Coturnix quail... how much cold can they endure?!

[Mrs MIA]

We've been talking a lot about the Coturnix, but never got an actual answer on this. I just built a new pen for my adults to make room inside for the babies... it is 5' wide, 3' deep, and ~ 2' high inside, though the whole pen stands just over 4' tall. It is enclosed on 3 sides (back and sides), with 1" chicken wire across the front and 1/2" hardware cloth on the bottom. I put them out there last night for the first time, and wouldn't you know we'd drop overnight to 44°F.

I have it covered with a tarp right now, because it was raining and I haven't covered the plywood roof yet, and I pulled the tarp down to the bottom of their wire, but left the bottom exposed. So, now you have a mental picture of the pen, now...

how cold can the Coturnix get before I NEED to give them external heat? Can I leave them outside with our extreme lows if I cover their cage with a canvas tarp to cut drafts? I would have to include something to keep the water from freezing, of course, but we routinely get to -30°F for weeks on end in Jan/Feb. Should I just plan on bringing them into the heated garage in the winter? Or can they handle it? I need to start planning now... summer's almost over...

 

[starshrike]

Well, I believe they are native to Japan/Asia/Europe/Australia - though they have really been bred to the max in captivity.. whatever the winter low is, I don't think it's -30F.

I would probably go with the safer side and bring them inside the garage. They also stop laying if it gets too cold or when they get stressed.

I'm lucky in CA, mine can stay outside year round. We drop to only around 30F as lows.

 

[First To Hatch]

Just keep out of cold drafts I plan to put tarp on the cages

 

[Tony K T]

Being that your in Alaska,I'm sure our cold temps are milder then yours.They can climatize if given enough time.In the winter months just cover the entire pen with poly,and close the bottom up so wind can not blow threw.The draft will kill them before cold.It wouldn't hurt to spoil them and bring them inside for the winter months if you fell the need to.
In N.H.,Tony.