We recently got 10 unsexed Bobwhite quail from a local guy who hatched too many. They’re several weeks old now and although they’re still getting their feathers in, it seems we may have 8 males and only 2 females. We would REALLY prefer to not butcher/eat them as we got them for pets and our two toddlers have really fallen in love with them. However, I’ve read that they can get aggressive to the point of killing each other if not properly separated during mating season.
Everywhere advises separating the pairs for mating season (March-October) and then rejoining for the off season, but we aren’t really interested in breeding them at this point. We just wanted the enjoyment of their lives as our pets and maybe getting some eggs.
My question is: can I separate all males into one cage and all (potentially just two) females into another cage? I have experience with chickens, goats and ducks from growing up on a small hobby farm. We used to have to rehome or butcher roosters if we ended up with more than one because they would become aggressive and dual it out to the death. Are bobwhites like this as well? Or can the happily inhabit with the same gender, so long as the opposite gender is not present?
Any advice is appreciated. Also, if anyone has a book recommendation for bobwhite quail, I would love to find one!
Everywhere advises separating the pairs for mating season (March-October) and then rejoining for the off season, but we aren’t really interested in breeding them at this point. We just wanted the enjoyment of their lives as our pets and maybe getting some eggs.
My question is: can I separate all males into one cage and all (potentially just two) females into another cage? I have experience with chickens, goats and ducks from growing up on a small hobby farm. We used to have to rehome or butcher roosters if we ended up with more than one because they would become aggressive and dual it out to the death. Are bobwhites like this as well? Or can the happily inhabit with the same gender, so long as the opposite gender is not present?
Any advice is appreciated. Also, if anyone has a book recommendation for bobwhite quail, I would love to find one!