We are just starting out with Coturnix Quail. We got hatching eggs and had a great hatch of 11/18 eggs. We are newish to our homesteading life and our ultimate goal is to have our 2 pens filled with ladies only. The original plan was to keep some males until we have enough females to fill our cages, but we weren't sure how that was going to look until we knew what our male/female ratio was.
We are at 6 weeks, and it appears that we have 4 males and 7 females, we're trying to figure how to best divide them. I have enough room to fit 7 quail in each cage comfortably.
We plan on keeping 2 males a little longer for a good few rounds of hatching eggs and having 2 exit at 8-10 weeks.
Is it possible to divide the hens and have 2 males in with each group, just until 8-10 weeks and one of the males can make his exit?
Or should we make 2 additional pens, which only gives each male 2 (and one will have 1)? Again, just until 8-10 weeks.
If we do that, how easy will it be to reintegrate the hens back together? If they are separated for a few weeks, will they still get along when they are back together?
I'd ideally like to have our other 2 males exit after we get another round of birds and put our original 7 ladies together and then 7 from the 2nd hatch in the 2nd cage.
And maybe I can convince my husband to get another cage to keep our male in with a little harem of his own (ensuring of course that they are not his children).
Now about the "exit". We have never eaten quail before, but are going to try and give it a go, but I have a large family so we likely wouldn't have enough for a meal until after the 2nd hatch. Is it reasonable to cull 2 at a time and put them in the freezer until we have enough for a full meal? Do they freeze well?
We are at 6 weeks, and it appears that we have 4 males and 7 females, we're trying to figure how to best divide them. I have enough room to fit 7 quail in each cage comfortably.
We plan on keeping 2 males a little longer for a good few rounds of hatching eggs and having 2 exit at 8-10 weeks.
Is it possible to divide the hens and have 2 males in with each group, just until 8-10 weeks and one of the males can make his exit?
Or should we make 2 additional pens, which only gives each male 2 (and one will have 1)? Again, just until 8-10 weeks.
If we do that, how easy will it be to reintegrate the hens back together? If they are separated for a few weeks, will they still get along when they are back together?
I'd ideally like to have our other 2 males exit after we get another round of birds and put our original 7 ladies together and then 7 from the 2nd hatch in the 2nd cage.
And maybe I can convince my husband to get another cage to keep our male in with a little harem of his own (ensuring of course that they are not his children).
Now about the "exit". We have never eaten quail before, but are going to try and give it a go, but I have a large family so we likely wouldn't have enough for a meal until after the 2nd hatch. Is it reasonable to cull 2 at a time and put them in the freezer until we have enough for a full meal? Do they freeze well?
