How to keep male bobwhites from fighting each other?

[bwhite28]

I have been rasing bobwhite quail for several years now and I have been having some problems just about every year when it comes to mating season.

I have a 4x14 pen above the ground about 3.5ft. I usually have about 20-30 quail in this pen. When it comes to mating season the males pretty much go wild and are fighting and pecking each other.

I built a breeder pen to try and solve this problem. At first i had it in 4 sections then i tried just dividing it in half because the males were pecking the heads of the females. They are only in pairs i don't know why they are picking on the females. Each section is 1x3. Is that too small?

Does anyone have any ideas on how to keep them from fighting during breeding season in a large pen? And does anyone know what i can do with the males that are picking the females in the breeder pen? Thanks

 

[JJMR794]

Too Many Males In A Small Space. I Use Honeymoon Suites During Breeding Season They Are 2 Ft Cubes I House Only Pairs Or Trios In Them And They Seem To Do Fine But Every Once In A While I Get An Overly Agressive Male....