Sexing silver Coturnix quail...

[Floydie]

My older batch of quail are coming upto 3 weeks old. I have one normal brown 5 Italian (should be easy enough to sex) but I also have a silver. Is there anyway to sex them? I hope to be splitting them up soon so my hens (hopefully) can go outside.

 

[BReeder!]

Vent checking for foam. Search youtube for "quail sexing foam" and you'll find some helpful videos. The only other way is wait for it to crow or not.

 

[Floydie]

That's what I thought, the plan is to move any hens outside. Males or any I'm not sure of will stay in a little longer until I'm sure.

 

[BReeder!]

That's what I thought, the plan is to move any hens outside. Males or any I'm not sure of will stay in a little longer until I'm sure.

If it's a male, he may not crow much without females around and sunlight or artificial light. IME it seems to be an action triggered by hormones. I get plenty of crowing this time of year as the females are wanting to produce eggs and the males' hormones are triggered. I also live in IL where we actually get 4 seasons a year though...

 

[Floydie]

They get plenty of sunlight through the window opposite them. Maybe the little silver one will find its way outside then if I cannot tell. It's everyone's favourite out of this batch anyway. I'll give them another week anyway and then I'll look at them all and see if I can work out what they are.

 

[Quailobsessed]

My older batch of quail are coming upto 3 weeks old. I have one normal brown 5 Italian (should be easy enough to sex) but I also have a silver. Is there anyway to sex them? I hope to be splitting them up soon so my hens (hopefully) can go outside.

Those quails are so adorable. I can already see some females there.

 

[Floydie]

I ended up putting them outside together. I'm still not sure what silver is, but I'm sure I have 3 males. I'll try and get some photos later. They are nearly 4 weeks old. What are the chances of them living together peacefully in this set up? I've read that the males will fight, but husband keeps questioning why they haven't been fighting. I was planning on separating the extra males and culling. Husband doesn't want me to do that.

Edit. The white one is a hen and about a month older.

 

[Quailobsessed]

I ended up putting them outside together. I'm still not sure what silver is, but I'm sure I have 3 males. I'll try and get some photos later. They are nearly 4 weeks old. What are the chances of them living together peacefully in this set up? I've read that the males will fight, but husband keeps questioning why they haven't been fighting. I was planning on separating the extra males and culling. Husband doesn't want me to do that.

Edit. The white one is a hen and about a month older.

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The males won't usually fight when they're young. When they mature, they will most likely start fighting. However, there are cases where males that have been raised together can form good friendships.

I ended up with too many males because I bought four 'females', but three turned out to be males. I was also given a rescue quail that turned out to be a male. But I don't want to cull or sell any of them (I'm too attached to them).

Two of my males, my tuxes, I keep together. They get along well and get upset when they're separated. If I put any females with them, they'll fight and if I put any other males with them, they'll fight. They are also very tame so I free range them.

This doesn't always work out though. I have kept a close eye on them and as long as there's no other japanese quails with them, they're fine.

 

[Floydie]

I think I've got 4 hens. To 3 males and 1 unsure. I'll happily leave them together but at the same time I don't want to go to the shed to be greeted by a blood bath one day. I've also got 5 chicks in the brooder.

 

[Floydie]

I was thinking of moving the 2 Italian males to a cage together before any problems start. That leaves me with 1 normal brown and silver (unsure) with the hens.