Got 5 bobwhites and i think 4 are male and 1 female....might get more m/f ratio?

[thoeffel1994]

I recently got 5 bobwhite quail and they are starting to get their feathers on the head that make a mohawk. Is it males only that get the mohawk? Most of there head feathers are turning black. And theres one that doesnt have much black at all on its head. I am building them a pen thats 6ft tall 4wide 12 long. How many should i Put in the pen total? Also how many males should have to females? Is a equal number of males to females alright or should i have more females than males? Thanks.

 

[thoeffel1994]

 

[Jedwards]

The correct ratio should be about 1 male to 4-5 females, bobwhites are a more aggressive type of quail and the males will fight, good luck!

 

[Dragons4u]

Bobwhites are monogamous during breeding season, meaning one to one during that time. Rest of year can be kept all together in a covey.
During breeding season it is best to cage them off in pairs alone. Else they get way territorial to protect their clutches.
In covey setting need several foot per quail or they will fight then too.

 

[thoeffel1994]

So how many should i keep in the 48sq ft pen? Do i need to separate them during breeding season or will they be alright? If they are monogamous why should i have 1male to 4-5 females

 

[Dragons4u]

During breeding season its best to separate them in two duos, or have them all in a really large pen. For bobs most people recommend three to four square
foot per bird, almost same as a chicken.
You don't need 1 to four with the bobs, that's more for coturnix.

 

[dc3085]

x2 1 bob roo won't cover 4 hens and keep them all fertile. The most you'll get away with in small groups is trios or quads even then sometimes the hens snap on each other. I always keep them in pairs to avoid the headaches. If you have really large spaces you can run them in coveys but 48 sq ft is nowhere near enough to try to run a covey. If you built a battery pen for the pairs you could run about 5-7 pairs in the 48 sq ft during the off season and then switch all the pairs to the battery cage from may to august, this is how most do it.

here is an article on raising bobwhites.

And another for good measure.

 

[thoeffel1994]

Since its a long pen would it work just to use netting and divide the 12ft long pen into sections to keep the bobwhite pairs apart? like lets say 5 pairs of bobwhite and divide the pen into 2.4ft Long sections. It would give them a total of 9.6ft per pair since each section would be 4ft wide. Or would this still not work?

 

[dc3085]

That would work great.