Fatten or eat now?

[matt swenson]

hatched out 90+ quail first of may. Now crowing and got my first egg to day. So I have way too many males and going to cull off at least 30. Will they put on more weight or are they good to go. What is the usual grow out time for meat birds? Cortinix quail.
I could pen them in another pen for awhile, but it's my understanding a pen full of males is only trouble.
Also when culling out my males, should I leave the bigger birds to breed?

Lasty, read a post that said quail are the quiet alternative to chickens. Is it only because I have so many males or do they "non stop crow" regardless .

 

[BReeder!]

hatched out 90+ quail first of may. Now crowing and got my first egg to day. So I have way too many males and going to cull off at least 30. Will they put on more weight or are they good to go. What is the usual grow out time for meat birds? Cortinix quail.
I could pen them in another pen for awhile, but it's my understanding a pen full of males is only trouble.
Also when culling out my males, should I leave the bigger birds to breed?

Lasty, read a post that said quail are the quiet alternative to chickens. Is it only because I have so many males or do they "non stop crow" regardless .

I am thinking they are 7 weeks old now... They should still put some weight on. Cull now if you must for safety of the other birds. However 9-12 weeks is the sweet spot. After 9 weeks they tend to grow significantly slower - more feed per ounce of meat. However, I have about 12 quail who have been with us for 5 months or so now and they are much bigger than they were at even 12 weeks old.

 

[Ebony Rose]

I have 28 coturnix quail and only seldom hear crowing and they're on my back patio (right next to the house). I'm guessing yours are making a lot of noise because they recently discovered that they can, and their hormones are pedal-to-the-metal right now. You can expect that they'll quiet down a lot when you've culled, and much more again as they mature.

 

[tennesseequail]

I generally tap about half I
At 7 weeks old. My hatches are about 70 chicks every 2 weeks

Mostly males. I'll keep the 2 or 3 best
Any hens who ain't at 12 ounces also go away at this point

Out of that original 70 that generally leaves me.25 or so. These I keep around for a variety of reasons but get separated out also by weight so when another culling happens the smaller ines go first

Waiting more than 12 weeks is literally a waste of feed if I didnt sell so many eggs I'd not even.keep that.many hens

 

[CoturnixComplex]

Yarp, they get much quieter with a better sex ratio. It should do the trick. My bachelors are BY FAR the loudest.

I like the teeny bit of fat they start putting on at 10-12 weeks so I also wait until then if I can but sometimes there's too many boys and I can't.

Edit: loudest not largest.

 

[tennesseequail]

Your males are bigger?

 

[CoturnixComplex]

Your males are bigger?

No, that was a typo. I wish!!! My hens are basically invariably bigger.

 

[tennesseequail]

Ok...lol. o was gonna say...let me.get a few of those bigger boys

My adult hens climb.over 15 ounces now. The boys rarely aee 13.75

 

[tennesseequail]

I'm also doing a small study on weight gain to feed ratios

I'm using small.sample sizes though but early results off 10 birds and over 3 generations now is that the sweet spot is 9 weeks. I start using a significant more amount of feed after for the same.gains

 

[matt swenson]

Thanks for the advice. Culled 30 males. Already ate 6. Petty tasty. Less crowing already. Think it's like 1 to 6 now. amazed how easy processing was. Used 160 degree water and the feathers just rub off. There is a lack of fat on such young birds,bout a strip of bacon did the trick. Started this because I love quail eggs, eating the surplus males is bonus. (So much easier than hunting and you can sleep in)