Quail behavior

[Maka]

Hello!

I am a novice to quail raising but love it. I have a small flock but I am starting to raise larger flocks to butcher.

About 2 months ago I was at my local feed store and they were selling a bonded pair of quail one male and one female . They have been integrated into the rest of my flock to roam freely for about 3 weeks. This includes 8 other birds and a second male that she is not bonded with.

Typically you should not keep a single female with a male. As it can lead to issues and this is why I bought them from the feed store so they would have a larger flock to be with.

This male that was bonded with her still primarily picks on her to breed with and it has been rough she had a cloacal prolapse due to him mating her all the time despite having many other ladies to mate with. (Don’t worry she is all healed now)

But this males behavior is just rough. I want to butcher him as he is causing issues to this female quail but because they have been raised together I wonder if it would harm her in the process to take him away from her?

I’m just worried because he will keep this behavior and it will kill her if he continues to over mate her or cause more prolapse and that can also kill her if it’s not caught in time.

Let me know your thoughts, I’m conflicted.

 

[ChattermaxQuail]

If you want to eat them both, then a dead quail wouldn't be good . . .
I once had a flock that halved in size after I removed three extra roosters.
If it's possible to have the girl with any other hens, that would be great. Otherwise, I wouldn't reccomend having her by herself. She will get lonely and sad

 

[Maka]

If you want to eat them both, then a dead quail wouldn't be good . . .
I once had a flock that halved in size after I removed three extra roosters.
If it's possible to have the girl with any other hens, that would be great. Otherwise, I wouldn't reccomend having her by herself. She will get lonely and sad

She is with a whole other flock when I bought them they came as a pair. But now she has a whole other group to hang with this includes another male as well

 

[Maka]

If you want to eat them both, then a dead quail wouldn't be good . . .
I once had a flock that halved in size after I removed three extra roosters.
If it's possible to have the girl with any other hens, that would be great. Otherwise, I wouldn't reccomend having her by herself. She will get lonely and sad

I just basically wanted to know if butchering the male she grew up with and was bonded with previously would upset her and she would try to find him or die or a broken heart.

 

[Nabiki]

Prolapse is unlikely to be caused by over breeding. Do they have enough calcium?

If the male is being aggressive, though, I would cull him. She will be okay since she has plenty of company.

 

[Maka]

Prolapse is unlikely to be caused by over breeding. Do they have enough calcium?

If the male is being aggressive, though, I would cull him. She will be okay since she has plenty of company.

Yes they get a great diet! And you’d be surprised. Since they were only two together it’s a greater possibility than you think.

She is the only one with this issue unfortunately.

 

[Nabiki]

Yes they get a great diet! And you’d be surprised. Since they were only two together it’s a greater possibility than you think.

She is the only one with this issue unfortunately.

Breeding is done by a "cloacal kiss", so I'm not sure how that could cause prolapse. Common causes of prolapse are insufficient calcium or over large eggs. There is some evidence that too much light and age can also be factors in prolapse.

 

[ChattermaxQuail]

I just basically wanted to know if butchering the male she grew up with and was bonded with previously would upset her and she would try to find him or die or a broken heart.

She won't die of broken heart. Does she hang out with the others? If so, she'll be fine.

 

[Maka]

Breeding is done by a "cloacal kiss", so I'm not sure how that could cause prolapse. Common causes of prolapse are insufficient calcium or over large eggs. There is some evidence that too much light and age can also be factors in prolapse.

Thanks for the info!

This is what I have noticed in only her unfortunately.

She is very young. And it’s winter so they are not laying much right now due to lack of daylight and the colder months.

The over breeding is a contributor to the prolapse (confirmed by avian vet)

I have tried to contribute it to anything else as I wanted to keep my hen to male ratio what it is right now.

The bottom line is she is taken care of and the male who over breeds on her will be culled and she will have gals to hang with!