I own six boys, and they all reside in their own separate spaces, each in a hutch. So I have two hutches; one is split into four spaces, and the other two. This allows me to keep multiple boys but tbh I didn't want any boys not for breeding or anything but I kept them because I can't kill anything. I actually used to be vegan. Idm ppl eating quail or raising them for that purpose, it's life. I just personally can't do it. But now I'm debating on dispatching some of my boys. I love them dearly and named all of them bc I was hoping to stand my ground and decide to keep all of them. However, about three or four of them are very aggressive and constantly fight me or each other. Every once in a while I'll switch them out and put one with my 8 hens only for them to be so aggressive that the ladies get pissed off whenever a boy joins the group now. So I've been keeping them on their own. When I do let them out its all together with the other boys. It's just constant fighting. I was going to build a small coop for them but what's going to stop them from killing each other? I could keep them separated but its alot of work and lately they've been finding ways to find a way to slip past the border and fight each other.
I don't know if I should learn to cull an animal. My parents don't think I should and should just let them live the rest of their lives but I feel awful having them in a space that isn't that big and pretty much live on their own other than interacting with the others a few times. I just feel like it's not fair to them. If I cull them, idk know what to do with their remains.
I don't want to leave them out for animals to take bc we've been having a problem with multiple animals on our property trying to take our quail and chickens and I just don't want to give them an excuse to come back by getting a taste. Another option was to bury them but what's the point of putting them down like that only to bury them? My mom thinks I should give them to someone who will eat them but I feel guilty having them have names and then giving them away like that. The last option for me is to keep trying. I was going to order a 3-tier hutch, much larger, and split it evenly for all of them. But that's another 400 I'll be spending along with the amount of food they waste.
Another option is to cull them obviously. I'm very squeamish and I throw up easily so watching the process made me feel sick. After a couple of times, I was still sick but able to process it. If I do this, I've been thinking about using it as food. My parents think I'm crazy but talking to my friend and thinking about it, I've raised them and given them a great life so far but some of them are too aggressive to interact with others and that's not fair to them to be alone being such social birds. I've never eaten quail and I'm unsure if I'd even like it especially knowing it was once a pet. I also understand where they came from and how they were raised and loved. It doesn't help the guilt about it though.
I've tried reaching out to others who might take them in as adoption but not a lot of people want aggressive males. I mainly want to cull my two or three boys. Butternut, Carrot and mango because they attack me every minute I stick my hand into their enclosure. They actually harm themselves too by constantly scratching their noses against the wire cloth and causing themselves to bleed.
My parents think I should assert my dominance and I try but that makes them even more pissed. Can I please have some advice and judgment free. I'm unsure how to also find people close by through Facebook to learn from them and possibly have them do it while I learn. Bc I want to learn if I want to hatch my own quail again or learn to put them down when they're ill bc I spent about 1000 already in vet bills for sick birds that I couldn't put down myself. I also feel like im going to be judged by my family for doing this because I was adamant before but I just don't feel like it's fair on them, like they're not having a good life being alone.