Introducing a male to a female

[KingQuailArthur]

Hi everyone! I am new to having quail and I'm hoping you can help me. I've recently taken a young (very flighty) male king quail from a family member who couldn't keep him, he used to live with a female but she died just before we were given him. I currently have him in temporary accommodation until I can get the two storey rabbit hutch he used to live in moved over to my house. I would love for him to have some friends and I've read a male can live with a few females.

So, my question is, once I have his hutch in my garden and I've built a bit of running space, if I introduce a couple of new females how should I go about introducing them? Should I wait and put all of them in the "new" hutch together? Should I put him in first and then slowly introduce the girls through a fence or something? Or if the females already know each other and he's the only male is there less likely to be aggression? And is it better to get him a few girlfriends or is one sufficient? Lol

I wanna make sure I do this right! Thanks for any help

 

[Nabiki]

First, king quail do best in pairs. It's coturnix quail that need a harem.

If you have a full rabbit hutch for a single pair, introduction of a female shouldn't be too much of a problem. Just make sure that their living area has plenty of hiding places and they'll introduce themselves at their own pace.

If you're planning on putting them outside, do you live in an area that doesn't get very cold? King quail are from Southeast Asia and don't do well in very cold temperatures. If your area gets much below 40, they will need some heat.