What's a good strategy for a hobbyist breeding coturnix quail?

[ezeo]

I got my first quail chicks 7 weeks ago. 2 males, 6 females. They were so cute as babies, but about 2 weeks ago the males started fighting. I separated the batch into two cages after one male got an eye pecked out

I thought that would be the end of it, but even though they were in separate cages (one male + 3 hens in each cage) they kept crowing nonstop. I had to move one cage into a bedroom on the other side of the house (the first cage is in the garage). After they couldn't see or hear each other, they finally shut up.

I just started getting eggs and was planning to hatch some of them, but I'm not sure if my two males are unusually noisy and aggressive. If this is abnormal behavior, then I don't want to breed more aggressive chicks. But if it is normal, I don't know how I will handle more males. I can't give everybody their own room in the house.

Questions for those who breed quail: How many males do you keep around, and how do you keep them from crowing and fighting if you have more than one?

I've seen battery cages with lots of quails sitting together so nicely behaved... how do people manage to do that??

 

[ashlierami]

I got my first quail chicks 7 weeks ago. 2 males, 6 females. They were so cute as babies, but about 2 weeks ago the males started fighting. I separated the batch into two cages after one male got an eye pecked out

I thought that would be the end of it, but even though they were in separate cages (one male + 3 hens in each cage) they kept crowing nonstop. I had to move one cage into a bedroom on the other side of the house (the first cage is in the garage). After they couldn't see or hear each other, they finally shut up.

I just started getting eggs and was planning to hatch some of them, but I'm not sure if my two males are unusually noisy and aggressive. If this is abnormal behavior, then I don't want to breed more aggressive chicks. But if it is normal, I don't know how I will handle more males. I can't give everybody their own room in the house.

Questions for those who breed quail: How many males do you keep around, and how do you keep them from crowing and fighting if you have more than one?

I've seen battery cages with lots of quails sitting together so nicely behaved... how do people manage to do that??

I have had quail for about 6 years now. I have never had many just a few. They became pets after time went on. I have had 2 males living together because their hen died and they would crow non stop as soon as the sun came up. I believe they crow to locate their mate or locate the others. Right now I have 2 males with 2 females. One of the males is 6 years old and he no longer mates he just enjoys the view of the hens and lives his life. The other male is younger going on 2 years old and he does pick on the older one if he's close to the girls. I've noticed he crows when he cannot locate his favorite female. She often answers him back and he goes to her. If there are other quails around then naturally they will crow to the others. Fighting will happen just like roosters fighting. I would keep them separate at all times and I think a good ratio is one male to 5 or 6 females but I'm not sure. If you decide to hatch out some you could always sell the males you get. Plenty of people around me buy quail for meat so that could be an option for you. I think the males getting along is just depending on them. The 2 I have get along only because one doesn't mate.

 

[ezeo]

I have had quail for about 6 years now. I have never had many just a few. They became pets after time went on. I have had 2 males living together because their hen died and they would crow non stop as soon as the sun came up. I believe they crow to locate their mate or locate the others. Right now I have 2 males with 2 females. One of the males is 6 years old and he no longer mates he just enjoys the view of the hens and lives his life. The other male is younger going on 2 years old and he does pick on the older one if he's close to the girls. I've noticed he crows when he cannot locate his favorite female. She often answers him back and he goes to her. If there are other quails around then naturally they will crow to the others. Fighting will happen just like roosters fighting. I would keep them separate at all times and I think a good ratio is one male to 5 or 6 females but I'm not sure. If you decide to hatch out some you could always sell the males you get. Plenty of people around me buy quail for meat so that could be an option for you. I think the males getting along is just depending on them. The 2 I have get along only because one doesn't mate.

WOW I didn't know that quail could live for 6 years!

I have had multiple (chicken) roosters in a flock before... if they are raised together, the fighting is not so bad. My male quails were trying to kill each other even though they hatched together

 

[ashlierami]

WOW I didn't know that quail could live for 6 years!

I have had multiple (chicken) roosters in a flock before... if they are raised together, the fighting is not so bad. My male quails were trying to kill each other even though they hatched together

I didn't know it either! He is the favorite and we refer to him as an antique. With proper care I think they can live longer than that! I have an all rooster flock and they fight sometimes but they don't try to kill each other. But I've also had 2 brother roosters that got into a death fight while I was away and luckily I saved them but it was a close one. Maybe it's just dependant on the bird itself. I did have 5 quail but one died 2 days ago. It was a male and he always fought with the make I have now. They would fight deadly and cause injuries and blood everywhere. I always had them apart.

 

[Nathan209]

I got my first quail chicks 7 weeks ago. 2 males, 6 females. They were so cute as babies, but about 2 weeks ago the males started fighting. I separated the batch into two cages after one male got an eye pecked out

I thought that would be the end of it, but even though they were in separate cages (one male + 3 hens in each cage) they kept crowing nonstop. I had to move one cage into a bedroom on the other side of the house (the first cage is in the garage). After they couldn't see or hear each other, they finally shut up.

I just started getting eggs and was planning to hatch some of them, but I'm not sure if my two males are unusually noisy and aggressive. If this is abnormal behavior, then I don't want to breed more aggressive chicks. But if it is normal, I don't know how I will handle more males. I can't give everybody their own room in the house.

Questions for those who breed quail: How many males do you keep around, and how do you keep them from crowing and fighting if you have more than one?

I've seen battery cages with lots of quails sitting together so nicely behaved... how do people manage to do that??

I’ve had coturnix for 15 years now and had a similar problem I added 2 more hens to each cage making it 5-1 and then all that stopped but I got more eggs then I knew wat to do with lol now I have 20 in my big cage 4 males all the rest females it took awhile to get them all to play nice I lost one hen and one male but replaced them and everything is fine for now

 

[Quails andchickens]

I got my first quail chicks 7 weeks ago. 2 males, 6 females. They were so cute as babies, but about 2 weeks ago the males started fighting. I separated the batch into two cages after one male got an eye pecked out

I thought that would be the end of it, but even though they were in separate cages (one male + 3 hens in each cage) they kept crowing nonstop. I had to move one cage into a bedroom on the other side of the house (the first cage is in the garage). After they couldn't see or hear each other, they finally shut up.

I just started getting eggs and was planning to hatch some of them, but I'm not sure if my two males are unusually noisy and aggressive. If this is abnormal behavior, then I don't want to breed more aggressive chicks. But if it is normal, I don't know how I will handle more males. I can't give everybody their own room in the house.

Questions for those who breed quail: How many males do you keep around, and how do you keep them from crowing and fighting if you have more than one?

I've seen battery cages with lots of quails sitting together so nicely behaved... how do people manage to do that??

I’ve had coturnix for 15 years now and had a similar problem I added 2 more hens to each cage making it 5-1 and then all that stopped but I got more eggs then I knew wat to do with lol now I have 20 in my big cage 4 males all the rest females it took awhile to get them all to play nice I lost one hen and one male but replaced them and everything is fine for now

 

[Quails andchickens]

I have bred coturnix quail and some have more pheromones than others in my experiences quail sometime are nice skiddish or crazy if you breed a crazy one with a calm and brave quail then the calm and brave Gene should be domenent but I have a different kind of coturnix quail that lays blue so that's just my experiences.

 

[Quails andchickens]

PS if there are males they need either a 3 by 2 space to get away from each other or a 2 and 1/2 by 1 double decker space double decker works best for me I have 2 males and 2 females and my males will not crow and fight but the smaller male runs from the other instead.

 

[Quails andchickens]

Here are some pics of my setup the two quails with the most white are the boys.

 

[Quails andchickens]

Here is the full coop you can find it online by searching with this image