Laying already?

[aprophet]

iffn the girls are sporting the snead O'conner "do" they may be ready

 

[syble]

i've been hearing starter crows i think for about a week or so, not a ton, but they are about. Also, everyone seams to have a bald spot on their back, but that's been the way to about 2 weeks, I thought i had them in the brooder for too long.(no light on, just a smaller space). I'm not sure what i can do if they start fighting, I have no where else to put most of them. they were supposed to behave till i put most of them in the freezer lolha. So far watching them they seam copacetic, and i haven't seen mating, but then again half the time i don't see it in my other breeders, they just have bald heads haha. next egg i get i will crack, i can't tell the difference between their eggs and my other breeders.

 

[snyd08]

your gonna have to pick the males out before you get too many on the hens or too many beating up or killing each other. if they are crowing and your getting eggs than you can pick the males from the females. maybe not vent sexing yet but certainly mark/band your males as soon as you can so when they do start going bald u can cull most males out... are they normal colored? pharohs? if so you can pick them out by the chest feathers. and IMO you should do so.. 4 weeks is unheard of for my farm. if you told me they were 4 weeks and laid. id tell you to check your calender again. obviously it does happen however itdoesnt happen here!. all my birds are jumbos though so they certainly grow and mature a bit slower. but even 6 weeks for them is young.

 

[syble]

i had to refer to my calender and posts a couple times. what can i do with the extra males though, they are no where near done growing, and we had wanted them for the freezer

 

[Ga.chickenman]

More pens !!

 

[syble]

thats coming lol, but can i stick all the extra males in 1 or will they kill each other?

 

[joe125]

Quote:
As long as no hens are present in the pen, you can generally house roos only in a single pen, as long as it's big enough. There are always exceptions to this rule, but you can keep a roo only pen. They will roo each other, and may smack down a timid roo in the mix, but it can be done. They will also crow their lungs out, but even in nature. It's very common for unattached males to hang out together.

More pens are better, but keeping things manageable is good too. Good luck my friend

Sorry for the edit! I am speaking about coturnix quail only.

 

[syble]

this fall will likely be a cage building season, as of now the breeders live in a wire bottom floor rabbit tower and they waste the food like crazy. the ones growing up on the table top brooder have a solid floor and shavings, so they go after the food they kick out... even if i just make a partial solid floor unit, i have to do something lol. Also need to make the compartments a bit bigger so i can keep a larger breeding group (currently quads) and also need to double it lolha