Male Quail Upsetting Neighbour

[BrandonsBirbs]

Issue: Our three male quail have started to crow overnight, generally from around 4am when the sun rises. I've tried blocking most the light out. I cannot move the cages as they are attached.


Information:

• We have 6 cages, 3 on top and 3 on bottom. The top 3 are currently empty, the bottom 3 have 5 females and 1 male in each. The 3 cages are all attached side by side and I cannot separate them.
• They are kept in their own shed and I open it every morning at 7am to allow for natural light.
• These 3 groups are planned to be our fertile egg layers and are doing a decent job on that so far, always have food too.
• They are free to crow all they want after 7am, it's just beforehand that's causing the issue.
• In every other way so far they're all so well behaved with each other and their hens are very happy!
• My ideas were to cut and hang towels in between the cages to stop the males seeing each other and the other females (although they would still hear each other?). My other idea was to buy some huge towels and just cover the cages completely at night?

Any help or advice would be awesome, my previous males were almost silent so this is a new issue for me. Thank you

 

[nchls school]

The quail are inside a shed and the noise still upsets the neighbor? How close is that neighbor? The crowing of quail is not nearly as loud as roosters. I certainly can not hear my quail from in the house and they are close. Do you live in the country?

 

[2000096904]

This issue is kind of dependant on your quail, and how close your neighbors are. It may sound weird but try claiming herbs like lavender and mint it might make them a little less awake at those early hours. You can also try putting some sort of sound proofing un your shed.

 

[2000096904]

The quail are inside a shed and the noise still upsets the neighbor? How close is that neighbor? The crowing of quail is not nearly as loud as roosters. I certainly can not hear my quail from in the house and they are close. Do you live in the country?

Also, I agree the neighbor would have to be close to be able to hear a quails' crow from inside a shed.

 

[Nabiki]

I don't know if there's much you can do with your setup. The general rule is, happy roos don't crow, or don't crow much.

What kind of enrichment do you have in the cages? Do they have dirt baths? Places to hide? These things may help.

 

[HappyClucker7]

How close are your neighbors? Quail are so quiet, I don't really understand how your neighbors could be bothered by that sound, unless the cages are right by their house.

 

[BrandonsBirbs]

The quail are inside a shed and the noise still upsets the neighbor? How close is that neighbor? The crowing of quail is not nearly as loud as roosters. I certainly can not hear my quail from in the house and they are close. Do you live in the country?

Also, I agree the neighbor would have to be close to be able to hear a quails' crow from inside a shed.

How close are your neighbors? Quail are so quiet, I don't really understand how your neighbors could be bothered by that sound, unless the cages are right by their house.

To be fair to the neighbours the shed is essentially against their house as we live in a mobile home park and there is limited space. You can definitely hear them. Our landlord is more than okay with our quail so long as our neighbours do not complain. All our previous male quail almost never crowed whereas all 8 males from this hatch do (is it genetic?)

 

[BrandonsBirbs]

I don't know if there's much you can do with your setup. The general rule is, happy roos don't crow, or don't crow much.

What kind of enrichment do you have in the cages? Do they have dirt baths? Places to hide? These things may help.

Yeah as I said, our previous males have never crowed overnight and the hens all make that adorable happy noise! They get a dustbath top-up once or twice a week, but admittedly no hiding spots.

 

[BrandonsBirbs]

This issue is kind of dependant on your quail, and how close your neighbors are. It may sound weird but try claiming herbs like lavender and mint it might make them a little less awake at those early hours. You can also try putting some sort of sound proofing un your shed.

Do you know what sort of soundproofing? Those squares with the diamonds poking out for acoustics or something more drastic?

Can definitely try the mint tonight thank you!

 

[Nabiki]

Yeah as I said, our previous males have never crowed overnight and the hens all make that adorable happy noise! They get a dustbath top-up once or twice a week, but admittedly no hiding spots.

Try adding some hiding places and see if that makes a difference. If they haven't crowed that early before, it could be that daylight is coming earlier, or it could be that a predator has been hanging around.