How many hens per roo do you house together??

[RainesRanch]

Ok, so I sorted through my brown coturnix's this morning and out of 27 birds I only have 7 hens!!

Im sexing them by their markings, the hens having the speckled breast and the roos having the rust colored breast. Which seems to be pretty right on as the only ones I have ever seen crow are rust colored without spots on their breast.
So that means I had 19 roos in with those 7 poor lil hens! Maybe that is why I haven't had any lay yet??

They are around 8 weeks old now, the roos have been crowing for a little over a week. But not one single egg yet ..maybe soon??!!

Im feeding the an 18% protein turkey/game bird feed and they eat it up like their starving LOL I feed them twice a day as they finish it off within the day.
So how many roos does everyone suggest I keep with these 7 girls? I kept back 4 of the nicest roos from the group to put with them.

 

[justpete]

I keep 4 hens to 1 rooster

At 8 weeks you can eat the extra roosters.

 

[Riffecreek]

Quote:
ditto on that 3-4 hens in a pen!

 

[JJMR794]

3 To 5 Hens Per Roo. And 18% Feed They Are Starving, Thats Not Enough To Support Growth And Maturity In These Guys Much Less Egg Production.... Up Your Percentage And Your Egg Rate Will Follow. Feed Them Gamebird Starter At 28-30%

 

[br64]

I have one rooster with 23 hens. Mainly because I don't have any place else to put him right now.


Ok, dummy me, I thought you were talking about chickens and I just noticed this is for Quail ( going to go bury my head in a hole now)

 

[RainesRanch]

Quote:
Thanks for the heads up on the feed. Does it matter if its medicated though?? The only feed store in town (we live outside of a small ,one feed store kind of town) carries medicated starters only

Thats why I was using the grower instead....I wasnt sure about the medicated.

 

[JJMR794]

Cant Say For Sure.... I Cant Even Get Medicated Starter Here--- Its A Regional Thing. I Do Know Of Many Folks Who Use It Year Round And Havent Heard Of Any Problems, But I Am Not Well Versed Enough To Say For Sure

 

[shelleyd2008]

Medicated won't hurt them, or you for that matter. I keep at least 3 hens per male, but I've had as many as 7 for 1 male in the past. I don't know what my ratio is now, they are all in a community pen. There are 27 or 28 females in there, and probably 7 or 8 males. Could be more or less, I really have no idea

 

[Riffecreek]

For an easy feed for quail is 1 part pullet grower mash and 1 part soybean meal. I get 15% layer or pullet grower and mix with the soybeans for a 31.5% protein feed mixture and the cost is about $16 a hundred here. Throw in a hand full of oyster shells twice a week and your set!

 

[JJMR794]

Quote:
GOOD IDEA FINANCIALLY, BAD IDEA NUTRITIONALLY---- THERES MORE TO IT THAN JUST PROTIEN PERCENTAGE.