Will coturnix roosters mount another rooster?

[toddpotiphar]

I recently had a very miserable hatch of five coturnix (out of eighty eggs) six and a half weeks ago and am trying to figure out which ones are roosters. I am very certain that at least three of them are roosters, and until this morning I thought that they might all be roosters. (All five are different varieties, so there's no way to compare feathering or colouration.) I've checked the vents on them and they all have pouches that produce foam, but some definitely more than others. Then this morning I saw one rooster mounting (and definitely breeding) another one that I thought was a rooster. Will roosters act that way? Or should this confirm for me that I do have at least one hen?

 

[SunHwaKwon]

Mount? Yes. "Definitely breed" aka touch cloacas, no, I don't think so.

 

[toddpotiphar]

Of course, from my perspective I couldn't see conclusive evidence that that their cloacas touched, but the posture and movement of both birds seemed to indicate so.

 

[HUGHES555]

It a dominance thing, I see it all the time in my all male cages.

 

[toddpotiphar]

That's what I expected, Hughes555. Thanks for the help.

 

[birdmandan]

Maybe the alpha roos enjoy a little brokeback action on the side...

 

[SunHwaKwon]

It a dominance thing, I see it all the time in my all male cages.

I do too, but not with the mountee moving their tail aside like OP implies

 

[HUGHES555]

I do too, but not with the mountee moving their tail aside like OP implies

He never stated that the other roo moved his tail over. Only that 1 mated the other. one can do his part without the other roo moving his tail that's why a lot of the time you will see them doing it over and over. Because he isn't getting to the spot he wants.

 

[Binki]

Sometimes the females can have foam if they've been mated with recently so that way isn't foolproof

Sometimes, if you put a treat they like in there, the males will make a special sound to "tidbit" the treat to the hens, like chicken roosters do, but I've also heard females do this but less often, normally with chicks or if they're the dominant quail hen.

Egg laying time (about 3-5pm for my quail) usually shows the girls pacing, trying to build a nest, panting and/or making their egg laying soft screeches

If you actually see who's crowing, that should be a pretty positive way to identify a male. Sometimes if you take one out and cage it separately, it will either cricket chirp if it's a girl or crow of its a boy (if it wants to be with the other quail).

Hope this helps