JMF said "QUAIL FACT THREAD"

[sniper338]

I haven't seen a thread for this, but I think it is a great one to start for anyone seeking info on quail. I have learned a TON of information from this man, and look up to them for guidance in the quail world. As many of us know Robby at James Marie Farms is one of the most knowledgeable people when it comes to quail. His extensive knowledge needs to be put in a book, but he hasn't gotten around to that yet. This thread shall be dedicated to information given by Robby or James Marie Farms only!

Please share any information/FACTS that you receive from James Marie Farms when you contact them. DO NOT ADD YOUR OWN OPINIONS OR THOUGHTS - AS THIS IS A FACT BASED THREAD SOLEY FOR INFORMATION GIVEN BY JMF.

Lets face it, at any rate, the man knows more than any of us hobbiest will ever know in out life time about quail.. A point that was made to me, is anyone that has 2,000 or more quail at any given time has a full time job and does not have the time to get on a forum to answer everyones questions... So here is the thread to consolidate all the factual information.

 

[sniper338]

ROBBY SAID:

When chicks are hatched I need to keep my heating element in my brooder at the 95 degree mark under the heating element, but they need space to be able to get away from the heat to cool down. The more they grow up the less heat they will need.

DO NOT USE MEDICATED FEED! - Robby said use the Purina startena game bird feed that is 30% protein for chicks. For the first week you can ground this feed up to make it a little smaller crumbles, but after a week the crumbles should be plenty small enough to feed them.

Start the chicks out from day one on this feed. Robby stated that changing from a different feed, or changing feeds in general will mess up the birds tummies and you will see loose poop until they get adjusted to a new feed. This changing the feed can make them sick and potentially kill them.

Chicks and water - When changing out the water for chicks you need to use warm water that is about the same tempature as your brooder. (probably 90 -95 degrees) The reason for this is to keep the body tempatures the same in the chicks after they drink the water. If you give the chicks cool or cold water in the brooder - their body temp is 95 degrees or so and the cooler water chills their bodies - thus bringing down their body tempature too much and killing them. so cool or cold water is a NO NO! As in my case I did that and he said that is the reason my chicks that died died under the heat, it was because after drinking the water they were too cold and went to warm up, but they got chilled to bad and died. WARM WATER ONLY - once the water stays in the brooder it will stay at the same tempature as the brooder anyways so it will stay warmer.

Breeding stock - only use eggs for incubating that come after the quail are 12 weeks old. This way the quail is fully mature. EVEN though you get eggs from the quail before the 12 week mark they are not suitable for incubating. The longer than a quail hen holds off on laying eggs the better because the bird is able to mature some more - these hens that dont start laying until 10 weeks or so versus 6 weeks are better breeders. Begin replacing your breeder birds with new offspring at 9 months. Then you shall butcher your breeders at 12 months of age. Your breeders will lay the best eggs during this time frame... (example - I have my chicks im raising now for breeders - they grow up - start laying - they are my breeders for 9 months for new chick hatching and eating eggs - at the 9 month mark start incubating your replacement breeders, - by the time the original breeders are 12 months of age they should be full replaced and ready to be butchered).

Do not cross breed or interbreed

Coturnix quail - it is said that they really need 1 sqft per bird or more - this is not true - robby words - "If this was true I would have 30 more acres at my facility under construction to house all the birds that we have!"

I told robby I have the GQF 5 cage stack breeding pens that I am keeping my quail in.. He states, yes those are very well contructed great pens to have - within each of the 24inX10in cage he would keep about 3 quail in each pen and that is the perfect amount of space for meat bird production/breeding coturnix birds.

 

[TwoCrows]

Robbie is GOD when it comes to raising quail.

He has devoted his life to raising quail. So he IS the man to go to for the info AND the birds.

Sniper, this is an excellent thread for this info and should be kept alive. Getting these babies to adulthood can be difficult until one has raised enough of them have the kinks worked out.

Very well said and thanks for sharing!!

 

[marksouth]

I haven't seen a thread for this, but I think it is a great one to start for anyone seeking info on quail. I have learned a TON of information from this man, and look up to them for guidance in the quail world.  As many of us know Robbie at James Marie Farms is one of the most knowledgeable people when it comes to quail.  His extensive knowledge needs to be put in a book, but he hasn't gotten around to that yet.  This thread shall be dedicated to information given by Robbie or James Marie Farms only!

Please share any information/FACTS that you receive from James Marie Farms when you contact them.  [COLOR=FF0000]DO NOT ADD YOUR OWN OPINIONS OR THOUGHTS - AS THIS IS A FACT BASED THREAD SOLEY FOR INFORMATION GIVEN BY JMF.[/COLOR] 

Lets face it, at any rate, the man knows more than any of us hobbiest will ever know in out life time about quail..  A point that was made to me, is anyone that has 2,000 or more quail at any given time has a full time job and does not have the time to get on a forum to answer everyones questions...  So here is the thread to consolidate all the factual information.

FYI he spells his name Robby. But robbie or robby he is the man for quail. Wish he would write a book but this thread is the next best thing since he is so busy. Thanks for starting this sniper, long overdue!

 

[Hope It]

Robby said about breeding/raising Texas A&M quail: only breed/keep all white quail or those that have a dot on their head. If there are any with dots on the back or tail - they should be an automatic cull, as that is a sign of resession (degrading down in size and purity, so to speak, of that breed).

 

[Hope It]

Robby also said: you should introduce new blood into your line about every 2 years. Until then, you can just keep breeding from the same line.

Side note: he apparently keeps track of what blood line eggs you purchased, so you don't have to hunt down another breeder to freshen up your blood line. James Marie Farms can get you new bloodline eggs because they keep record of which blood line they sold you even if it was years ago. That's awesome!

 

[gmcstreak]

Out standing information !!!! Keep it coming - If can ever get Robby on the phone, I'm going to get some eggs. What is this best time to call.

 

[Tammy N]

ROBBY SAID " ONLY USE CLEAR BULBS and Not Tinted as the tinted bulbs can Kill your Babies

 

[gmcstreak]

Only use clear and not tinted bulbs. So red and blue light or out, I have never heard this before. I've seen on you-to, Robby chicks under red light but also under clear is well.

 

[Tammy N]

I know what he told me there are clear bulbs and there are tinted and coated bulbs

Robby told me ONLY use the clear