lone conturnix hen or (male i think now) **updated**

[melissa41927]

i have a single conturnix hen and winter is coming on. we are having temperature drop into the teens, do i need to put a heat lamp in her box or will she be ok with pine needle bedding out of the cold wind. and do you think i should get some company for her. i originally had two a male and female. she did not do good with the male, he would chase her around and be mean to her. he disappeared when i was cleaning the coop one day.

 

[JJMR794]

So Long As She Has An Area That Is Sheltered From The Wind She Should Be Fine. The Roo Was Harassing Her Because They Arent Birds To Keep In Pairs, But Rather Harems. About 5 Hens To 1 Roo.

 

[mhwc56]

Quote:
what kind of cage is she in? if she is out in the open , a tarp over the whole cage is important. Coturnix do not do well in wind. Pine straw is not much protection at all. it doesn't fluff up so they can burrow down into it for warmth.
I use shredded paper that i get for free at work ..i clean an office building and that includes emptying their paper shredding machines...I also use hay, they like to burrow down into these materials for warmth.
Coturnix do not like to be alone ,they get stressed without any others to"watch their backs"but like JJ said, you didn't have enough girls to go with your boy and he had no one else to bother but your 1 hen. In my personal opinion, if you have access to more coturnix and have the cage space ,it would be a very good idea to get a few more. That way they can snuggle down together for winter ,etc.

 

[janen_33]

Hi,

JJMR always has good advice! When the temps dropped to freezing I did put out our heat lamp out for the quail but they didn't seem to care much either way. I guess with enough coverage (branches w/leaves and wood shavings) they're warm enough.

Hey ~ if you want to give your girl up, we'd gladly adopt her. We ended up with a Coturnix one day (a 'gift' from a friend) we thought it was a female, so I got another one to keep 'her' company. Long story short, we thought our original one was mean because it kept mounting and pulling out the top feathers of the new quail - but low and behold, it turned out we got a male (originally). I separated the 2 with a chicken wire divider, but one day I found the female on the same side as the male, so I removed the divider. Interestingly enough, the little guy doesn't mount her 'as much' (could be the season?) and they seem ok...but we will be buying more females come spring so our poor girl can regain her sanity!

Good luck!

 

[melissa41927]

well i was thinking that i have a female, but it is around 6 months and had never layed an egg, there is no foamy stuff in its cage. i let the dog out this morning at 6 am and i heard the classic conturnix crow. so do i have a male or female or is the one that disappeared still hanging around?

 

[Robo]

What color of breast feathers does it have?

 

[melissa41927]

brown

 

[Robo]

Oh, have you vent sexed?

 

[JJMR794]

Quote:
LOOKS LIKE YOU NEED TO READ THE COTURNIX QUAIL BASICS IN THE STICKY POST