Identifying Gender & Ratio questions: Pics.

[Jschaaff]

I am hoping for some help identifying the gender of my four quail. Unfortunately I after getting three, I always lose track of who the fourth was. I am quite certain I have one female, Faith, and two boys...but that elusive fourth one... yeah...probably a boy too

I am adding pictures, I know it gets confusing since i can't always tell who is who...but any help is great. Also, when taking pictures i noticed my littlest one, is suddenly missing his longest toe?! ..but will ask about that in a separate post.

group shot..the guy/girl all the way to the right, is the one I do NOT have a single, close up pic of. The one all the way to the left, is my skinny younger one. I think my only female is the 2nd one in from left...then another boy third in from left. I hope I'm wrong tho! I needed girls!!

I am pretty sure this is the girl, her name is Faith:

This is my littlest guy...pretty sure he's a boy anyway. He hatched 3 days after the others...always been a bit skinnier.

Another I am pretty sure is male:

Like i said, no close ups of the last one in the group pic.

They settled in and split into groups, so I got pictures of them in sets...

Faith with one of the males (I think)

And then...these are the other two...a bit fuzzy unfortunately

So after that confusing mess...sorry!...what would your opinion be...

I am guessing Faith, and 3 males.... Ahhhhh

Thank you for your help!

***Ratio questions in post # 4, now that I am quite certain I have 3 boys and 1 female****

-Jessa

 

[Chikndinner]

I think You are dead on right. Those spots on the breast are the giveaway...

 

[TheRealTimShady]

yea, you will have to watch out, with only one female in the pen with 2 maybe 3 males....there will be fights, it might of started already, i saw your other post about the missing toe....this might be a reason

everyone wants to mate, best setup is 2 female for 1 male, i have 5 quail and only one male...rest female

guys don't get along very well if there isn't enough women o.o

 

[Jschaaff]

Okay, I have three boys and a girl.... Found a woman the next town over with 6 week old coturnix... so will be picking females up tomorrow. Moneys tight...so I will probably only get 3 for now, maybe 4.

My pen is 12 x 4 and can be divided in half.

So as of tomorrow...I will have 4 females, possibly 5, and three males. Should I separate them, females and one male on one side, and two males on the other?

If I do that, do I then rotate the males out so that everyone ....you know...gets a date? And how often?

Within the next few weeks I should be able to add enough females to have 4 per male, but for now...I am not sure the best course of action.

It feels funny to ask so very many questions!! But again, I of course appreciate the time you all take to answer.

-Jessa

 

[Fat Daddy]

I would be concerned about a big difference in size. The 6 week old birds could alot bigger if jumbos. They could get along fine in such a large pen with so few birds.But it could be all out quail war too. Just keep a eye on them for a while, once one get a bloody spot he'll be a gone pretty quick.

I think your on track with 1-4 1-5 roo to hen ratio. Even at 1-3 you will likely have too many roos and end up with one roo bloody. I came home to one scalped badly today. Obvious that the biggest roo beat down the poor feller and then the rest joined in the fun. Had a hen with blood on her breast and thought she was hurt too, turns out she was just joining in and got some on her...

Until you have enough hens to go around, I would keep a boys club pen. They will not be happy campers about it and be loud and roo each other... But your hens will be better off. Worse case, bully roos and badly beaten birds are tasty! Good luck, Bill

 

[Jschaaff]

Hi Bill. The 6 week olds are jumbos, as are mine. Can two weeks be too much of a difference ?? Oh I hope not!!

So IF I can put 6 week olds in with 4 week olds... I will be separating them, putting one male with the girls, and giving the other half of the pen to the other two boys, until I can add more females...Darn it, I really wish I could buy and add them all at once, instead of piecemealing the girls in, and causing chaos!, but until money grows on trees....


And yes, tho I am very attached to the female... the boys...if they get too crazy before I can get more girls...they just might have to be an afternoon snack with a cold glass of vodka and cola

.

-Jessa

 

[Jschaaff]

Hmm...just thought of something... my intention with these little buggers is fertile eggs...incubation (ha! i will get it darn it!) and 8 weeks later...freezer camp... I intend to keep the largest hens and roos for breeding, and cull the others, except for Faith.

soooo....my littlest guy..the scrawny one (you can see a HUGE size difference in the close up of him, and then the close up of the other male...big size difference...)... I really shouldn't be breeding him anyway should I...?..I should only be breeding the biggest ones.... Heck, that little guy will barely make a SNACK by himself!! But maybe there is some crazy chance his offspring would be Monster Quail

. Ha. Yes, I'm reaching. I know.

So if I culled him (awww) (((I mean...he survived a RACOON...(or maybe a kitty)..but COON sounds so much braver! ))).... then I could get 7 more tomorrow, and leave everyone together...minus the little guy of course...

I know I am "thinking out loud" in a fashion...

I'd love to keep them all..but that's not going to happen, because we'd never end up EATING...and I like to eat. A lot. So does it make sense that the poor little brave boy should go?

-Jessa

 

[JJMR794]

Quote:
JESSA JUST FOR KICKS DO A GOOGLE SEARCH FOR JERRY CLOWER AND FIND HIS WOODEN PEG LEGGED PIG ROUTINE AND GVE IT A LISTEN

 

[Fat Daddy]

Quote:
Wow JJ, Aint 1 in 100 folks know who Jerry Clower is. Believe it not ITUNES has jerry clower albums to download. "Anybody wanna buy a possom?" Bill

 

[JJMR794]

Quote:
Wow JJ, Aint 1 in 100 folks know who Jerry Clower is. Believe it not ITUNES has jerry clower albums to download. "Anybody wanna buy a possom?" Bill

HEY BILL! DID YOU EAT YO BANANNA YET!?