housing 2 females and 3 males

[EnnisDelMar]

Hi-

I hatched two female and three male coturnix. They are currently 5 weeks, and being kind to eachother so far, but when i move them outside I am able to separate them into two pens (or take the divider out and house them all in one). I have more eggs incubating at the moment at day 9.

Probably I will only be keeping one of these males, but I know that 1:2 is still not an ideal ratio.

How do I house them while I wait for more females? Do i wait to cull the 2 extra males and house them separately males and females until then? Do i keep 1 male with the 2 females and cull the males sooner? do I cull all the males and wait to add males from the next batch? I would probably like to see the males adult temperaments before picking one.

What would be the best combination while waiting for more females?

 

[Nabiki]

I would keep the males and house them where they can't see or hear the females. That way if one turns out to be mean, you can cull him while still not leaving one alone.

 

[EnnisDelMar]

I would keep the males and house them where they can't see or hear the females. That way if one turns out to be mean, you can cull him while still not leaving one alone.

thank you— i didn’t realize it was important to keep them that separated so they couldn’t hear them. I will have to look into additional housing!

 

[Nabiki]

thank you— i didn’t realize it was important to keep them that separated so they couldn’t hear them. I will have to look into additional housing!

If they know that females are around, they are far more likely to fight.

 

[Susan Skylark]

Welcome to the soap opera that is quail social dynamics! My first hatch was 4 boys and 1 hen, the boys were so obsessed with her (didn’t fight too much amongst themselves) I had to throw her in with the upcoming second hatch (3 week old chicks!) or they’d run her ragged. I hatched a bunch of shipped eggs and every single bird was mean or psycho, even the hen I wanted to keep, one was a bully at two weeks! My latest batch of shipped eggs is so timid that I’m not even sure the boys are doing their job, they just acted dead when I banded them, don’t crow or chase hens that I’ve seen. I’ve had a male obsessed with 1 hen to the exclusion of his other ladies. I had a great, gentlemanly male go completely nuts overnight and start attacking hens…you just never know how they are going to act! Always keep a spare male just in case yours gets mean or injured (unless you have a local source for live birds, I have to raise my own replacements or drive 4 hours 1 way). Bachelor groups introduced at a young age seem to do well in general as long as young don’t switch things up but watch for bullies and cull swiftly, attitude seems to be contagious! I had way more trouble in 1:5 pens of 6 square feet than I do with a large group environment, same square footage per bird but more overall space for birds to do their thing/run, overall less stress and less behavioral issues, I’m actually running 6 males to 16 hens right now (yes I need to cull an old one and two are my timid newbies that I’m not sure if the6 are any good) without issues, but I also cull hard for temperament, I don’t care if it is my best bird, it needs to go if it is aggressive or a bully, it hasn’t been easy but you can really see it in my flock, so we’ll worth it. Sadly there isn’t a hard and fast rule, you just have to figure out what works for you and your particular birds, and that means trial and error and lots of mistakes!

 

[MROO]

thank you— i didn’t realize it was important to keep them that separated so they couldn’t hear them. I will have to look into additional housing!

Look for a gently used rabbit hutch. They make great temporary housing for chickens, so I imagine that, with small enough hardware cloth, they'd work well for quail, too.