Southern California Quail Ranchers

[hosspak]

Let's have a thread for those of us in So Cal who raise, breed, sell or trade quail...

 

[Lewis Farms]

I would like to get into them next year and realize the only way to get good birds is through local breeders. Would like to stay connected.

 

[hosspak]

I would like to get into them next year and realize the only way to get good birds is through local breeders. Would like to stay connected.

Nice, welcome to the thread. Post any questions you have and we will answer them if we can!

 

[Camp Julsby]

Hi Rick!
You know I'm in.

We are loving our quail!

We have four breeding pens that house 5 birds each. In addition to those breeder we have chicks almost ready to sex. Once mature I will cycle those into our breeding pens.

We organically raise our quail for eggs and meat. I processed 8 bachelors just over a week ago it was quite easy to do and they were delicious.

Our first home grown clutch from start to finish goes into lock down tonight. I am looking forward to seeing what hatches from our most recent set.

I have fertile eggs available for sale $3 a dozen and am in the Inland Empire.

I may make a few breeders available for sale once I can determine the sex of our chicks.

Happy New Year !
Julie

 

[hosspak]

From the Crazy H-Bar Ranch;
For those of you who breed... When you have runts who appear healthy but are not growing: Do you; kill, cull. or keep? No judging, thanks!

 

[Camp Julsby]

I answered on Facebook but since not everybody is there. Personally if it is a true runt not just small I cull. I have found that if I baby it through the first few day so I think it can make it, I am usually disappointed when it dies later on. There is a reason it is runted and should not be used in a breeding program if it does make it. My smaller males stay bachelors. If I have extra females which I never seem to I select for the larger bodied as well.
Typically I find my weaker quail chicks will not make it through transition from indoor brooder to garage brooder because they are just not strong enough for the temperature and environment change.
Breeding selectively means you have to be tough or you might pass on your troubles to the next generation.

Julie

 

[Camp Julsby]

Here are a few pictures of our breeder pens. Our neighbor who hatched our first quail for us, built this for us also and it has been an invaluable tool in our Quail raising adventures.

We house our quail in our Garage and because of the lack of natural light we have LCD lights on for them 16 hours a day.


The quad-plex stands tall enough that there is room for some storage below. Hint the quail are little piggies so no open containers or boxes unless you want the filled with food and other quail by products. Most of that moved out from under there when the quail moved in



The interior of a breeding pen/apartment in the quad-plex. It is approximately 2x2. We use poultry nipples attached to a hanging bottles for water and a standard seed cups for feed. I am trying to come up with a better feeding system since Quail love to play in their food and tend to create more wasted food than I prefer. Also note the wire adjoining wall. This open view to the next door apartment make for ease when rotating males for greater genetic influence and diversity. They are not seen as a threat or interloper to their "new girls".



The quad-plex cropped in for a closer view. There are pull out waste trays. We are currently running our breeder pens at a 1:5 Male to female ratio. It seems to be going well.



A view of the floor slant and egg tray. This egg collection system is amazingly easy. Eggs just roll out into the tray.

I am thankful our neighbor had the know how and experience to build this set up for us as it has made our experience quail raising much easier.

 

[hosspak]

From the Crazy H-Bar Ranch;
A couple of weeks ago I recycled this old entertainment center. This is what it looked like when I brought it home...







After a little demo'ing, cleaning and some repainting I added some shelves, backing, and doors.







Wired in a couple of heat lamps for the brooders.


I used peg board backing for ventilation and a mesh floor so the birdies won't have to walk in the muck and poop trays for easy clean up.


Added the door fronts............... Now you can put a "DONE" stamp on this recycled project.


Do you think the birdies like it???









I love it!!!

 

[hosspak]

You are all again cordially invited to the Spring Lake Elsinore, CPP/BYC South meet-up. The date is Saturday, March 28th, and the location will be at Lakepoint Park, at 420 E Lakeshore Dr Lake Elsinore, CA. 92530. Starts at 10am (set up as early as you want, please bring me some donuts and coffee, lol) and goes until dusk or when Susan stops talking lol. There are trees, a playground, restrooms, and a limited amount of picnic tables w/bbq's (3 in the area). Plenty of parking, but will have to make an aprox 100 yard walk. The spot is overlooking the lake and the weather should be perfect. So come one, come all and tell a friend and pack a picnic lunch.
Feel free to add pictures of what you're looking for or what you want to bring. And please share the thread. Any questions, PM me... Thanks...

 

[hosspak]

After a very busy week, yesterday was my Birthday... and I was looking forward to a much needed day of rest and recuperation.... Well it was a good plan! I started the day by replacing the front brake rotors and pads on the truck, after removing all the parts I realized that I was given the wrong rotors and since there was no way to get the correct ones I had to put everything back together so I could get to work tomorrow. With that chore now out of the way (temporarily) I could concentrate on the relaxing and fun part of having a B-Day on a Saturday...or so I thought! Since my favorite son Anthony, who was rudely awakened early to help with the brake job, was still up I thought maybe I (we) could start on a simple project I have been wanting to do with the quail... Did I say "simple" out loud? Please read this story as this is a great educational opportunity for those who are new to raising quail! With the quail condo now complete I (we) began setting up breeding quads, which is now nicely underway, but first we had to play a little game known as "Sex the Quail". As chicken and poultry herders we all know that determining the sex of our little friends can be....let's just say it can be challenging and a bit messy! The Pharaohs were easy if you know what to look for; males have a rust colored breast and the girls have speckled breast, easy peazy! Let's move on to the Tibetans, color won't help with the sexing of these birds so a little investigation is needed. Since this was my (our) first time we were a little nervous (well we really wanted to stop at this point). The investigative part of the endeavor requires that you get a firm grip on your subject and flip them over to get a close look at their underparts. Tip #1; Always point the underparts away from you, preferably towards those who are assisting you (and have no clue as to what is going to happen) Tip #2; DO NOT look directly into the eye! Poultry people know what I mean! Anywho, you need to find the recently evacuated vent (be careful, it appears that multiple evacuations are possible) when you find the vent you will see or not see one thing, a bulge just behind the vent on a male bird. WARNING! You may feel the urge to squeeze the bulge.... Resist the urge to squeeze the bulge!!! But if you can't resist, make sure that your squeamish helper gets a good look at the white foam that emerges, that there is a fingerful of male quail love juice. Females will not have the bulge but they may have some foam emerge if they were recently mounted...Again, make sure the squeamish assistant gets a good look! (Having fun yet Son?) Tip #3; plan to do these projects on your birthday.... now people have to help you!!! In summary, I (we) now have color banded all of the quail and have put breeding quads together (1 male:3 females); we have 3 quads of Pharoahs, 2 quads of A&Ms, 1 quad w/ 1 A&M (Golden Tuxedo) male over 4 Tibetan tuxedo females, and a quad w/ 1 Tibetan male over 3 A&M (Golden Tuxedo) girls. I will be getting a pair of jumbo males soon so I have a question; Can I pair these males with the A&Ms or Pharoahs to get bigger birds or should I wait to pair them with jumbo females??? How do I keep tract of each project hatch in the bator? How long should I keep the quads together? Oy vay, so many new questions...