Introducing new quail

[Amina]

I'm trying to figure out the best way of introducing new coturnix quail, given my situation. I have an 8'x8' aviary with a partition so that I have one adult male and one adult female in a 6'x8' space, and one spare adult male by himself in the remaining 2'x8' space.

I also have some 4 week old quail - 2 hens and 3 roos, that are currently in the brooder and I'd like them to go outside. I want to cull the young roos in a few more weeks, and I want the 2 young hens to ultimately join the pair of older quail in the bigger part of the aviary.

In addition to the aviary, I have an unused 4'x3' cage, and an unused 3'x2' cage. What would you guys recommend that I do, to avoid bloodshed? Coturnix quail can sure be vicious little things!

 

[Irajoe]

In your climate you should be fine moving the 4 week olds outside at this time of year...just provide a low wattage bulb for additional heat for a week or so should they need it...doubtful though. I'd put the 2 young hens and the pair of older quail together in the 4x3 cage for a couple of days and then release them together into the aviary. The older quail will have forgotten the aviary by then and less likely to be possessive of the space. Generally, I don't have problems introducing females...but always good to take the precaution. I'd keep the 3 roos separated from the process as much as possible...leaving them in the brooder in a separate space until ready to cull.

 

[JaeG]

If the new females are only 4 weeks old they are no where near sexually mature. Despite this your male will try and mate with them which could lead to them getting injured as they won't have a clue what to do and he will more than likely persue them relentlessly. You could put them in a smaller cage in the aviary so that everyone can get used to each other with a wire barrier to keep the new girls safe and once they are laying you could try releasing them. As long as they have lots of hiding places to get away from the male you should be fine. Just be aware that sometimes they just don't like each other, but in a big aviary this is less of a problem. Good luck!

 

[Amina]

Thanks guys!

So far I've had quail get scalped several times in a cage setup. Those were from the same cohort, with what everyone told me should be adequate space, so I really wasn't expecting it. So I'm really nervous about introducing newbies!

 

[JaeG]

I know what you mean. I tried to combine two groups of girls and had to remove one as she was beating everyone else up and being very aggressive. They are sweet birds but get the dynamics wrong and they are trouble!

You should be able to tell if the adults are ok with the newbies. It may take a few days. If anyone's going to be trouble it'll probably be your older female. Listen out for angry chattering from her. Hopefully that will lessen as she gets used to them. I'd leave the young ones caged in the aviary for at least two weeks so they can all get used to one another and hopefully work out their differences. Maybe rearrange things a bit before you release the young ones. Give them hiding places, pieces of wood to hide behind, pot plants, just to break up the lines of sight. Fingers crossed it all goes to plan.

 

[Tikvah146]

I know what you mean. I tried to combine two groups of girls and had to remove one as she was beating everyone else up and being very aggressive. They are sweet birds but get the dynamics wrong and they are trouble!

You should be able to tell if the adults are ok with the newbies. It may take a few days. If anyone's going to be trouble it'll probably be your older female. Listen out for angry chattering from her. Hopefully that will lessen as she gets used to them. I'd leave the young ones caged in the aviary for at least two weeks so they can all get used to one another and hopefully work out their differences. Maybe rearrange things a bit before you release the young ones. Give them hiding places, pieces of wood to hide behind, pot plants, just to break up the lines of sight. Fingers crossed it all goes to plan.

hi I finished my new quail house a few weeks ago and put 5 female in there. When I wanted to add 7 new 5 week old babes I divided the house in 2 by sliding a sheet of Perspex into the house so they could see one another but not get to each other. There was a gap at the top of the Perspex of about 6 inches and next day 3 adults had flown over. I pulled out the Perspex and haven't had any problems, no fighting. I've since added a male and 2 more females again with no problems. The male went crazy with all these females around but the females taught him some manners (gave him a bloody nose)and he's much more of a gentleman. I was worried there would be fighting and checked regularly but so far its been good.

 

[Amina]

I'm glad it worked out for you, Tikvah146!