Hand-Raised Cockerel with Hens?

[RaiseQuail777]

So some of you may remember that I had a single quail hatch from my first batch of quail eggs. Well it turned out to be a male, and he is awesome! However, I believe it is time for him to be moved outside, since he seems to enjoy the sun, the open space and the fresh air when I do allow him to come outside with me. He crows up a storm when he's outside too.

Well I have hatched a few more quail since then, just 5, 2 males and 3 females. I didn't hand-raise them and instead keep them in a temporary holding facility outside until I cull the adult quails in the big coop and move them in there. They are about a month younger than he is, and I have now come to the problem of what to do with all of these quails.

I thought about culling the 2 younger males that I have and putting the hand-raised male in with the 3 hens (after slowly introducing them to hopefully avoid violence!) and to see if he would breed with them. Is this possible? Would he instinctively mount them or is he just going to stay in the corner and be terrified? They have seen him a few times walking around in the garage, crowing away and having a good time outside of the house, so they know of him. He has also seen them and doesn't seem to be too interested in the babies. Not surprising I guess.

Any advice helps! If I should keep one of the younger cockerels instead, please let me know!

 

[Binki]

Hello put a cage within the males cage and put the females in there so they can experience each other safely between the bars.

It could be a few hours up to a few weeks, but when you do remove the cage/partition, observe them and give them lots of hiding spots to prevent some problems.

It's also a good idea to give them fresh sand with something like finch seed mix in with it so they will probably have a dustbath seed hunt party at first Your male may even tidbit the treats for them!