Valley and Blue Scale quail info please

[Mt. Baker Quail]

I just had a friend give me some Valley and Blue Scale quail eggs. I need info!!!! Do I incubate them like coturnix eggs? What kind of housing, feed, and care do they need? Please tell me everything you know about them!!

 

[Mt. Baker Quail]

 

[ammay13]

I have never owned these kinds of quail but eventually I hope to raise them. From my personal research and posts I have read on this forum, they require more maintenance than the domesticated Coturnix. Adults generally need four square feet of space per bird in addition to being raised in a habitat that provides more cover (i.e. bushes, branches, hiding areas). Other owners have said they had better luck raising the birds on the ground instead of wire, so I plan to build a cage for my side yard this summer. Hope that helps and good luck!

 

[TwoCrows]

Valley and Blue Scaled Quail:

Incubation time is 22 - 23 days.

Temp 99.7

Humidity 55% to 60% during incubation. At lock down, 70% to 75%

Both of these types of quail require 4 square feet per bird as adults. During breeding season they are paired off, one male to one female and are kept separate from each other. They are far too aggressive to be kept together. During the off breeding season, they can all be mixed back together for the winter covey.

Both of these types mature at 6 months and generally won't lay until the following spring.

Good luck!

 

[Mt. Baker Quail]

I hatched 21 California Valley Quail and 4 Blue Scale Quail a week ago, and am now down to 18 total. A few needed to be culled, but now it seems as though the healthy ones are randomly dying. Any ideas on what I may be doing wrong? They are getting 28% game bird feed, and I just gave them more room to run around in. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

BTW, is there any way to tell the difference between the Blue Scale chicks and the Valley Quail chicks?

 

[TwoCrows]

What are the temps in your brooder? Usually being chilled or over heating is what kills healthy babies. The temp for 1 week olds should be 92 degrees and lowered by 5 degrees each week for 5 to 6 weeks. Make sure the brooder is not too large that they chill, or so small that they are cramped in and over heating. Piling under the heat lamp indicates they are chilled, laying around the edges stretched out and panting indicates they are over heating. Keep the heat off to one side and the food and water off on the other side so they have to leave the heat to get to the goods and have a place to cool off if they need to get out of the heat. Do not cover the lid of the brooder with anything but a screen or wire for good heat and oxygen exchange.

Are they eating? Did you crush the food and lay down paper towels sprinkling food around the floor, and dip beaks in the water?

 

[Mt. Baker Quail]

Thanks for the help. The baby quail seem to be eating and drinking fine, and I believe the heat is right since they hang around right outside the heat lamp area. They just seem to get weak, droop their wings, and die (I just lost another one).

 

[TwoCrows]

Sounds like they might be over heating with wings drooping. You might try lowering the heat. What exactly IS your brooder temp?

If this is not a temp issue, it may be some sort of bacterial infection going around.

 

[Mt. Baker Quail]

The temperature directly beneath the heat lamp is 100 degrees, but that is only about 1/6th of the brooder (they're in a small watering trough which is about 2'x3'). If it is bacterial, is there anything I can do about it or does it just have to run its course?

 

[TwoCrows]

100 degrees is a bit too warm for week old chicks, even directly under the lamp. So you need to lower the heat to 92 degrees.

You could try adding some antibacterial meds to their water for 7 days and see if that helps. It certainly won't hurt them and if it is bacterial in origin, might cure the problem. Generally with babies, bacterial infections that are allowed to run their course, can kill the entire flock. Babies have not yet developed their immune systems.

All this being said, I think they are over heating and this may be your troubles.

I am editing this post....I must have been in some sleepy haze this morning and wasn't thinking. So sorry.