Trying to find solid answers

[Wandering_r0gue]

Ok all,

I have been searching for answers and I know there are similar threads to this, BUT, I keep seeing soo many mixed answers and opinions, I am hoping to get something more concrete:

My quail are coming up on 3 weeks old, are mostly feathered right now (Heads are starting, and chests are starting to feather out).

They are currently in a brooder box with a heat plate that I have been raising slowly, and by the end of the week hope to take out entirely, and I'll wean them off.

Their permanent home is in my garage, which is insulated but not heated. However, it tends to stay warmer than outside in winter, and cooler in Summer. I have a three-tier cage, so adding heat to each of them would be difficult. Nighttime lows have been in the negative single digits Celsius (20-30F) but inside has been staying above freezing.

I have seen everything from 3 weeks to 6 weeks for "Fully feathered" and discrepancies on when the chicks can move to their unheated home.

HELP!

 

[Whiskybear]

Is the brooder box in that garage? Or in the house? At that age Coturnix won’t need any heat source in the house. And you’ll want them weaned from it before they go to the garage. Our house temperature is usually around 70° F and I put them outside at 3wks to 24 days if the first night won’t get much below 50°. Once they’ve acclimated, they’re ok if it drops a bit more. By 4 & 1/2 wks they’re fine at pretty much any temp.

 

[Wandering_r0gue]

Is the brooder box in that garage? Or in the house? At that age Coturnix won’t need any heat source in the house. And you’ll want them weaned from it before they go to the garage. Our house temperature is usually around 70° F and I put them outside at 3wks to 24 days if the first night won’t get much below 50°. Once they’ve acclimated, they’re ok if it drops a bit more. By 4 & 1/2 wks they’re fine at pretty much any temp.

Ok. Brooder is in house.

Should I just remove the heat all together now then? I have a dew that are a few days younger, so was concerned about them.

They're kept in a warm room, so, probably around 65-70, but also have the brooder plate.

 

[Whiskybear]

In the house I take away their extra heat around 10 days. All this you read about starting at 95° and dropping by 5° a week is a bunch of hooey.

 

[Wandering_r0gue]

Alrighty then.... Well, I guess I can take out the brooder and give them more room! I was trying to follow instructions, but when there is 15 different opinions, and/or everyone is in tropical climates, it becomes confusing.

In the house I take away their extra heat around 10 days. All this you read about starting at 95° and dropping by 5° a week is a bunch of hooey.

 

[Whiskybear]

I tried doing it like that when I started. Eventually realized that they were mostly feathered and fine at room temp at a week and a half.
Instruction sheet that came with shipped 24 day old birds from a big farm said not to put outside if temps were to get below 40°F first night. I know those were raised in some sort of building before shipped so they weren’t too concerned even about acclimatization.

 

[Wandering_r0gue]

I tried doing it like that when I started. Eventually realized that they were mostly feathered and fine at room temp at a week and a half.
Instruction sheet that came with shipped 24 day old birds from a big farm said not to put outside if temps were to get below 40°F first night. I know those were raised in some sort of building before shipped so they weren’t too concerned even about acclimatization.

sounds good. Everything I read says they're super durable birds, but then so much has them treated like they're fragile.

I'll take out the brooder tonight, wean them off till the weekend and then probably move them out Saturday!

Thanks for the help @Whiskybear

 

[eddie_van_quailen]

sounds good. Everything I read says they're super durable birds, but then so much has them treated like they're fragile.

I'll take out the brooder tonight, wean them off till the weekend and then probably move them out Saturday!

Thanks for the help @Whiskybear

I was in the same boat as you! I was so worried that my 2 week old chicks would be too cold even inside my house! (Our house stays around 64-70 this time of year). The "guidelines" found most places online are wayyy overkill I think (or are meant for chicks being kept outdoors in cooler climates). At the brooder temps I was seeing suggested, my quail were actually panting, so I decided to trust my own birds over the internet and turned things down until they looked comfortable. I ended up just keeping a "mama hen"-style heating pad in there, and by 3.5 weeks they were off all supplemental heat completely. Probably could have come off sooner, but as a first-time quail mama I'm a bit paranoid

 

[Wandering_r0gue]

I was in the same boat as you! I was so worried that my 2 week old chicks would be too cold even inside my house! (Our house stays around 64-70 this time of year). The "guidelines" found most places online are wayyy overkill I think (or are meant for chicks being kept outdoors in cooler climates). At the brooder temps I was seeing suggested, my quail were actually panting, so I decided to trust my own birds over the internet and turned things down until they looked comfortable. I ended up just keeping a "mama hen"-style heating pad in there, and by 3.5 weeks they were off all supplemental heat completely. Probably could have come off sooner, but as a first-time quail mama I'm a bit paranoid

I agree. Not knowing what to do and not having experience makes it anxiety inducing.

 

[bhaugh]

The chicks need time to acclimate to the change of temperature. Kinda like hardening off plants that go outside from inside. Quail are hardy but they can pile and kill the chicks on the bottom. What are your day time temps?