Individual cages for selective breeding

[HomesteadNowhere]

I'm really looking at adding a few coturnix. I'd like to have some regular group cages but I'd also like to have individual hen cages to single breed some hens for selective breeding and making sure I know who the parents are of eggs.
Group mating is the rule for coturnix but I was wondering if anyone had a few small roll outs to have single hens and rotate a roo in every couple days for fertility? I know they are high gear breeders so I was thinking maybe roo in every third day or something.
Some of the cages available look nice but not so much the price! At least not for me when I can build something workable, at least to start. I could always invest later if I build up.
Thanks!

 

[JaeG]

Some males can be kept as a pair. You need a docile boy who is happy with a certain hen. I've had pairs I could only keep as pairs. The more space the better in that situation, but again, it depends on the personality of the birds. Some get along just fine in a small cage.

If you were constantly introducing different males it would be stressful on the hen and you wouldn't know which male had actually fertilised the eggs as hens can store sperm for up to a month.

 

[HomesteadNowhere]

Some males can be kept as a pair. You need a docile boy who is happy with a certain hen. I've had pairs I could only keep as pairs. The more space the better in that situation, but again, it depends on the personality of the birds. Some get along just fine in a small cage.

If you were constantly introducing different males it would be stressful on the hen and you wouldn't know which male had actually fertilised the eggs as hens can store sperm for up to a month.

Yes the idea was to leave the roo in with each hen for a day? Half day? And rotate through several single hen cages.
Like the best roo and single cages of the best several hens. It would be the same roo. I want to be sure of the dad and compare between hens.

Alternatively a group pen that I have them all in for a day, then move the hens to single cages for several days of egg collection. I didn't know if that would bother the hens to move.

 

[raingarden]

Put a male and a group of females together for a couple of weeks. Then separate each female and collect eggs for a week or two.

You can make small cages of hardware cloth. One square foot is big enough for a temporary cage. No frame is needed. Just put the wire cube together with small zip ties or small hog ring crimps.
https://smile.amazon.com/NIDAYE-Str...keywords=hog+ring+small&qid=1638429227&sr=8-3

 

[muddy75]

Coturnix are very susceptible to environmental changes that can disrupt laying. Both options given here are viable options for a breeding program. Most breeders start projects with non-ideal ratio such as a pair. You just have to experiment and watch for signs of overbreeding and aggression. If you want to keep in more ideal ratio, you could try lipstick on the vent trick to know who’s egg is who????

 

[vall]

lipstick on the vent trick to know who’s egg is who????

Ha, never thought of that!