Typical or just unlucky? Quail Roo Aggression

[shrimpsilkies]

Will separating the male out for a few days help at all? I have 2 males currently in seperate cages inside my house (away from each other so they can't hear each other crow) in hopes that they'll calm down and can go back in with their hens but if it's really not going to do anything then maybe I just need to cull them and hope for kinder males in my celadon group.
Like I said, I'm down to these last 3 males of 10.... and 2 are on the naughty list currently

And did we do something wrong? Is it genetics? Should we not buy chicks/eggs from this breeder?

My goal when separating a male is to get the hens to reject him when he returns. Getting pecked and attacked by hens may make him less nasty and he will learn manners. It does not always work.
I don’t really think you guys did anything wrong, from the amount of people who’ve complained about the same issue and my own experience I would say coturnix are just like that. Maybe you can find a local breeder who has tried to produce even tempered birds, or you can try to breed nicer ones. In one hatch I kept only the nicest male and once he became too rough I hatched some of his kids, the only male from that hatch was super gentle with hens. Genetics and luck will eventually get you a redeemable boy.

 

[Urbanhomestead_ut]

My goal when separating a male is to get the hens to reject him when he returns. Getting pecked and attacked by hens may make him less nasty and he will learn manners. It does not always work.

How long should I keep him separate before trying to add him back?

 

[shrimpsilkies]

How long should I keep him separate before trying to add him back?

Maybe several days and then try to put him back. See if the hens resist or if the first thing he does is attack. My male is currently out because he was only mating a single hen (not roughly but just none of the others) and wanted to see if he would forget her, as soon as he went back in three days later all of the hens were chasing him around.

 

[Urbanhomestead_ut]

Maybe several days and then try to put him back. See if the hens resist or if the first thing he does is attack. My male is currently out because he was only mating a single hen (not roughly but just none of the others) and wanted to see if he would forget her, as soon as he went back in three days later all of the hens were chasing him around.

Thank you!

 

[FloorCandy]

This seems like a pretty high level of aggression overall. All last summer I kept a pen of 9 hens and 3 Roos before I could hatch more girls, and they had a couple squabbles, but lots of hiding places kept there from being blood. I’ll get an occasional jerk of either gender, but with the right ratio most coexist without problems. I would consider culling the males.

See how the celadon males are, and in the meantime, look at the setup of your pen. Each bird should be able to have a hiding place. There should also be so run thru options like sewer pipe connectors, cinder blocks, or hides with more than one way in and out. The birds need to be able to break line of sight in a chase, run in one side and out another, and the chaser loses direct sight, and gives up. The girls need places with a tighter fit that they can hide in and the males can’t get on top of them.

I currently have a male who is just a jerk thru and thru. I swapped out so many hens, at first I thought maybe with his siblings, I just had more males than I thought, I put only ones in I had seen another male mating, even if they had a spotted chest- I took them out in case, and he was still being terrible, so maybe he needs some really big experienced hens, then he nearly killed my 2 biggest toughest girls. I would watch him, and he was grabbing the feathers next to their eyes and pulling them down, over and over, like he wanted them to meekly submit or he wouldn’t get on, if they fought back he attacked, scalping and neck puncturing. I put him out in male jail hoping he would learn his lesson, and they voted him prime minister due to his strong arm fear tactics haha. He so beautiful, I can’t bear to cull him, plus he keeps male jail under control. I’m hoping if I intro him to ladies this winter, he will learn to be nice before spring hormones go crazy.

 

[Urbanhomestead_ut]

If I keep more than one male together do I need to have them far away from my other cage? I have a set up with 6 cages and the bottom ones were supposed to be male jail but I'm afraid with them that close to the breeding pens that maybe they'll crow too much and stir things up.

 

[Nabiki]

If you're going to separate your males, they are much less likely to fight if they can't see or hear the females.

 

[FloorCandy]

If I keep more than one male together do I need to have them far away from my other cage? I have a set up with 6 cages and the bottom ones were supposed to be male jail but I'm afraid with them that close to the breeding pens that maybe they'll crow too much and stir things up. View attachment 2612998

Mine can’t see the girls, but they can hear them, and it doesn’t seem to bother them. You can try putting something like a mesh or light cloth in front so they are kept darker, but be sure you still get good air flow.

 

[Urbanhomestead_ut]

This seems like a pretty high level of aggression overall. All last summer I kept a pen of 9 hens and 3 Roos before I could hatch more girls, and they had a couple squabbles, but lots of hiding places kept there from being blood. I’ll get an occasional jerk of either gender, but with the right ratio most coexist without problems. I would consider culling the males.

See how the celadon males are, and in the meantime, look at the setup of your pen. Each bird should be able to have a hiding place. There should also be so run thru options like sewer pipe connectors, cinder blocks, or hides with more than one way in and out. The birds need to be able to break line of sight in a chase, run in one side and out another, and the chaser loses direct sight, and gives up. The girls need places with a tighter fit that they can hide in and the males can’t get on top of them.

I currently have a male who is just a jerk thru and thru. I swapped out so many hens, at first I thought maybe with his siblings, I just had more males than I thought, I put only ones in I had seen another male mating, even if they had a spotted chest- I took them out in case, and he was still being terrible, so maybe he needs some really big experienced hens, then he nearly killed my 2 biggest toughest girls. I would watch him, and he was grabbing the feathers next to their eyes and pulling them down, over and over, like he wanted them to meekly submit or he wouldn’t get on, if they fought back he attacked, scalping and neck puncturing. I put him out in male jail hoping he would learn his lesson, and they voted him prime minister due to his strong arm fear tactics haha. He so beautiful, I can’t bear to cull him, plus he keeps male jail under control. I’m hoping if I intro him to ladies this winter, he will learn to be nice before spring hormones go crazy.

How big of pipe should I buy?

 

[Urbanhomestead_ut]

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