Introducing Male to females!

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Jun 28, 2013
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Queensland, The sunny side of life.
Hello BYC people! :)

I need some help. I am getting a few female quails off my friend and i am buying an unrelated male from the petshop, After looking for a while i thought i'll try BYC out! So my question is:

Will there be any problems adding a male to females and how should io do it to avoid complications?

I looked around on google etc and couldnt find a website that fit what i was looking for. So can you please help?

Thank you very much!
bun.gif
 
I am new to raising quail myself and the 3:1 ratio is what I have read and what I plan on implementing for my breeding cages.
 
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Introducing birds:

1) Put the females and the male in cages next to each other where they can see and hear each other for a week or two.

2) After this time is up, put the hens in with the male (more into the territory of the few) or if they're in a divided cage then remove the divide so they have all the space between them

3) Watch carefully. There will be some chasing as the sex starved male gets in with the females, but it shouldn't be too serious. If anyone seems to be bullying, remove the bully, not the victim.

The hens may stop laying (if they've started when you introduce them) because of the change, but this should only last a couple of weeks.

a 1:3 ratio might be ok, it depends on the male, if it's a very frisky male then it might cause problems, as having too few females leads to the females going bald where the male pulls out head feathers, but with 3 hens I wouldn't think that the over-mating would be severe enough to cause any real damage, but it will depend on the male.

Hope this helps!
 
Another thing, what type of quail are these? You mentioned a pet shop, are they button quail?

If so it's actually recommended that you keep them in pairs, one male and one female.
If they are coturnix (Japanese, or pharaoh) quail then you can get by with one male to the females, but your females will likely be bald all of the time.

As far as introducing them goes, I agree with Wierdness on the process. Keep them in sight of each other for a week or two. Then introduce them into the cage of the male when you have time to keep an eye on them for a few hours.
If there are any problems pull out the bully and keep that bird in sight of the others for a few more days, sometimes loneliness will make them play nicely but if not you may as well give the bully away.

Good luck and enjoy your quail!
Cheers,
Jessie
 
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Oh, yeah I assumed that they were coturnix, but over here we are told to keep buttons in a 1:3 ratio anyway and we kept ours like that for years and never had a problem, I'm not totally sure what the problem is meant to be, and also I've never read anything online other than here that says buttons should be kept in pairs. I'm not saying you guys are wrong, but there's definitely a difference in information between here and America, and as far as I'm concerned both seem to work fine, I guess it depends on your system a bit too.

But yeah quail species is important :)
 
I add any new birds to my flock at night, about 2 hours after they go to sleep. At sunrise the next morning I feed them even if they already have food. They go crazy for fresh food even when they have food already. I also toss in a handful of greens or grass clippings. I haven't had any bad luck doing this and I have been raising quail for around 25 years. Just watch them carefully the first few days.

King quail is another name used for button quail according to my research.

I know this is a controversial subject, but I have kept buttons in 1:3 groups with no noticeable drop in fertility. However, if you want the hen to hatch her own eggs, you will want to keep them in pairs. Some males actually help the hens set and care for the chicks, others will peck the chicks to death. Just watch the male when the eggs are due to hatch.

Good luck.
 

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