Our main indoor quail breeding pen. It has self water nipple system. We only keep the lights on in the winter for extra heat plus the garage is heated to a degree
another view of it
One of our indoor grow out pens. I call this pen Stage 1 grow out. Where they go after the brooder at 7-10 days
our oustide pen. It has a removable divider in the middle. Currently I use one side as last stage grow out pen and the other side as my second breeder pen
A closer look
close up of the grow out side. Notice the homemade feeders I make with two litter bottles they work a little better than regular jar feeders at food waste. you can also see the quart jar waterer with special quail bottom-narrower trough. These pens now how auto nipple watering system on them
new born quail in a brooder box. My brooder boxes are the large sterlite storage containers from walmart of DG. I have the brooder lamps and quail waterers. For the first 3 days I put their food in a shallow lid til the figure it out then i move them to the homemade two litter feeders that hold more. They use those til they go to stage 3 outside at 3 weeks, then i have auto feeders which I will take pics of later. These are baby Wisconsin jumbo bobwhites but same thing for Coturnix.
Here is the instructions and picture to the feeders I make out of two litter bottles for baby quail and chicks
Cut your two liter bottle in half at about 5 7/8" inches from the bottom. Flip the top over and set it into the bottom. Tape around it. draw your holes around the feeder to where they are big enuff for the baby quail to get their heads in with some growing room (bout 1-1/8" wide). After you get done drawing and spacing your holes you can poke holes with a knife to get a starting point with your scissors and cut the holes out. You want to line your holes up so that the middle of the whole is the height of where the spout of the jug sets. Fill with feed. Sometimes I tape them to the inside of the brooder with duct tape to keep them from knocking it over when they start flying around or I also tie a string around them in the cage so they cant be knocked over.
Additonal Info:keep in mind you may end up with two many boys and have to cull some. I recommend 4-1 ratio but I have a few extras in my pens because I have extra room and Im trying to keep my fertility as high as possible since I sell so many eggs for hatching. At about 3-4 weeks your males will start "crowing". When they start doing that you can start grabbing them and putting a zip tie or leg band on them so you know can keep track of how many you got. Also the jumbo brown and the golden manchurians can be feather sexed. The males will have a Darker color and Rusty colored chest while the females will be lighter and have speckles on their chest. Unfortunately I have not found a way to sex the other colors other than waiting for flipping them over at maturity and seeing if they have foam on their vent or not. Watching to see whos mating who is a dead give away also.
another view of it
One of our indoor grow out pens. I call this pen Stage 1 grow out. Where they go after the brooder at 7-10 days
our oustide pen. It has a removable divider in the middle. Currently I use one side as last stage grow out pen and the other side as my second breeder pen
A closer look
close up of the grow out side. Notice the homemade feeders I make with two litter bottles they work a little better than regular jar feeders at food waste. you can also see the quart jar waterer with special quail bottom-narrower trough. These pens now how auto nipple watering system on them
new born quail in a brooder box. My brooder boxes are the large sterlite storage containers from walmart of DG. I have the brooder lamps and quail waterers. For the first 3 days I put their food in a shallow lid til the figure it out then i move them to the homemade two litter feeders that hold more. They use those til they go to stage 3 outside at 3 weeks, then i have auto feeders which I will take pics of later. These are baby Wisconsin jumbo bobwhites but same thing for Coturnix.
Here is the instructions and picture to the feeders I make out of two litter bottles for baby quail and chicks
Cut your two liter bottle in half at about 5 7/8" inches from the bottom. Flip the top over and set it into the bottom. Tape around it. draw your holes around the feeder to where they are big enuff for the baby quail to get their heads in with some growing room (bout 1-1/8" wide). After you get done drawing and spacing your holes you can poke holes with a knife to get a starting point with your scissors and cut the holes out. You want to line your holes up so that the middle of the whole is the height of where the spout of the jug sets. Fill with feed. Sometimes I tape them to the inside of the brooder with duct tape to keep them from knocking it over when they start flying around or I also tie a string around them in the cage so they cant be knocked over.
Additonal Info:keep in mind you may end up with two many boys and have to cull some. I recommend 4-1 ratio but I have a few extras in my pens because I have extra room and Im trying to keep my fertility as high as possible since I sell so many eggs for hatching. At about 3-4 weeks your males will start "crowing". When they start doing that you can start grabbing them and putting a zip tie or leg band on them so you know can keep track of how many you got. Also the jumbo brown and the golden manchurians can be feather sexed. The males will have a Darker color and Rusty colored chest while the females will be lighter and have speckles on their chest. Unfortunately I have not found a way to sex the other colors other than waiting for flipping them over at maturity and seeing if they have foam on their vent or not. Watching to see whos mating who is a dead give away also.
