Separating Males

[TheLaboratoryBF]

This forum and everyone on it have been so helpful thus far and I have some new questions now that the birds I hatched back in February are starting to approach adulthood...I have four males and four females that will be four weeks old this week so I am starting to plan out when to remove the males for butchering (they are currently all residing together in a hutch). I do plan on keeping one male with my four girls, but would like to remove all males (at least for a few days) to observe behavior as I would like to add the male with the best temperament back into the hutch with the girls. Is this possible, or will the females go after him after being out of the hutch for a while? My current plan is to remove the four males to a separate enclosure a few days before they reach 6 weeks old, observe, and then re-introduce the largest and best behaved male back into the main hutch with the females. The remaining three males will be processed a week or so later. Does this sound feasible or do you have other suggestions?

Edit to add: inquiring about QUAIL

 

[Kessel23]

It is important to me to have cockerels and roosters that are good with the hens. 4 weeks old is too young to do a lot of observing. I would put one cockerel with the 4 hens and observe him then switch them out.

 

[Ebony Rose]

Probably keep them in the same hutch for now and observe how they behave with the group, females and males. When you see them crow, or a male successfully mate, spray his feet with larvicid (bright purple insect larva antiseptic/repellent.) Won't hurt them at all and basically is point and shoot to mark the boys. The dark purple color last weeks, and will give you enough time to decide who's naughty, who's nice... and which roo your hens prefer. Be mindful that it's NORMAL for your roos to pull the feathers off of the back of the heads of your girls while mating, and also, young roosters will "mate" submissive roosters to prove their dominance. So don't be surprised if you see a roo on a roo, they're just working out the pecking order. Since you already have two spaces for quail, have you considered culling only two of the roosters, and setting the second hutch as a backup plan with a hen and rooster pair?

 

[TheLaboratoryBF]

It is important to me to have cockerels and roosters that are good with the hens. 4 weeks old is too young to do a lot of observing. I would put one cockerel with the 4 hens and observe him then switch them out.

I agree, which is why I am planning on doing this in a couple weeks when they're six weeks old. Re-reading my original post, I realize that may not have been clear.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Unless you have Cornish X broilers there will be practically no meat on those cockerels at 7 to 8 weeks old. You can butcher and eat hem, just don't expect much meat.

The biggest issue with your plan on selecting which one that I see is that behaviors change when puberty hits. That's much more evident in the males than females. When they go through puberty the males' hormones hit and the pullets mature later. The males have an instinctive urge to dominate, the pullets don't know what is going on but they don't want to be dominated so they resist. That's usually running away instead of fighting but the boys chase and force. It can be hard to watch them go though puberty but once they mature enough it usually settles down and the flck becomes very peaceful. It's really hard to select by behaviors when they are young.

Another issue is that one will be dominant when they get older. The dominant male suppressed the behaviors of the other cockerels. You can't really tell how a male will behave with mature hens until he is mature and alone with the hens. That's probably way too late for you. It is for me.

Mature hens will sometimes be brutal to immature cockerels. Not always but sometimes. But you will not have mature hens and immature cockerels. Since yours are the same age, his hormones will hit before the pullets' hormones, and he will be bigger than them. Your issue will be that he is forcing them.

Bottom line is that it is really challenging to choose a good one early based on behaviors. I usually wait until 5 to 6 months to choose and I don't always get it right. In your situation I'd probably go with the biggest. That means he is growing faster so he is earlier maturing. I find that the earlier maturing ones usually have a stronger personality so they can win over the females more by force of personality than having to rely on brute force.

 

[TheLaboratoryBF]

Probably keep them in the same hutch for now and observe how they behave with the group, females and males. When you see them crow, or a male successfully mate, spray his feet with larvicid (bright purple insect larva antiseptic/repellent.) Won't hurt them at all and basically is point and shoot to mark the boys. The dark purple color last weeks, and will give you enough time to decide who's naughty, who's nice... and which roo your hens prefer. Be mindful that it's NORMAL for your roos to pull the feathers off of the back of the heads of your girls while mating, and also, young roosters will "mate" submissive roosters to prove their dominance. So don't be surprised if you see a roo on a roo, they're just working out the pecking order. Since you already have two spaces for quail, have you considered culling only two of the roosters, and setting the second hutch as a backup plan with a hen and rooster pair?

They're already feather sexed so I don't need to mark the males to know who's who, but good tip for the future/different varities. My second enclosure isn't a hutch, I am just planning on using my brooder box to house the few males until butcher.

 

[TheLaboratoryBF]

Unless you have Cornish X broilers there will be practically no meat on those cockerels at 7 to 8 weeks old. You can butcher and eat hem, just don't expect much meat.

The biggest issue with your plan on selecting which one that I see is that behaviors change when puberty hits. That's much more evident in the males than females. When they go through puberty the males' hormones hit and the pullets mature later. The males have an instinctive urge to dominate, the pullets don't know what is going on but they don't want to be dominated so they resist. That's usually running away instead of fighting but the boys chase and force. It can be hard to watch them go though puberty but once they mature enough it usually settles down and the flck becomes very peaceful. It's really hard to select by behaviors when they are young.

Another issue is that one will be dominant when they get older. The dominant male suppressed the behaviors of the other cockerels. You can't really tell how a male will behave with mature hens until he is mature and alone with the hens. That's probably way too late for you. It is for me.

Mature hens will sometimes be brutal to immature cockerels. Not always but sometimes. But you will not have mature hens and immature cockerels. Since yours are the same age, his hormones will hit before the pullets' hormones, and he will be bigger than them. Your issue will be that he is forcing them.

Bottom line is that it is really challenging to choose a good one early based on behaviors. I usually wait until 5 to 6 months to choose and I don't always get it right. In your situation I'd probably go with the biggest. That means he is growing faster so he is earlier maturing. I find that the earlier maturing ones usually have a stronger personality so they can win over the females more by force of personality than having to rely on brute force.

These are quail that I'm referring to.

 

[CoturnixComplex]

Yeah, I doubt you'll be able to tell anything about how he treats the hens by putting him in a pen with all males. Following instinct in that case means fighting. Following instinct with the girls means firmly breeding but never being mean or aggressive about it or leaving injuries. You kind of want both in the same bird! I would leave the biggest in with the females and see how he does.

I disagree a little about not being able to tell personality at the 8 week mark (and also about them barely being worth butchering! That's mah main meat supply yo! ), as I haven't really had any make drastic roundabouts in personality past the 2-3 month mark, but it's certainly possible.

 

[CoturnixComplex]

These are quail that I'm referring to.

I missed their first remark! Yes, quail 8 weeks is pretty standard for butcher.

 

[TheLaboratoryBF]

I missed their first remark! Yes, quail 8 weeks is pretty standard for butcher.

Same! No way I'm waiting 5-6 months to butcher my excess males.