Male or Female?

[CarleeG]

Really struggling with sexing my 4 quail. They are not ones that can be determined by color. One for sure is male, it is mounting everyone and crowing. Two of the other ones are crowing as well. Only one is not crowing so hoping it’s a female. The venting has not been going well. I guess I didn’t hold them enough as chicks because they are not having it. Thought I got foam from one but it wasn’t the white I’ve seen, it was more grayish. One of them seemed to have a bump under the vent. I thought the crowing was a sure sign but I’ve read some people have crowing females. Help!?

 

[Ratchnick]

Any eggs yet?

 

[CarleeG]

Any eggs yet?

No not yet. Almost 6 weeks old

 

[Rooapalooza]

Do you only have 4 quail? It sounds like you have 3 males and 1 potential female. I had a similar situation with more males than females and didn't get any eggs until I removed the males from the pen. They were stressing the females too much. At most you want one male with one female, but I think the preferred ratio is more like 1 male per 4 females. Also you need to separate the males from each other because even with a lot of space they will beat each other up pretty bad.

 

[Quailobsessed]

I had that situation once where I bought four 'females' and ended up with one female and three males. The hen paired up with one of the males and they got along well and the other two males got along fine as long as there were no hens with them.

Crowing is generally a pretty good sign that they're males and I find once they crow they start to act more like males and you can tell pretty easily. So look out for crowing and the male behaviours to go with it.

 

[CarleeG]

Do you only have 4 quail? It sounds like you have 3 males and 1 potential female. I had a similar situation with more males than females and didn't get any eggs until I removed the males from the pen. They were stressing the females too much. At most you want one male with one female, but I think the preferred ratio is more like 1 male per 4 females. Also you need to separate the males from each other because even with a lot of space they will beat each other up pretty bad.

Yes I was going to separate as soon as I knew what was what. Raised from eggs.

 

[CarleeG]

I had that situation once where I bought four 'females' and ended up with one female and three males. The hen paired up with one of the males and they got along well and the other two males got along fine as long as there were no hens with them.

Crowing is generally a pretty good sign that they're males and I find once they crow they start to act more like males and you can tell pretty easily. So look out for crowing and the male behaviours to go with it.

Thank you! I was finally able to get some foam from two of them and the other one is definitely male due to behavior. Is it best to pair the one hen with the male that she seems to prefer or would it be upsetting to her to pair her with the male I thought was the prettiest (for future breeding). Also I do plan on adding more hens for the record.

 

[Rooapalooza]

Thank you! I was finally able to get some foam from two of them and the other one is definitely male due to behavior. Is it best to pair the one hen with the male that she seems to prefer or would it be upsetting to her to pair her with the male I thought was the prettiest (for future breeding). Also I do plan on adding more hens for the record.

I paired a random female and male and they don't get along that well. They stay on opposite sides of the pen. In my pen with multiple females and males, there are very clear partners.

I would pair her with her preferred mate, and get another female for your pretty male. But I'm a romantic lol.

I used to have a pen with just boys. They got along fine for a while, but when the weather warmed up they started really beating each other up, especially on their heads.

 

[CarleeG]

I paired a random female and male and they don't get along that well. They stay on opposite sides of the pen. In my pen with multiple females and males, there are very clear partners.

I would pair her with her preferred mate, and get another female for your pretty male. But I'm a romantic lol.

I used to have a pen with just boys. They got along fine for a while, but when the weather warmed up they started really beating each other up, especially on their heads.

Thank you, good to know. Her and her man have been peas in a pod since they hatched even with the other birds around (Their names are Henneth Paltrow and Bandit for reference). I tried to separate her with Cluck Norris and they both cried out to each other until I returned her to him. I will keep them together for sure.

 

[Selene uwu]

Really struggling with sexing my 4 quail. They are not ones that can be determined by color. One for sure is male, it is mounting everyone and crowing. Two of the other ones are crowing as well. Only one is not crowing so hoping it’s a female. The venting has not been going well. I guess I didn’t hold them enough as chicks because they are not having it. Thought I got foam from one but it wasn’t the white I’ve seen, it was more grayish. One of them seemed to have a bump under the vent. I thought the crowing was a sure sign but I’ve read some people have crowing females. Help!?

I sexed my quail by flipping them over and checking near their cloaca. Of there was a bump and when you lightly press near there white foam came out they are male, females would have neither a bump nor white foam. That was how I sexed my Japanese Quail anyways.