Newbie needing help!!!

[kuchchicks]

I have had chickens for 7 years and hatch on a regular basis. 6 weeks ago i was given 2 quail eggs (Coturnix) that hatched. I then hatched 2 more a week ago. I think they are really cute and had thought i would just keep them as pets. Unfortunately i knew nothing about them and now feel foolish for not researching a little more.

I have 2 questions now for this pickle ive gotten myself into. First, will i be able to introduce the older pair to the younger pair like i can with chickens or is that a bad idea? Second....and this is the one im worried about the most....i had thought i would be able to house them with my silkies but just found out they cannot live with chickens because of disease...i am now going to build a separate coop for them but am wondering how far they have to be from my chickens?

 

[bekaboom]

I wouldn't stress so much! I jumped in too and learned as I was going. Coturnix can't fly very well. It's not like raising bobwhites or something. So like others said, a rabbit cage is perfect. They don't need a lot of room either. You could keep these things on your porch or deck or balcony. It's all good! Buy or build a couple small rabbit pens and you have it! And yes, change out your shoes and wash your hands before going from chicken to quail to prevent disease from spreading. But it's truly not hard to raise the guys. I'm telling you from experience, you'll be fine. (As a side note, never ever jump into ringneck pheasants. They are adorable as babies too. But you will really kick yourself for not knowing what you're getting into!! Ha ha!!) But you'll be fine with the coturnx!

 

[shortgrass]

I am really so upset with myself over this situation.  I am not normally one to jump into something without researching it completely.  In this situation I was getting chicken eggs to hatch, saw these little quail eggs, and thought "what the heck?  I'll give it a try".  Then when these babies hatched I fell in love.  I really want to keep them (I don't see myself getting anymore quail, but I really love the 4 I have).  But the more I look around my property I am not sure how I am going to pull this off.  I don't really have an area that I can put another coop any substantial distance from my chickens... so then I wonder if my keeping these sweet little birds is selfish.  I don't want either flock to become ill.  I am a huge animal person and want what is best for them.

Don't be too hard on yourself; the SAME thing happens to more people on here than you realize lol... That's exactly how I happened upon 34 quail eggs, with NO idea what they were about, other than they sang the sweetest little songs and would sometimes catch them running through the yard....

I thought I needed an incubator..." Oh look, I can do quail eggs!"....etc etc etc

No clue. Luckily, I had 23 days to ead, read, READ, and read.... Lots of posts on here, lots of Wikipedia ha-ha.... kingmt just walked me through my first hatch

Just read all you can, if you feel like you're overloaded, you probably are... The disease vector is most definitely a concern for EVERYone that has quail and chicken in the same vicinity... Cleanliness, preparation... Being UPWIND from the coop... All in planning small details.

I'm obsessive about plans..plan plan plan, redo it, make mistakes, and learn. Plan got thwarted by "cute" lol

I'm new at this too lol, you are most definitely not alone! I wish you the best

 

[JaeG]

Fermenting is easy. Glass is best to do it in, preferably in something that has a lid, but cling wrap can be put over the top in place of a lid.

You add their food and then water (un-chlorinated) - the water level should be well above the level of the food as the food will absorb some and, once it has done this there still needs to be a couple of inches of water above the food. The food will expand a lot so leave room in your jar to allow for this. In a warm place it may only take 24 hours to start to bubble. That is the lactic acid (that is naturally in the air around us) beginning to do its magic. It should smell slightly sour, like the sourness of unsweetened yoghurt. It should never smell bad or of alcohol.

Tip some into a sieve and drain off the excess liquid until it's a soupy (but not too runny) mash. The quail will eat less as opposed to dry food as the lactic acid starts to break down the food making the nutrients in it more readily available.

Here is a link to a fantastic site explaining the ins and outs of fermenting feed (for chickens but it's exactly the same for quail).
http://naturalchickenkeeping.blogspot.co.nz/p/fermented-feed.html

Our quail get handled daily by our children - they will pick them up for a minute and my daughter delights in showing them off to whoever comes over! We have a white hen called Noelle who we hatched ourselves and she is just the sweetest little thing who doesn't seem to mind being held. Handling them as babies does seem to help with this. If they are in with a boy, like chickens, they will start to squat when you go to grab them - even our boy does this!

 

[Sill]

I have had chickens for 7 years and hatch on a regular basis. 6 weeks ago i was given 2 quail eggs (Coturnix) that hatched. I then hatched 2 more a week ago. I think they are really cute and had thought i would just keep them as pets. Unfortunately i knew nothing about them and now feel foolish for not researching a little more.

I have 2 questions now for this pickle ive gotten myself into. First, will i be able to introduce the older pair to the younger pair like i can with chickens or is that a bad idea? Second....and this is the one im worried about the most....i had thought i would be able to house them with my silkies but just found out they cannot live with chickens because of disease...i am now going to build a separate coop for them but am wondering how far they have to be from my chickens?

It's usually bad to house different sized chicks together. The younger ones will get picked on, injured and maybe killed. Introduce them when they are the same size. If you can house them so they can see each other you will be one step ahead as they will be familiar with each other. When you finally put them together do so in an enclosure that is new to all of them. However if there is a roo in each group all bets are off, they will certainly fight. Unless they are raised together don't house roosters together. Do you know the sexes of the quail you have?

Keep your quail as far from your chickens as you can within reason for your property. If you can get them 20 feet apart do so, but if you can only get them ten feet apart that is what you will have to do. Just make sure to service your quail enclosures before doing anything with the chickens each day and make sure to wash hands well after doing chicken chores. If you have to pass areas where the chickens have been and you must go into the quail enclosure you will want to at least change your shoes. It's best to have your set up so that you do not have to cross contaminate your quail area with your chicken area so it just depends on how you have your birds set up. Make sense?

 

[shortgrass]

It's usually bad to house different sized chicks together.  The younger ones will get picked on, injured and maybe killed.  Introduce them when they are the same size.  If you can house them so they can see each other you will be one step ahead as they will be familiar with each other.  When you finally put them together do so in an enclosure that is new to all of them.  However if there is a roo in each group all bets are off, they will certainly fight.  Unless they are raised together don't house roosters together. Do you know the sexes of the quail you have?

Keep your quail as far from your chickens as you can within reason for your property.  If you can get them 20 feet apart do so, but if you can only get them ten feet apart that is what you will have to do.  Just make sure to service your quail enclosures before doing anything with the chickens each day and make sure to wash hands well after doing chicken chores.  If you have to pass areas where the chickens have been and you must go into the quail enclosure you will want to at least change your shoes.  It's best to have your set up so that you do not have to cross contaminate your quail area with your chicken area so it just depends on how you have your birds set up. Make sense?

X2

If you need quick housing, you can use 2 bunny hutches side by side so they can see but not touch, and bunny hutches can be used later for breeding, or bunnies...

 

[kuchchicks]

I am really so upset with myself over this situation. I am not normally one to jump into something without researching it completely. In this situation I was getting chicken eggs to hatch, saw these little quail eggs, and thought "what the heck? I'll give it a try". Then when these babies hatched I fell in love. I really want to keep them (I don't see myself getting anymore quail, but I really love the 4 I have). But the more I look around my property I am not sure how I am going to pull this off. I don't really have an area that I can put another coop any substantial distance from my chickens... so then I wonder if my keeping these sweet little birds is selfish. I don't want either flock to become ill. I am a huge animal person and want what is best for them.

 

[kingmt]

Coturnix aren't good to keep in small numbers ether. As far as room it doesn't take much. You don't have to have a coop. A small hutch will do fine. You need ether all female, all male, or at least 4:1 female:male. If you have an over active male you may need more.

If you have a solid side to your quail hutch turned to the chicken coop you will be less likely to transmit anything. I also wouldn't go as far as changing shoes ether but that is just me. But I keept quail on wire. I also keep a sprayer with bleach water that I spray my muck boots with.

 

[bekaboom]

Kingmt is right. Small groups of quail could be bad. I'm doing okay with with 4 females to one male but I keep a good eye on them. I've also done the bleach on my boots thing too. It's just good practice to keep your shoes clean. But don't stress!

 

[kuchchicks]

Ok so since you all have been so patient with me, let me ask you this... my husband and I have been talking. He thinks the can add an area to the side of our greenhouse. It has wood siding on the bottom half so they would not get too hot. But my question is about the flooring... I have read that they should be kept on wiring... does that mean that we should NOT have a run for them that allows them access to the grass?