lots of questions

ok first of how many quail can i put in a 26 inch long by 16 wide by 11 high cage there all 4 weeks old also what age can i mix chicks with older hens also what do people think of my plans am planning to put my italian hens to a tux cock and my normal hens to a italian cock will 7 hens be ok with 2 italian cocks and at what age should i mix them

Hi Adam,

The legal requirment for housing japanese quail in cages is 160 sq cm per bird. Personally I would double this to 320 sq cm. The cage you have 66x40cm will hold 8 birds, but I'd only put a max of 5 females and one male.

Mixing different "flocks" of birds can be a stressful time for the new comers, I've found it best to mix birds of different ages/sex in a cage that they all have not been in before. Keep them in there for a day or two, then place them into your breeding pens.

Your pairing of different colours together is fine, I've not gone into the colour breeding yet (Project for 2008) so I'm not sure what colours you'll prouduce.I would pair them up as soon as you can,using the above method.
Derek.

thanks al get them mixed together today

Hi Adam,

A bit late - but how did the mixing turn out? A relative put a new young (six week) male in with two adult females and one of them scalped him overnight and he had to be removed. The relative then gave me all three quail and I kept them in two seperate cages right next to each other. After three weeks I put him back with the two females in their cage and after a quick mount on both females they all settled down quietly, much to my relief. I have three chicks a week old and eventually will have to split them between two groups, providing they are all female! Otherwise I will need a new cage.

Ron.

i putthe all together and they where fine no problems for a few weeks then 1 hen got scalped i let her recover and then put her bk in with the others and no more problems av 9 females in with 3 males