail having a somewhat short lifespan, I want *some* fertile eggs. How can I tell them apart without risking the non-fertile eggs being spoiled from waiting too long?
3) Is there a way to prevent breakage when collecting eggs? I worry with them being so small that I’m going to break a lot of them.

Thank you in advance for your advice. If I do this, I want to do it right. I may be back with more questions, but I’ll ask those in a different post if I have any.

1 - 1:6 ratio is just fine. You'll have a good fertility rate.
2 - You can't tell fertile from non fertile eggs without opening them or incubating them. You need to incubate within 7 days for best results, and that is well within the time range that they are good to eat.
3 - The size of the eggs actually works towards strength. The shells are as thick or even a bit thicker than chicken eggs, so they're actually less likely to break as long as you are reasonably careful.