Roo Question

[Eyeheartquail]

This is my first time raising quail and I have 8 birds total. 2 browns (female), 2 English whites (not sexed yet), 3 tuxedos (1 male others not sexed yet), and 1 Rosetta (not sexed yet.) They are almost 7 weeks old and one of my tuxedo's has finally matured into a roo and my hens aren't laying yet. The roo is chasing and pecking all of the other quail throughout their 7'x2 1/2' raised pen. He seems very pushy and I am worried he may injure one of the other quail. I don't know what would happen If I ended up with 2 or more roos! I am sure I would have to cull them. My question is, are roos generally this pushy? I have read so many posts from others about roos that have scalped or wounded others. I hope to prevent this. Should I separate him from the rest until my hens start laying? I would love the option to have fertile eggs in the future. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated

Thanks!

 

[syble]

i have hens that can be just as bad, its frustrating really, try giving them some hides

 

[Eyeheartquail]

What kind of hides do you recommend? Plants?

 

[Tikkajazz94]

a little box... I have a slanted wood piece I found. Than I put the run on long grass so they can hide in the grass and stuff.

 

[syble]

boxes, tubes, abs pipe sections work nicely, they are open on both ends (providing escape routes if need be), and come in multiple sizes, and being abs, you can hose em down whenever need be

you dont want it much taller then the bird, the idea is to give em a place to keep others off their back

 

[Eyeheartquail]

Will do. Man, I have him separated right now until I get it set up better. He is acting like a crazy fool. He has pecked them pretty forcefully making them squawk. I am afraid that giving them hiding spots may only help a little. He really does seek them out. He chases them from one end of the pen, inside the box and back out to the other side of the pen. Poor birdies. Will all roosters be this forceful and abusive? I am thinking about naming him Mike Tyson. LOL

 

[Tikkajazz94]

Actully, Treat them like kids,The roo's are the bullies. So The kids need to Run somewhere. Build them a jungle gym

I do kinda have this problem with my birds.

 

[mhwc56]

i put a leaf or so of hay into each pen and fluff it up or whatever it takes to make it stand in "hills" so the quail can burrow in and hide. They also love playing "king of the hill"with it and eating the seed heads they find in it.

 

[Eyeheartquail]

Is this generally during fertile season or all year round that they act like that? Thanks again for all of the advice!

 

[TheRealTimShady]

since they are coturnix, this could happen all year. if it was me, i'd keep 1 male per 4 females, if you havemore then that...find your prettiest male that you want to reproduce and keep him in there, other then that...i'd separate, b/c they will fight. i keep all my males in a separate pen, and only 1 male with all the females.

white coop is for the males.