Issue sexing coturnix quail

[Del1977]

The remaining quail from our first spring hatch appear to consist of 5 males, 1 female, which is very annoying. Anyway, they are starting to fight so was ready to sell 3 of them to the pet store when my daughter got home from school, (they are her money making hobby), and thought I would get my husband to confirm sex by doing the foam test. Our thoughts on sexes were determined by chest colouring, 5 have a 'flat' chest colour and 1 has a speckled chest. Seemed correct from pics we had looked at. Anyway, only 3 produced foam! So now I'm confused and uncertain. Could it just be that the other two we thought were male haven't reached maturity yet? They are 6.5 weeks old. Rang pet store to postpone sale, which had to do regardless because as we were checking them they got a bit rattled and two got into a nasty fight and now have bleeding heads, so they have been separated.

 

[Sill]

At that age they are not full mature. Of course if they crow they are males, also in they mount another quail, either male or female then the bird doing the mounting is a male.

Can you post photos of their chests?

If they are drawing blood yes you should separate them. The remaining quail should have a roomy enough enclosure that you can put in hiding places so they can get out of each other's line of sight. Boxes, pots, real or fake plants etc. can be used for hiding places.

 

[Del1977]

Bit hard to get as they didn't want to show off their chests.




Top one we thought male, middle one we thought male, and bottom one we think female going by chest. Not the best photos but the top and bottom ones are some colouring except bottom one clearly has speckled chest and top one doesn't. None of them are producing foam though, although have another two exactly the same as the middle one who are producing foam. They kept running around their 'new' home when I tried to get photos but have been mounting their new female companions. Also have a tibten(spelling?) in with them that is clearly male going on behaviour and foam production. Mounting everything in site, has the male call and has clearly decided he is king of the cage.

 

[kyzerc]

The only way ive found out for my texas a#m,s is wait till mating season,all hens have have a half bald head.The male is supposed to have a larger head,but that doesn't work for me.My one little male jumps on anything I throw in cage.Have hatched about 60 with 3 hens,then with 2 hens,one died.Have about 50 or so now to figure out for next year.

 

[Del1977]

Don't think a bald head is much to go by as two of the definite males I've had to separate due to fighting and they are now both partially bald with scabs on their heads as a result of fighting with each other. Both have foam and are crowing.

 

[dc3085]

Bit hard to get as they didn't want to show off their chests. Top one we thought male, middle one we thought male, and bottom one we think female going by chest. Not the best photos but the top and bottom ones are some colouring except bottom one clearly has speckled chest and top one doesn't. None of them are producing foam though, although have another two exactly the same as the middle one who are producing foam. They kept running around their 'new' home when I tried to get photos but have been mounting their new female companions. Also have a tibten(spelling?) in with them that is clearly male going on behaviour and foam production. Mounting everything in site, has the male call and has clearly decided he is king of the cage.

First pic is a golden hen Second pic is a pharaoh roo Third pic is a golden hen. A&Ms cant be feather sexed, these two color phases can. Not sure why anyone brought up A&Ms, but there is no physical characteristic to the feathering that can be used to determine sex with them, ever.

 

[dc3085]

Also vent sexing is a crap shoot if there is even one roo present. Youll find his foam in the vents of many of the hens leading to false positives.

 

[Del1977]

Thanks for the reply. So far we have found vent sexing to be very accurate in that any who have foam have always turned out to be male, although I have read it can be inaccurate due to the reason you mentioned. Glad you think the top and bottom ones are hens as we are a bit light on for hens with this batch. And I was sure the middle one was a roo, so glad you agree, although so far his colouring is the only indication as he isn't producing foam, and never crowed, and have never seen him mount anything yet. Maybe he's just a late developer???? The other two that are identical to him are certainly males, and as soon as their heads heal and grow back feathers they will be sold so hopefully he gives us some sort of sign other than his colouring so that we can sell him too. As I mentioned, we are a bit light on for females so don't want to accidently sell one!

Edited to add:- Still learning types quail and wondering what A&M is???