The 10th Annual BYC Easter Hatch-a-long!!!!!

[pennyJo1960]

Take care @Razadia see you soon then

 

[CapricornFarm]

Okay, all this talk about quail. How hard are they to keep? How long do they lay? Do they lay through winter? How is something so small worth butchering? What kind of housing? How big are predator issues with them? We have TONS of critters from possums and skunks, bobcats and foxes, to cougars and bears.

I do love those purdy eggs they lay.

Quail are easy to keep. They lay a lot of eggs. They will stop laying during winter, same as chickens unless you add supplemental light. Their eggs are often consumed by people allergic to chicken eggs.
Some people just use the breast meat so butchering is pretty easy.

 

[CapricornFarm]

Oh yeah, and they mature in about 6 weeks. And start laying around the same time.

They come in a great variety of colors, and there are even quail that lay blue or green eggs. Coturnix quail are quite calm and make good pets. They eat a lot less than chickens.

 

[CapricornFarm]

The chicks are hatching! Hatch day is tomorrow. Speckled Sussex and Cream Legbars.

 

[pennyJo1960]

So are both banty ? real curious

 

[cppeace]

I think I'm going to enter this contest with quail and maybe some chicken eggs mixed in. We shall see. I'm currently about to set some shipped chicken eggs but they will be done before this contest starts.

 

[ronott1]

I think I'm going to enter this contest with quail and maybe some chicken eggs mixed in. We shall see. I'm currently about to set some shipped chicken eggs but they will be done before this contest starts.

Sounds like fun!

 

[cppeace]

Thanks, yeah I'm hoping a few at least from these 27 I'm setting tomorrow will hatch. The box was really beaten up but only had one egg broken. Most a bit too dark to candle well, but saw a couple loose air cells. We shall see.

 

[Happy Chooks]

Quail are easy to keep. They lay a lot of eggs. They will stop laying during winter, same as chickens unless you add supplemental light. Their eggs are often consumed by people allergic to chicken eggs.
Some people just use the breast meat so butchering is pretty easy.

Thanks for answering. Do they go broody?

 

[cppeace]

From the research I have done, Quail rarely ever go broody in captivity. Don't know if anyone answered your question on how much they eat, if so, I missed it. According to the folks I've been watching videos of on Coturnix quail once hitting about 2 weeks old are eating just under an ounce each a day and at about 5-6 weeks they will be at just over an ounce a day. As laying/breeding adults, they eat about 1.5 ounces a day each. They should be on high protein game bird unmedicated feed. I've been researching them a lot since I am going to try and hatch some. I plan to go with jumbo Coturnix quail.