rooster problems!

[weliveintheforest]

hey all. We're raising quails for the first time, as my daughter's 4h project. We were hoping it would go well and we could continue raising them for eggs.

Problem is the boys! We ended up with ALL males in her batch of chicks and they are driving us absoultely insane. We live in a residential neighbourhood and I'm shocked my neighbours haven't rioted. They're 2 months now and crow all night long. Daytime is no problem but its piercing and loud at night. Worst is around 4am... they stop when it's fully light.

We had them all together because I thought they'd be ok without females to fight over... but they fought. So now I have them all separated. We've been trying to give them away but no takers yet.

So what I'm really getting at - Is this non stop crow battle just normal? Is the night crowing normal? if we hatch some more to try to get a flock of females, do I have any hope of ever being able to grow out the males to a decent size or will I just have to keep giving them away/processing them early? It feels wasteful when I know another month would really make a size difference.

 

[Ebony Rose]

You didn't mention what type of quail, and it matters on how to move forward. Japanese coturnix quail (similar to my avatar, available in a myriad of coloring) need three to eight hens per cock, three for optimal fertility rates. Button quail (which I don't raise) are pretty much monogamous, although I have heard of two hens to one cock having some success. Other quail breeds are out there, but I know little to nothing about them. Have you considered buying quail hens for your cocks, or perhaps chicks (almost always sold straight-run) to get some girls in the flock faster? Japanese coturnix quail are sexually mature between six to nine weeks of age; hatching adds two and a half weeks of delay. You can feather-sex some color varieties by four to six weeks, (tell what gender they are). The pharoah coloring (dark brown with streaks of golden highlights) being the easiest to sex this way. Once your boys are happy with their mating prospects, they typically quiet down dramatically, crowing once, sometimes twice in an evening. Processing quail for the table is usually done at about nine weeks of age as their growth vs feed makes a drastic nosedive. If you need more time to decide, that's okay too, they won't get tough (like chicken can) if you let them age more. There are some excellent videos on youtube regarding the processing of your quail for the table, and I know I've linked a few on these forums in the not so distant past, so you can search for it that way if you want too.

 

[weliveintheforest]

Thanks! They are coturnix. We can't source enough females to make them all happy so I think we will continue with the plan to pass on all but one to a friend who will process them for his own use. My daughtger needs one for the 4H fairs and in the meantime I guess we need to decide whether to get another batch of chicks and take our chances again or what! I will see if I can get him 2 females for company and go from there but it seems like hens are hard to find vs eggs/chicks.

 

[Ebony Rose]

That's because their eggs are in such high demand. He'll over breed just two hens, need at least three. How about... hatch another dozen eggs, assume that 6 or 7 will be male... and go from there then? Your friends will be happy, and your daughter should be too Your lonely cock... he'll be delighted when his girlfriends are about five weeks old (and big enough, although not quite mature enough for mating) are added to his cage. I recommend that you add all the girls at about five weeks of age, all at the same time. It will give the girls the 'strength in numbers' advantage, and let them get to know the cock before they start laying (eliminating the delay in egg laying that can occur when you make changes to flock members or housing). Best of luck in whatever way you decide to move forward.

 

[Kiki]

Where are you located?
I've got eggs if you need some.