loud coturnix male

[Birdman18]

Just wondering how frequent should the coturnix males crow? My male seems to crow almost every 5 mins, i'm kind of worried some of the neighbors are going to complain, he is in a cage with other males but no females is that maybe why hes crowing so much.

 

[crait]

Roosters crow.
That's their thing. The hens lay and the roosters crow.
It's been like that forever.
Some hens lay a lot more than others and some goes with roosters. Some crow more than others.

He probrably likes the sound of crowing.
My first Rooster, R.I.P., crowed every two minutes.
My current rooster now crows about 20 times a day.

 

[monarc23]

It's because he has no hens.

My roos are crowing "a lot" right now but it's about every 15-30 minutes. Many people say that when they have roos with no hens, theres almost constant crowing. He's looking for mates.

 

[Birdman18]

Thanks guys, thats what i thought that he was looking for a mate the only is that i have 5 males and only 3 females so 2 will still crow constanly unless i try to mix them without fighting.

Thanks!

 

[monarc23]

Quote:
I was thinking about your issue in more depth when i was up watching my quails. And this may be impossible for you however I wanted to let you know about it just incase.

If you are able to cover them up, so they don't get 14+ hours of light a day, the crowing should shush up soon. Its the lighting that makes them crow and puts them into breeding mode. Shade probably wouldnt help this, however if they are in a dim area where they arent seeing real light (like winter time-ness lol) they could be forced to stop crowing that way. Worth a shot

 

[mrsengeseth]

My bachelor coturnix (lol, we only have him...no one else) crows at 3 somethng in the morning and once or twice in the afternoon. I am looking into getting him a girlfriend...or six. As soon as possible. But he's inside and not buggin the neighbors. We've only had him since sunday.

 

[Birdman18]

Quote:
I was thinking about your issue in more depth when i was up watching my quails. And this may be impossible for you however I wanted to let you know about it just incase.

If you are able to cover them up, so they don't get 14+ hours of light a day, the crowing should shush up soon. Its the lighting that makes them crow and puts them into breeding mode. Shade probably wouldnt help this, however if they are in a dim area where they arent seeing real light (like winter time-ness lol) they could be forced to stop crowing that way. Worth a shot

Yeah that is a good idea, i'll have to try that. But he even crows early in the morning when its still dark out so i'm sure making the pen dark might work, but i'll try. I'll just have to pair him up.

Thanks Again for your help, i appreciate it!!

 

[monarc23]

Quote:
I was thinking about your issue in more depth when i was up watching my quails. And this may be impossible for you however I wanted to let you know about it just incase.

If you are able to cover them up, so they don't get 14+ hours of light a day, the crowing should shush up soon. Its the lighting that makes them crow and puts them into breeding mode. Shade probably wouldnt help this, however if they are in a dim area where they arent seeing real light (like winter time-ness lol) they could be forced to stop crowing that way. Worth a shot

Yeah that is a good idea, i'll have to try that. But he even crows early in the morning when its still dark out so i'm sure making the pen dark might work, but i'll try. I'll just have to pair him up.

Thanks Again for your help, i appreciate it!!

It's hard to explain, I know that doesnt make sense with him crowing even at dark but I'll try to explain it better. But yes i agree giving them some hens will really fix the problem lol!

Coturnix quail that are not under 14 hours of light a day will not go into breeding mode no matter the season, just like how a plant wont grow well without light. If they dont have that exact or over 14 hours of light they just sort of eat and sleep and act like birds wihtout the mating aspect. It normally takes 2 weeks of 14hours a day of light for the birds to come into breeding mode. Put it this way, if I gave you two batches of 4 week old coturnix quail, and you kept one batch in your basement with no lighting on them.... and you put teh other birds outside during this spring weather... in 2 weeks the outside ones would be making an uproar, and the ones in teh basement would just still act like normal chicks and not even crowing.

During mating season Coturnix roos are known to crow all night long even!

I'm not sure if i've made any sense here, but im just trying to say that it's not teh "now" light that makes them crow, it's specific prolonged days of light that makes them crow.

So if you take away the prolonged lighting over a period of about a week or two the roos should stop. However that's probably more work than it needs to be haha so yes hens woul dhelp the problem a lot

 

[bigjohn]

Not sure if I completely agree with the 14 hour time frame. Mine are crowing now and have been crowing for a few weeks and we have only had a max of 12 hour days. I even have my birds with lots of females so they will be happy and quiet. They certainly are much quieter when allowed to be with more females and usually just crow in the mornings and evenings only. Actually, all of the birds (wild birds) outside make a lot of noise in the mornings when it is Spring. There are many dogs that bark and make much more noise than my little quail. I guess it is the noise that people get used to hearing that they can ignore without getting irritated. When it is just a few roosters it is not so bad, but if you have a lot of them, then you are asking for some noise.

Anyway, sounds like a good idea to put them in a place with only a few hours light to keep them quieter. A freezer is usually a dark and quiet place .............

Last year I hatched a bunch of birds and the males were so loud that they had to all go into the freezer to silence them! I tried to put them in our garage where it was darker, but they just got louder and louder.

Anyway, they were very good on the grill the next weekend.

I am wanting to hatch birds this year and that is my only concern is the loud roo's. Wonder if there is a shock collar for them to teach them to be quiet? Or a spray like they have for dogs that bark too much?

 

[monarc23]

Quote:
"Light requirements
Japanese quail require 14–18 hours of light per day to maintain maximum egg production and fertility. This means that supplementary lighting must be provided in the autumn, winter and spring months to maintain production.

Males not required for breeding, or any quail being grown for meat production, can be given only about 8 hours of low-intensity light per day. This is not enough to initiate sexual maturity; therefore, the birds do not expend energy on fighting and mating and will tend to fatten more quickly"

Got this from: http://209.85.173.132/search?q=cache:yI1AjasRnMkJ:www.thepoultrysite.com/articles/838/raising-japanese-quail+quails+need+several+hours+a+day+of+light&cd=2&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us

"For good egg production provide 14 to 16hours of light per day with an intensity of atCages can be constructed in any desired size.If individual records are to be kept, smallcages (5 to 8 inches) are large enough for oneor two quail. The best material for cageconstruction is 1 x Vz inch welded wire.Hardware-cloth or screen can be used if it isattached to a wooden or steel framework. Ifcages are constructed of welded wire, smallleast Vz foot candle (5 lux). If the daylengthis allowed to decrease, egg production andmating activity will decline or stop. Continu-ous light may be the most practical andconvenient system for small groups of quailbecause time clocks to control lights are notrequired. Young quail should be grown undernatural daylight or shorter days. An exampleof a good lighting "

Got this from: http://209.85.173.132/search?q=cache:lFoeYTFkH8sJ:animalscience.ucdavis.edu/avian/japanesequail.pdf+quails+need+several+hours+a+day+of+light&cd=7&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us

"Lighting For Laying Quail
From experiment it has been proved that light has more importance than temperature in stimulating hens to lay. One report indicates the bird will lay to zero temperature if the light of day is extended to at least 14 hours.

A bright light is not necessary. Just enough to maintain wakefulness and social activity in the flock is sufficient. Electric bulbs of 40 or 60 watts may be used in colony pens.

For the light to be effective it must be turned on before dark and calculated to go off after the day has been extended to 14 or 16 hours. Control of the light may be by a time switch. Singapore quail farmers always leave the light on continuously during the night, and there is indication that hens may lay just as well if the light is left on all the time. "

Got this from: http://www.thatquailplace.com/quail/coturnix/coturn2.htm


Just to back up my statements....