Probably been asked a hundred times.

[kcult]

Perhaps a thousand times, but I'm looking for advice for my specific situation.

By chance, not choice, I have a breeding pair of Coturnix quail on the ground of an 8x10 coop.

In a three level hutch, within the same coop, I have a male and three females on one level, a male and six females on another level, with the top level empty.

The age of the breeding pair is unknown. The group of four is approximately three months, and the group of seven is 9.5wks.

I feel like I should even out the numbers, but 1) I'm not sure I really should, or need to, and B) how to do it, if I do.

Nobody seems stressed, but I am incubating, as well as eating, the eggs.

Any ideas?

Thanks!

 

[Nabiki]

Perhaps a thousand times, but I'm looking for advice for my specific situation.

By chance, not choice, I have a breeding pair of Coturnix quail on the ground of an 8x10 coop.

In a three level hutch, within the same coop, I have a male and three females on one level, a male and six females on another level, with the top level empty.

The age of the breeding pair is unknown. The group of four is approximately three months, and the group of seven is 9.5wks.

I feel like I should even out the numbers, but 1) I'm not sure I really should, or need to, and B) how to do it, if I do.

Nobody seems stressed, but I am incubating, as well as eating, the eggs.

Any ideas?

Thanks!

The ideal ratio is around 1 male to 5 females. Pairs may work, but in most cases you will end up with an over bred hen, which may result in injury or even death.

That being said, there are exceptions. The best thing is to keep an eye on your bird and be prepared to make changes if you see things start to go sideways.

 

[007Sean]

The ideal ratio is around 1 male to 5 females. Pairs may work, but in most cases you will end up with an over bred hen, which may result in injury or even death.

That being said, there are exceptions. The best thing is to keep an eye on your bird and be prepared to make changes if you see things start to go sideways.

Well said!

 

[kcult]

The ideal ratio is around 1 male to 5 females. Pairs may work, but in most cases you will end up with an over bred hen, which may result in injury or even death.

That being said, there are exceptions. The best thing is to keep an eye on your bird and be prepared to make changes if you see things start to go sideways.

Thank you.

 

[BrandonsBirbs]

A lot will advise 1:5, I'm currently having most success with 1:6 so make of that what you will. I wouldn't worry about changing the second level with the 6 females, maybe just add a couple more to the bottom layer once they've matured.

Personally I don't like the idea of pairs in cages, in open spaces with lots of hiding places they work well but as was said before, your poor girl will be overbred hard in a cage. Hatch lots of eggs, save some ladies and eat some boys!

I find quail can be easy to integrate if you keep them in a cage nearby where they can see each other for a couple of days then just mix them. Another option is split their current cage in half temporarily, keep the 1:3 on one side and 2/3 new girls on other side for a few days/week.

Good luck!

At the smallest sign of injury, remove them, quail can be very mean and go from pecking each other to killing in hours.

 

[kcult]

A lot will advise 1:5, I'm currently having most success with 1:6 so make of that what you will. I wouldn't worry about changing the second level with the 6 females, maybe just add a couple more to the bottom layer once they've matured.

Personally I don't like the idea of pairs in cages, in open spaces with lots of hiding places they work well but as was said before, your poor girl will be overbred hard in a cage. Hatch lots of eggs, save some ladies and eat some boys!

I find quail can be easy to integrate if you keep them in a cage nearby where they can see each other for a couple of days then just mix them. Another option is split their current cage in half temporarily, keep the 1:3 on one side and 2/3 new girls on other side for a few days/week.

Good luck!

At the smallest sign of injury, remove them, quail can be very mean and go from pecking each other to killing in hours.

Thank you, but if you look again, the pair is on the ground, inside of an 8x10 enclosure. That's 40sq ft per bird.

Any more, and they may qualify as free range. Haha.

 

[BrandonsBirbs]

Thank you, but if you look again, the pair is on the ground, inside of an 8x10 enclosure. That's 40sq ft per bird.

Any more, and they may quanlify as free range. Haha.

View attachment 3203810

lol, may encourage the female to go broody with space like that though. Nice build! Just wait until you've hatched some females and try to shift the pair into that group (or eat the pair and hatch a group). The female could be super defensive of her male if he's breeding her.