How many roos?

[DaveMorehouse]

Okay, so my seven Coturnix have survived and thrived. I have three roosters and four hens. At seven weeks the roos are chasing the hens mercilessly. Should I kill two roos and have one roo with four hens? I have two cages. Would it make more sense to keep two roos and give them two hens each? I hope to breed and raise more so my initial thoughts are to keep the two roos for additional bloodlines.

Suggestions?

Thanks,
Dave

 

[SunHwaKwon]

Let the males mate and once you've collected eggs to incubate get rid of the other two males, unless you an have a separate coop area for the males and one for the females. I have chicks that one of my cockerels sired at about 11 or 12 weeks old so you don't have much longer. Are the boys even able to mount the big girls at 7 weeks? Doesn't seem likely. That's a bit young.

How old are the hens?

 

[DaveMorehouse]

Thanks, SunHwaKwon.

All 7 birds are from the same hatch. (Now 7 weeks) It was my first hatch ever. The eggs came via USPS. The roos are mounting the hens with limited success. However, they chase all the time. If I only keep one roo won't future bloodlines get a little too close for comfort? I do have two cages if that helps. Thanks again, Dave

 

[SunHwaKwon]

You can go for several generations before running into problems, usually, but you also need to know how many generations of inbreeding these offspring are a result of. What breed is it and what are your goals?

ETA Oops I just noticed this is under quail, so I think 7 weeks is getting close to "old enough". The above questions still pertain. Are you planning to breed future generations for meat? If for meat, I would not be overly concerned, if you are just eating the future offspring.

 

[feedman77]

I would separate the 2 roos let 1 mate with the 4 hens collect the eggs and incubate. 1 would only keep the 2 roos just as a backup in case something happened to your breeder roo. After a successful hatch butcher them.

As far as bloodlines getting too close. It would depend on the eggs you got from the breeder. Are they all from 1 pen with 1 male. 1 pen with several males. Or several pens. This will determine your genetic diversity from the start.

If you were to hatch a batch keep say 8 hens out of it 1 male. 6 hens with each of the males. They will keep you in plenty of eggs for future hatches.

If you want to alter your diversity after a year or 2 find some other quail on Craigslist or order some eggs from a different breeder hatch and replace your males.

 

[DaveMorehouse]

Thanks Feedman77,

This is also helpful. I had ordered 48 eggs from a breeder so I would guess the bloodline is pretty varied. (Only 10 hatched and just 7 survived.)

I never thought about backup roos. That makes perfect sense. I will separate them tomorrow.

Thanks again to all.
Dave