I am currently growing out my second batch of Coturnix quail. I have 39. They are just over six weeks. My females are doing great, no fighting and have started laying. My males are driving me crazy. They are fighting a little but the crowing is the big problem. They have been crowing for about a week but the last few nights they have been crowing between 1 and 3 in the morning. I don't like it and I definitely don't want to upset my neighbors.
After the first night I split them up so there are 22 quail split between 2 17+ sq ft cages. (The females are in a separate cage away from them.) It helped with fighting but not crowing. I thought it might be from the bright moon light, so the last two nights I have covered their cages so it is darker but they still crow. It's not as bad but there are still a few crowing loudly.
I'm thinking of butchering them early but they seem a bit small. I had one boink yesterday and I butchered him this morning. He seemed smaller than the ones I butchered before but not by that much. But it has also been a while. For those that have butchered, is there a huge difference between 6 weeks and 8 weeks?
I was thinking about trying to pull out just the ones that crowed a lot and butcher them. I know it's possible the less dominate will start crowing more after the others are removed. But is there a decent chance they won't start crowing right away? I'd just like to get more weight on them.
After the first night I split them up so there are 22 quail split between 2 17+ sq ft cages. (The females are in a separate cage away from them.) It helped with fighting but not crowing. I thought it might be from the bright moon light, so the last two nights I have covered their cages so it is darker but they still crow. It's not as bad but there are still a few crowing loudly.
I'm thinking of butchering them early but they seem a bit small. I had one boink yesterday and I butchered him this morning. He seemed smaller than the ones I butchered before but not by that much. But it has also been a while. For those that have butchered, is there a huge difference between 6 weeks and 8 weeks?
I was thinking about trying to pull out just the ones that crowed a lot and butcher them. I know it's possible the less dominate will start crowing more after the others are removed. But is there a decent chance they won't start crowing right away? I'd just like to get more weight on them.
