New Arrivals (Few toe injury pics for those squeamish)

[Dadanga]

You can have hen bullies too, but males are usually the first to start drawing blood.

Ah I see. Two are sorta cowering so I decided to separate them to heal together in a small 50L tote while the boys that I could see were placed into a 240L tote. I've got some multicolored zip ties and I decided to tag the nice big buff untouched looking male with fluro orange because even with the other males he was exhibiting bullying behavior. One of the males he is with is kinda scrawny that'll live his days out with other males.

Jakes Hens seem happy but I need a tray/scraper for the pallet underneath. It's basically one of those tall aviaries cut down and turned on its head with a mesh bottom. His kids are fun to handle, I forgot they were 4 weeks old so off goes the lamp. A couple in there are starting to crow so I'm trying to be vigilant on the boy in there. I think I'll keep the lines separate but he's definitely going to be one of the roosters I'll keep. Hoping he grows big and fat still.

Although...the injuries to these two seem kinda bad, I do wonder by the time they heal, could they perhaps join Jakes crew and assimilate since they'll be a bit bigger than Jakes crew by at least 4 weeks.

 

[Nabiki]

Those injuries aren't bad at all. They'll heal up in a few days. It's good to separate them now, but if the boys can still see or hear the hens, you may end up with some that are completely scalped. They can and will heal from being scalped, but it's not pretty.

 

[Dadanga]

Those injuries aren't bad at all. They'll heal up in a few days. It's good to separate them now, but if the boys can still see or hear the hens, you may end up with some that are completely scalped. They can and will heal from being scalped, but it's not pretty.

Yeah the scalpings are bad when it happens, they certainly woke me up to the viciousness of the little lemmings. But I love them. Even now listening to them crow every once in a while is pretty cute. I may use the long brooder for the boys but my problem with that is that it's in the tin shed and well with hot days coming I'll need to move it out. Potentially into the garage even with a tower fan blowing over it perhaps.

That way I can just keep using the 240s for the younguns as they are easy to clean/maintain/adapt. The biggest problem with the long brooder is that I need a better drinker system but since it's low enough and on legs I could potentially basically sit a 10L bucket on it with a 4mm tube down to those fancy nipple drinkers. I actually have a bag of 10 but I've just noticed someone else using ones that have like a little square bracket behind it.

 

[Patiocoturnix]

I have been so busy with the garden that aside from a feed/water change I have been neglectful of Jakes crew but one thing I have noticed big time as they approach 4 weeks is the size. They seem to have hit another spurt as most of the feathers on their head fill out. They are adorable little things and I'll probably be shopping for another drinker soon since they are outgrowing their baby drinker.

Seriously thinking about actually butchering my own quail just to try out the meat. I've had Emu before and that was kinda tangy, worked well in a lasagna. I've been watching some processing videos. I suppose at first I'd try to fully butcher then after I would just try the breasts themselves.

I know this post was from Wednesday I just didn’t see it then but I would suggest doing your own meat i like quail meat more then I like chicken meat and even though they are small you still get a pretty good amount of meat.

 

[Dadanga]

I know this post was from Wednesday I just didn’t see it then but I would suggest doing your own meat i like quail meat more then I like chicken meat and even though they are small you still get a pretty good amount of meat.

I want to try it. I'm going to probably use the males especially the white males since I have a feeling there'll be quite a surplus of them. I'm dreading going out to check on the coop today to see the carnage left over.

 

[Patiocoturnix]

I want to try it. I'm going to probably use the males especially the white males since I have a feeling there'll be quite a surplus of them. I'm dreading going out to check on the coop today to see the carnage left over.

Yeah I just did a bunch yesterday and got a good amount of meat probably over 5 pounds.

 

[Dadanga]

Yeah I just did a bunch yesterday and got a good amount of meat probably over 5 pounds.

That's a good haul! How long did it take you to process that amount?

I checked on the 240L tote where the males were being housed and I did notice the aggressive male picking on the sparky chested male and now he has a fresh wound around his eye so...not sure where to go with him. Is some isolation for healing okay? Or should they strictly always have a mate? I could just grab one from the main coop for it to hang out with. Kinda iffy putting him with the other two injured ones because they're still a bit traumatized (is that the word where they kinda just hunker down and not move?)

 

[Patiocoturnix]

That's a good haul! How long did it take you to process that amount?

I checked on the 240L tote where the males were being housed and I did notice the aggressive male picking on the sparky chested male and now he has a fresh wound around his eye so...not sure where to go with him. Is some isolation for healing okay? Or should they strictly always have a mate? I could just grab one from the main coop for it to hang out with. Kinda iffy putting him with the other two injured ones because they're still a bit traumatized (is that the word where they kinda just hunker down and not move?)

I did 16 just a guess on the weight I will weigh them tomorrow but it took me three hours to do all of them.

 

[Dadanga]

I did 16 just a guess on the weight I will weigh them tomorrow but it took me three hours to do all of them.

That's pretty good! I have culled a few before so that doesn't worry me too much it's just I need to get the right scissors although the guy I watched on youtube was just using normal scissors.

We are down to 3 in the tote and with the 3 injured bubbas out into the other smaller tote, it leaves 15 out in the main coop which is...surprisingly quiet and less chaotic. There's way more peace. The one you see in the picture with the fluro orange tag is the aggressive male. He's bigger than his similar colored brother in there and potentially more so than the cream male.

I really need to start getting an accurate count of the girls and boys so I'll start the long laborious process of isolating pairs and watching for eggs. I tried vent sexing before but that went horrible. Could never gauge it right and by that time the birds would of had enough with me looking at their bits.

 

[Patiocoturnix]

That's pretty good! I have culled a few before so that doesn't worry me too much it's just I need to get the right scissors although the guy I watched on youtube was just using normal scissors.

Yeah all you need is a sharp pair of scissors. When I don’t have an incredibly sharp pair I do cervical dislocation to kill them and then I chop thier head of to bleed them.