Quails

Help! Sexing quail

Member

Hi, I've recently bought 60 quail- I had asked for 50 hens and 10 cocks. When the guy was putting them into boxes for me he was turning them upside down to check the sex or just looking at there chest to see whether they were speckled or not. I've got them home and they are settling in well but i've noticed that some of the "hens" are calling.

female quail Male-quail

Please excuse my naivity but is it like in chickens where only the males call (crow)?? I paid for them believing they were hens and obviously I dont want to have too many males in with the remaining hens.
You can tell the gender from the chest of the quail. One way to determine the gender of a Coturnix quail is to look at the colour of the plumage on the breast. Male Coturnix quail have a red tinge to their breast plumage.Female Coturnix quail have a creamy breast plumage dappled with more brown flecks.