Question on housing males with females for laying

[Western Chick]

Chicken veteran but quail noobie here!
I've built a 2x6 cage and I'm starting with 12 coturnix quail (hopefully this weekend

). Would it be okay if 2-3 of them were males or would they fight in there? Do females kept for laying need a male around at all?

I would like to eventually save and hatch some eggs to replenish the flock and to have for meat so I'd like to have fertile eggs. Do I need to separate them into quads or trios or can I get by just keeping a couple of males in my laying cage?

 

[chicklover 1998]

Nope you can keep them together, usually 1 male to 3-4 females is good.

 

[dc3085]

Males can keep up to seven hens fertile but shouldnt be kept with less than three or four. One male per cage or egg production will suffer due to over breeding. More males=more stress, stress=the number cause people come here and wonder why their quail wont lay.

 

[JetCat]

My breeding batteries are 2' x 4', i keep 20 hens and 4 roosters in each one, i get an egg a day, every day from each hen with fertility and hatch rates that are >90% keeping less then that ratio i notice a decline in fertile egg percentages. at 1:5 no doubt there is stress from over breeding (and a lot of bare backs) but it's not interfered with laying, if you can live with a lower fertility rate it's well worth it to have a higher hen ratio though.

for egg production you do not need a rooster at all and in egg production cages i have only hens, 99% of my roosters go into grow out for processing.