reducing the noise

[rik and dick]

One of my boys is being very noisy. He crows most of the evening if ther are any lights on in the house. (they live on the terrace) and starts in the v early morning even though its dark. Anything i can do to discourage him ? Im worried about the neighbors

 

[N F C]

Sounds like a roo acting just like a roo! Not sure what you mean by them living on the terrace...is that where your coop is? Some people soundproof their coops to help muffle the noises and some use the no-crow collars (you can read about them at mypetchicken.com) and some even have surgery done on their roosters. If you don't want fertile eggs for hatching, you could re-home your rooster to someone that doesn't have to be concerned about his crowing.

 

[Sill]

One of my boys is being very noisy. He crows most of the evening if ther are any lights on in the house. (they live on the terrace) and starts in the v early morning even though its dark. Anything i can do to discourage him ? Im worried about the neighbors

What kind of quail? I assume coturnix? Is he housed by himself? With other roosters or hens? How old?

With my coturnix I've found if I have any roosters that do not have a covey of 3-7 hens of their own I will get crowing...even in the dark! It is worse with young roos that are just getting their hormones raging, and they will set off the older roos too but the older ones are never as noisy as the young males. Once all roosters are with their group of hens everything settles down and they are quiet, very quiet.

 

[rik and dick]

Two roos who were surpless and needed a home. They have a nice life on my 21 foot terrace but i dont have space for enough ladies to keep them both happy . they are about six months old. They quite recently got their nice dark head markings which i presume is a sign of maturity? They are v sweet and seem v contented with each others company n but the noise ...and we live in a flat !!they live free within roof netting to protect from a resident sparrowhawk and with a little house they potter in and out of. Yes cotinix
I thought quail were supposed to be quiet
If its youthful hormones might they quieten down ?
Thank you

 

[dc3085]

Nope they'll do that forever unless you solve what making them crow. Its usually either because they can see a cage with hens in it or they're mad about something in their environment. Sights and sounds can literally drive them crazy too and they hate things like flapping plastic or dead silence with running water like a fountain at a house in a quiet neighbor hood. They either want girl or something is bothering them. They see more colors and process light much differently than we do so it can be as simple as a wind chime bugging them with noise or reflection. You can see why most of us eat our surplus roos, raise a 80-100 bird straight run in a grow out pen and you'll want to smell the bottom of a bucket of water over the noise it gets so bad. They will eventually start doing it at all hours of the night if you let go on. I have 6-10 roos in breeding groups all the time and right now have 4 bachelors in the bach pad that have been there for months an not made a peep i can recall. Just make sure they can't see the hens anymore. My bachelor cage is two feet from the breeders but its got plywood sides so they can't see any ladies.

Not to pick on your cage but you seem attached to those quail so id suggest a real quail cage soon with no larger than 1/2 by 1/2 wire mesh anywhere on it. Predators can easily pull a full grown jumbo coturnix through any hole you can fit a nickel through. Raccoons, weasels, skunks, house cats, bobcats, dogs, foxes, snakes, black crows, ravens, falcons and hawks are all huge fans of caged quail. A raccoon will spend hours trying to find ways to get them, and I can show you game cam photos of coturnix crowding up to the wire to see what he's doing out there and just generally doing everything they can to get eaten. You may go years without problems like I did but it's best to go all out now. I lost irreplaceable genetic color work when he finally made his play. Killed 21 coturnix in a two week period. Also once a predator gets a bird they leave a trail of bloody footprints across the neighborhood that basically is a big neon ad for free food at your place to any predator that passes by.

 

[rik and dick]

They are safe from predators we are on the third floor and they live on an enclosed terrace a bit like a back yard in the sky with high walls around. I wonder if the lights from the house are bothering them. They didnt used to. Theres nothing else new.although there is a new plant in the window could it be as simple as that ?
Yes i am very fond of them they are pets. but i will get complaints if i cant sort the noise out.

 

[Sill]

You might want to cover their cage at night with dark colored fabric so it will block all light. It might at least keep them quiet at night so your neighbors don't complain. And even if you are on the third floor don't discount hawks and owls that can make a snack of your quail.

 

[rik and dick]

I have netted the top of the terrace because a sparrowhawk tried to take them almost as soon as they arrived.which was a shock to me i didnt know we had any here right in the city centre [although i knew we had petegrines]. I havent shut them in before but i may have to.
Having said which and this is amazing ,i moved the plant which was quite bug and floor standing in an orange pot and they have stopped the all night crowing [well they did last night] just doibg the usual pre dawn and dawn cacophony]

 

[dc3085]

We only have three channels in our eyes for processing light. Quail have four they see colors of the spectrum that don't exist to us naturally so it can be something just that simple.