Bob white quail thread!!

[Jharper]

Anybody with bob whites or bob white mixes are welcome! I have just set 120 bob white quail eggs in my incubator due the 10th of September. If there is already a thread please let me know. It's been about 8 years since I last raised quail. It's such an exciting experience. I used to have pharaoh quail. So have fun with the thread!

 

[chrishw]

I hope your ready for 118 to hatch! Lol, I wasn't quite expecting such a high rate myself and now have too many quail says my wife ( I don't think its too many but...)

I just switched mine to starter/grower from the dumar starter. Its a bit low on the protein say the experts, but all that's available here and lots of quail been raised on it!

 

[Jharper]

Hello there... I am raising bobwhites also,we started off with 20 baby's over time we ended up with 10 hens a 4 bobs.... Now we have 20 hens and 8 males, i just sold a bunch of 4 week olds, I started setting bout 120 eggs at a time I have some due for lock down on Wednesday and some sep. 10th
Small set up but we are having a great time!!
Great thread

Mine are due September the 10th, too!

 

[MrBobWhite]

They breed and lay eggs just like the rest.

 

[jsdobson]

I raise birds in large numbers. I hatched 1700 about 4 weeks ago loosing bird during the first two weeks is common it doesn't mean your doing anthing wrong about 10 percent is average

 

[Jharper]

Yes, but the kudzu is so bad, they would get really tangled up.  We have been tossing things up in the kudzu near where we have been hearing rustling, but nothing has come out.  It is the railroad property and the hill is covered in the cinder and kudzu and is about an 75 - 80 degree angle.  Very hard to climb.

Okay, yeah that sounds a little difficult to get into. Maybe he'll come out.

 

[dc3085]

I think she just means they are pretty birds. Snowflakes are easy to sex like all bobwhites are but you can't sex them until the molt into their adult feathers. It takes a few months before they molt into feathers you can sex them by.

Here is a link on sexing and aging bobwhites. The same rules that apply to northerns apply to snowflakes regarding autosexing.

http://agrilife.org/texnatwildlife/files/2010/09/A074.pdf

 

[azer]

Put them in a sick cage away from the rest of your fowl...

 

[firestomp]

HELP WANTED

I am trying the catfish food, starter food mix for my young quail so I am getting at a 50/50 ratio, and getting a 29% protein mix.(TSC will not get the 30% protein game bird feed any more. It was very expensive $30+ a bag, so it wasn't moving) I also add, crushed oyster shell (ninja ground it to dust) and chick grit. They also have a dusting box with sand and dirt, so they can get larger grit as needed.
Here's MY QUESTION, Does anyone have an idea or plans to break the food down to smaller pieces instead of powder? I am thinking of welding up 2 pipes with pins, placing them close together to BREAK the feed not powder it. Would be simple to make. Any ideas out there would be helpful. The quail are doing great on this mostly crushed mix. Seems like a bit coarser mix would be better. Maybe I am over thinking this to much.
The things you can buy to do this are so pricey and I am making small amounts 10 lbs. at a time to keep it fresh. lasts quite a while with the birds I have now.

 

[QuirkyQuail2]

I'm not sure about Georgia Giant specifically as I raise Butler bobs myself but according to a controlled study done by Susannah L. Clary of Manzano Valley Pheasantry and published in American Pheasant and Waterfowl Society a ratio of 1 male: 2 females gave the highest fertility in the common bobwhite quail.

Link to pdf file of study results: http://home.earthlink.net/~mhclary/SLC Bobwhite Quail 2000.pdf

However, since I personally use a colony setup rather than breeding pens I am currently running a 1:3 ratio to reduce competition among the males (less fighting) and also less pressure on the females but also acknowledging that I may not get the highest fertility rate. But others have had success in a colony with both 1:2 and 1:4 ratios so a lot probably depends on your pen setup too.