Large group communal housing

[speng5]

Hey all, I have coturnix that I am ready to build a new enclosure for, and I'm wondering if i can house them all together. Currently I have 15 quail, 12 hens and 3 roosters. Of the three roosters, one is exceedingly calm and docile, one is the typical rooster quail temperament, and one is a giant a-hole....

My question is, if I were to construct a pen for all of them plus a little more space can they be housed together? I know conventional wisdom here dictates 1 sq ft per bird. The plans I am drawing would be more than that, about 18-22 sq ft depending on what I decide to go with.

Should I think about culling the nasty roo? If i provide enough places to hide for the hens, would 3 roosters to 12 hens be ok? I know 1:4 (simplified) seems rooster-heavy compared to a lot of what I see here.

Just curious the general thoughts on housing them all together as opposed to housing them in 2-3 separate pens.

Thanks, everyone!

 

[Nabiki]

I would cull the nasty roo just because I don't want that trait to be passed on.

I keep mine in 20 square foot pens with 2 males and 10 females. Make sure they have plenty of hiding places, and I think they'll be quite happy. Occasionally I get an aggressive male. He gets invited to dinner and replaced.

 

[scyllarus]

I have an 6x4 (so 24sq ft) cage I keep my birds in. At the most it's held 20 birds comfortably with multiple roos, so I would say you could house your whole covey together without problems. Tips from my experience:

I would definitely have a little extra space for the birds. My birds were a little more stressed with 20-22 in 24ft - nothing major, no plucking or scalping - but when I separated 5 out to give to a family member (the 5 most timid and avoidant), I saw that the covey was a little calmer without them, and they were much happier being separated.

Cull the asshole roo. I've tried multiple times to rehabilitate a mean roo and I've had no success whatsoever. You don't need roos unless you want fertile eggs, so if you're not planning on hatching, then I suggest considering no roos at all. Otherwise, I find that roos tend to amp each other up - an extra roo will increase breeding and aggressive behaviors. Your roos might calm down once you remove the asshole, but they might also become more directly aggressive towards each other since there's, well, only one other competitor. Just keep an eye out - you can always replace a bad roo.

 

[jargon777]

I house varying amounts of 15-20 in a communal pen about 40 sqft (also about 3 roos at any time). I could go more dense, but my setup is a walk-in aviary style so I find it feels crowded to walk around when there's too many birds.

Usually things work out fine once everyone settles in. I would say one issue with communal housing sometimes I have seen that things can get out of hand quickly, esp. as it get more dense. I lost a hen once when adding new members because they all ganged up on her. The extra space does work well for them to hide though if you add things (I have logs and sticks).

If they have not been communally housed before, you may find that the roos fight each other, especially at first. Some of my roos are particularly defensive about any new birds being added, particularly now that winter is done.