I came across BYC from an internet search regarding quail injuries. One of my males was bleeding and it was a big concern. Turned out to be a small cut on his toe. I separated him to a quiet place for a couple of days and he's been fine and appears fully recovered. Not sure what the issue was. They are on coated wire that is specifically recommended for quail.
I've been a suburban, small yard gardener since 2017 and back yard chicken mama since mid-2021 with four Cochin bantum girls. Two are regular and two are frizzled. One frizzle lays nearly regular-sized, light blue eggs, which apparently is a bit unusual (the other three lay light brown eggs). The smallest and lowest in the pecking order lays the smallest eggs, and the other two lay more medium-sized eggs, but one is closer to the larger size of the blue ones than the others (the two frizzles are sisters and the other two are sisters, but I was told they were all brooded and hatched naturally together by the two sets of parents). I had no idea chickens were so intelligent, entertaining, trainable and interesting. They've become true pets, which is a good result since my orphaned/adopted lab-mix of 13 years passed of cancer a while back. I've learned a lot in nearly a year of owning these endearing girls. I would like to also find out about fermenting their feed and growing fodder for them in case organic bag feed becomes scarce or unavailable with the current atmosphere of looming shortages of all kinds. I've already had to wait two weeks or longer to get their food, and it's supposedly only coming from about 30 miles away. I had wanted six bantums, but was only able to obtain four to begin with. I would like to add two older pullets at some point, but am not certain if that is possible with such a small established flock. Is that even a good idea or would it upset things too much? I'd like to have more eggs and I'd like to learn about maxing out my flock. My small coop and run could handle six bantums total.
Recently I obtained juvenile jumbo Coturnix quail because the chickens don't lay an egg each daily and we use more eggs than we're getting. They live in a five-section cage—three hens to one rooster. Just yesterday I had 10 eggs for the first time. Up to now, it's been about five per day. Two of the roosters recently became very aggressive and each began over-breeding one of the three hens in their mini family so I have moved them both to a bachelor pad 'condo' together to give the girls a break and to allow the one that was the most severely injured on the head to heal and recover. That one male has protested most loudly that he doesn't like his new living arrangements. He's so aggressive that I am thinking he may need to go to freezer camp. I wouldn't want to breed that aggression into subsequent generations if I end up hatching my own eggs later on to replace older or less productive birds. I am open to suggestions and learning how to best handle these kinds of situations. I thought I should have both males and females in case I decided to eventually incubate eggs for meat birds, but now I wonder if the hens would be better off simply laying infertile eggs for eating until meat birds are needed down the road. Local quality quail have become a challenge to obtain. I do wonder if I could keep the males separated out and put them in occasionally with the hens to fertilize eggs for a time and then remove them again? Or is that not a good idea? I realize they become territorial and I don't want to initiate any fighting. Suggestions?
Also, I was told by a poultry guy that broody bantums make great quail hatchers. After reading an article on this site the other day about keeping chickens well separated from quail for health reasons, I can't help but wonder if that is even possible or prudent? Any suggestions are welcome. Anyone have experience doing that? It certainly sounds plausible. One of my bantums has become broody for the first time in the past few days, so it's definitely a curiosity for me at this point (although I don't think I'm ready right now to deal with quail chicks or growing any out for meat at this point because I still have a lot to learn. But I might be persuaded though if the reasoning is compelling for taking advantage of a broody bantum, especially during a warmer time of year when heat lamps and the like wouldn't be necessary.
Looking forward to many great conversations regarding back yard gardening and poultry, especially in smaller spaces . . .
Here's a quick link to where to post your new thread with your intro info: https://www.backyardchickens.com/forums/new-member-introductions.44/create-thread
I've been a suburban, small yard gardener since 2017 and back yard chicken mama since mid-2021 with four Cochin bantum girls. Two are regular and two are frizzled. One frizzle lays nearly regular-sized, light blue eggs, which apparently is a bit unusual (the other three lay light brown eggs). The smallest and lowest in the pecking order lays the smallest eggs, and the other two lay more medium-sized eggs, but one is closer to the larger size of the blue ones than the others (the two frizzles are sisters and the other two are sisters, but I was told they were all brooded and hatched naturally together by the two sets of parents). I had no idea chickens were so intelligent, entertaining, trainable and interesting. They've become true pets, which is a good result since my orphaned/adopted lab-mix of 13 years passed of cancer a while back. I've learned a lot in nearly a year of owning these endearing girls. I would like to also find out about fermenting their feed and growing fodder for them in case organic bag feed becomes scarce or unavailable with the current atmosphere of looming shortages of all kinds. I've already had to wait two weeks or longer to get their food, and it's supposedly only coming from about 30 miles away. I had wanted six bantums, but was only able to obtain four to begin with. I would like to add two older pullets at some point, but am not certain if that is possible with such a small established flock. Is that even a good idea or would it upset things too much? I'd like to have more eggs and I'd like to learn about maxing out my flock. My small coop and run could handle six bantums total.
Recently I obtained juvenile jumbo Coturnix quail because the chickens don't lay an egg each daily and we use more eggs than we're getting. They live in a five-section cage—three hens to one rooster. Just yesterday I had 10 eggs for the first time. Up to now, it's been about five per day. Two of the roosters recently became very aggressive and each began over-breeding one of the three hens in their mini family so I have moved them both to a bachelor pad 'condo' together to give the girls a break and to allow the one that was the most severely injured on the head to heal and recover. That one male has protested most loudly that he doesn't like his new living arrangements. He's so aggressive that I am thinking he may need to go to freezer camp. I wouldn't want to breed that aggression into subsequent generations if I end up hatching my own eggs later on to replace older or less productive birds. I am open to suggestions and learning how to best handle these kinds of situations. I thought I should have both males and females in case I decided to eventually incubate eggs for meat birds, but now I wonder if the hens would be better off simply laying infertile eggs for eating until meat birds are needed down the road. Local quality quail have become a challenge to obtain. I do wonder if I could keep the males separated out and put them in occasionally with the hens to fertilize eggs for a time and then remove them again? Or is that not a good idea? I realize they become territorial and I don't want to initiate any fighting. Suggestions?
Also, I was told by a poultry guy that broody bantums make great quail hatchers. After reading an article on this site the other day about keeping chickens well separated from quail for health reasons, I can't help but wonder if that is even possible or prudent? Any suggestions are welcome. Anyone have experience doing that? It certainly sounds plausible. One of my bantums has become broody for the first time in the past few days, so it's definitely a curiosity for me at this point (although I don't think I'm ready right now to deal with quail chicks or growing any out for meat at this point because I still have a lot to learn. But I might be persuaded though if the reasoning is compelling for taking advantage of a broody bantum, especially during a warmer time of year when heat lamps and the like wouldn't be necessary.
Looking forward to many great conversations regarding back yard gardening and poultry, especially in smaller spaces . . .
Here's a quick link to where to post your new thread with your intro info: https://www.backyardchickens.com/forums/new-member-introductions.44/create-thread
to have you here with us. Enjoy your time here at BYC!
