Mating stress, should I rehome one of my males?

[Anorakei]

Some background: When I originally got quail I kept them in three pairs. One worked out, the other two ended up with stressed females losing feathers from mating. By the time I managed to get more females those two had lost a lot of feathers on their back. Anyway once I had more females I separated the two so they could recover their feathers. Both of them got most of their feathers back safe for on their lower back, which apparently only regrow slowly. One of them eventually started losing feathers from mating again and had to be separated.

Since I've had them in a ratio of 2:1 females to males it's mostly been fine, though many of the females are at what I would consider to be the limit of acceptable feather loss. Feathers on their backs (where the males put their feet when mating) worn down and some missing feathers on the backs of their heads (surprisingly very little balding). I'm worried mating stress might get worse over time, so I'm considering rehoming one of my males so I can keep them in 3:1 ratios. What do you think?

Also, does anyone know of a way to encourage feather regrowth and/or trigger a molt? Their feed is high in protein so that shouldn't be an issue, unless adding even more protein helps with regrowing feathers.

 

[feedman77]

I assume coturnix quail?
3:1 may alleviate some breeding stress. But some males are very amorous. I've had a Male where 2 or 3 hens were more than he wanted. But have had other males where 10 hens werent enough to satisfy him.

1:6 ratio is a better ratio to eliminate over breeding.

Just keep them on high protein feed to help with feather regrowth

 

[Nabiki]

If you're talking about coturnix quail, 3:1 is about the minimum you want for exactly the reason you've discovered. I have 4:1 in my pens, and have gone as high as 5:1 with good fertility.

I'm not sure how to trigger a molt. Maybe shorten the time they have light?

 

[Quailobsessed]

I have kept some of my japanese quails in pairs with no problems. I have also had some males that I can't satisfy with enough females. I do think that giving them more females can actually trigger them to breed more to the point that no matter how many you give them, they will still want more.

You can still go ahead and give them more females. I just thought this was an interesting point.

I had a pair of Texas A&Ms that were inseparable. they were both victims of bullying by everyone else, so they often took refuge together. I separated them from the other quails they were with, and they were perfect as a pair. The male never wanted any other females, he only accepted her. They were also super tame, so I often let them free range. Sadly the female died from the heat earlier this year. It got up to 47.5°C (117.5°F). I brought my birds inside, but I didn't get to her in time Her mate was very depressed for a while, but when we eventually did put him back with other females, he became as crazy as all my other males, so I couldn't keep him in a pair anymore. I had him with four females, but he plucked one, so I had to separate her to let her feathers grow back. He's still tame, but he'll never be the same