What age can I put younger quail in with older quail???

[jfulcher]

I have 1 week old button quail. I am waiting till I can sex them then I want to pair them up with my males(the females to the males of course). And I was wondering if as soon as I can sex them I could pair them up or.....?

 

[snyd08]

quail lady of fort myers or shellyd can answer this a bit better but IMO i would have buttons only in PAIRS and i wouldnt put an older male in with a younger female unless they are both fully mature. my coturnix will kill another one if i put it in their colony (a female only) and she will still get killed if shes a younger one /juvie. i can SOMETIMES get away with putting another adult FEMALE in the colony pens. i only have one male per 5 females mostly and dont like to break that up by adding or subtracting any. my fertility is just fine and mostly get 100% hatches from those colonies.(believe it or not!)

 

[jfulcher]

Then I shall wait till 5-6wks old to put the females I sex out in. Thats maturity I believe for buttons.

 

[Stellar]

Button quail mature around 9-12 weeks of age so I would wait until your weeklings are old enough before introducing them to the bachelors

nasty stuff can happen if they go in at an early stage, including death

when they are old enough you can put the one you want to pair up with in a separate cage next to the one you want to pair up so they can mingle: then you can put him or her in there, stick some meal worms in there for courting behavior.

 

[jfulcher]

Quote:
Oh dear me I wasn't going to try to stick them in now! But yes mealworms are in the near future!!! My lil buttons are going through that awkward stage right now haha!