Male to female quail ratio

[jbob]

I have 8 males and 6 females and I wanted to remove the dividing wall between the two to give them some more room to roam and so I can start hatching but I think that many boys will be to rough on the girls ?

 

[franklinstreetwest]

The boys will likely mate them to death. Best to keep your girls safe. I have 1 male to 6 females, in two different pens... the guys have them all bald. Have even pulled the boys out and given the girls a break once.

 

[TwoCrows]

X2 1 male to 5 to 7 females is a proper ratio. Females can actually die from being over mated.

 

[Sill]

I have 8 males and 6 females and I wanted to remove the dividing wall between the two to give them some more room to roam and so I can start hatching but I think that many boys will be to rough on the girls ?

X3 what they said. You will want to think long and hard what to do with all your extra males, especially once you start hatching and have more! It's not healthy for the hens to have too many roos so you will have lots of extras.

You can sell them off, but know that most people will want them for meat or will only buy one or two as new bloodlines for their breeding program because hey, they have their own excess males.

They are excellent meat birds. I just processed 10 last night. They will rest in the refrigerator then go into the freezer until I have enough for a family gathering.

Youtube has some good tutorials on how to process quail, and one of our members here has some as well. They are quick to process.

This bowl has rested and now ready for the freezer


Bacon wrapped and glazed or marinated and braised, it's all good!

 

[Sill]

@franklinstreetwest I don't keep roos that pluck their hens. Especially if there are six hens with him! That's plenty of action for a roo. Aggressive roos go into the freezer to be replaced by roos who are more gentlemanly. If I see a roo pluck, roll or act in any way aggressive he's outa there and a new roo is put in. Since I've started my breeding program I've seen way fewer roos that will even slightly bald their hens. There are too many nice roos to keep one that will damage his hens. The last roo I put with a new group of hens actually sang to them and "fed" them before he tried mating. Gotta love a gentleman!

Temperament is hereditary, only breed a rooster that has a nice temperament and cull the rest. You don't want the sons of an aggressive roo passing those genes down the line.

 

[franklinstreetwest]

@ Sill - I have had some roos that went beyond just breeding behavior, to tearing the hens apart. That was probably my FIRST lesson with these birds. After I had to put down my first (perfectly good) hen, from male aggression; I moved on to my SECOND important lesson: How to butcher my own birds. I happily put down roos that shred a hen out of pure testosterone rage.

The breeding pens I have currently are chill enough for me. I guess I interpret what I see in my pens not to be excessive.

 

[calcifer]

Could I put 2 males in the same pen with 14 females?

 

[TwoCrows]

Keeping two males together can be risky business unless you have very large spaces. The roos can kill each other.

 

[calcifer]

Hmm ok I have a 8x10 aviary and a 6x8 coop, I can divide the yard but then only one group gets to uses the sheltered coop. Is the fertility rate high for 1 roo to 6 Hens ratio?

 

[TwoCrows]

You should have good fertility with 1 roo and 6 hens. Fertility starts to decrease after 8 and 9 hens.