Sound at night...

[Ebony Rose]

I currently have three breeding pairs of quail (3 males, 3 females), with more females growing up to add to the male/female ratio. Although the roosters 'crow' is loud, it seldom lasts longer than say 10 seconds and is more of a trilling or whistling sound. I seriously doubt that a small covey of quail would cause enough noise for your neighbors to 'catch on' that the noise is coming from your yard, and if by some miracle they DO catch on, bribe them with a few eggs **winks**

Edit to add a youtube of a male quail crowing:

 

[DK newbie]

I currently have three breeding pairs of quail (3 males, 3 females), with more females growing up to add to the male/female ratio.

Sorry to hijack the thread, but how does it work out for you with the breeding pairs? Are the birds OK and how large are their enclosures? I'm considering trying it for a while because I have 4 different colors in males I'd like to hatch chicks from and only 4 females (all are currently with one male)..

 

[Ebony Rose]

I have all six birds in one enclosure with LOTS of room to hide. I do not own a camera, so cannot show you a picture of my set up, but will do the best that I can to describe it. I'm using a 20" depth x 40" width x 18" high, 2-door wire bird cage, very similar to this design but at the dimensions I stated above https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004UK61F4/?tag=backy-20 and inside I put bedding in the deep plastic tray, hardware cloth over that, and then added 'shelves' that typically go in kitchen cupboards to double the capacity (in this case, I put food and water on the shelf) and it makes a nice hidey-hole underneath, pictured here https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0053ES352/?tag=backy-20. I also zip-tied an open-wire trash can to the inside of the cage in a 'lying down' position. Trash can pictured here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01AH488VQ/?tag=backy-20.
I started with 10 quail, turns out 3 were female and 7 males. One male was nearly scalped as they entered puberty; I ate him before infection could set in. The other three males made it to the dinner table based on size and temperament. Bullies, especially those with RAGING hormones (brutal with the other males and females) made it there first. When the smoke cleared, I had three hens, three roos, and as it turns out, the males I have get along with each other AND the hens. I currently have 3 enclosures that aren't being used, so I can move birds around if a problem arises, and another enclosure that is housing 20 3-week old quail chicks. I hope to add more females to my breeding cage, and eat the new roos.

 

[le_bwah]

Sorry to hijack the thread, but how does it work out for you with the breeding pairs? Are the birds OK and how large are their enclosures? I'm considering trying it for a while because I have 4 different colors in males I'd like to hatch chicks from and only 4 females (all are currently with one male)..

1:1 ratios with Coturnix almost never work out—Japanese quail roosters have a lot of "love" to spread around, and they'll do it regardless of how receptive the hen is. To be humane, you'll want more hens before starting a breeding program.

 

[Ebony Rose]

1:1 ratios with Coturnix almost never work out—Japanese quail roosters have a lot of "love" to spread around, and they'll do it regardless of how receptive the hen is. To be humane, you'll want more hens before starting a breeding program.

Totally agree, when I bought the 10, the store ASSURED me that 2 were male, the balance female... Uh huh... didn't work out like that. So I've been scrambling to buy more cages and gear, and more quail to add females to the covey; Eventually want 6-8 hens per rooster, and only one rooster per enclosure. I can already tell that ~at least~ half of the new covey of 20 is male, and they **assured** me that they were ALL females.

 

[Bluemonster107]

I currently have three breeding pairs of quail (3 males, 3 females), with more females growing up to add to the male/female ratio. Although the roosters 'crow' is loud, it seldom lasts longer than say 10 seconds and is more of a trilling or whistling sound. I seriously doubt that a small covey of quail would cause enough noise for your neighbors to 'catch on' that the noise is coming from your yard, and if by some miracle they DO catch on, bribe them with a few eggs **winks**

Edit to add a youtube of a male quail crowing:

I absolutely love the roo sounds the stupid blue jays in our trees our louder!! I say stupid because they are so mean to all the other birds around... big nature bullies!! Lol

 

[CoturnixComplex]

Sorry to hijack the thread, but how does it work out for you with the breeding pairs? Are the birds OK and how large are their enclosures? I'm considering trying it for a while because I have 4 different colors in males I'd like to hatch chicks from and only 4 females (all are currently with one male)..

1:1 ratios with Coturnix almost never work out—Japanese quail roosters have a lot of "love" to spread around, and they'll do it regardless of how receptive the hen is. To be humane, you'll want more hens before starting a breeding program.

I'm the oddball out around here, I have great success with 1:1 and 1:2 ratios. BUT I have.....one two three....twelve separate enclosures to shuffle birds around in. Individual personalities took a LOT of working with before I got pairs that liked each other, kept breeding, kept laying, and had no injuries/little feather loss. You gotta be able to switch your pairs around, those girls have preferences!

Re: crowing, my boys do tend to quiet down when they have 2+ females. They really only yell at me, and at each other.

 

[CoturnixComplex]

I absolutely love the roo sounds the stupid blue jays in our trees our louder!! I say stupid because they are so mean to all the other birds around... big nature bullies!! Lol

The stellars Jay's are also my perfect noise cover.