Anyone sell their coturnix for bird dog training?

I may have a source to sell to , anyone else do this? Do they fly away well enough? He puts them in a box and then lets them out, the dogs chase and then he shoots them I believe. He said he wanted them at 12 weeks though... so I wonder if he's thinking they are bobwhites? Wouldnt they be able to fly by 8 weeks ? Any benefit to another month other than meatier? It may not be worth it for me to raise them that long for $2 a piece. He wants 50 at a time.

Explain that to him. If you have to keep/feed/clean them longer, they will cost him more money. $2 is cheap!

Well he gets pigeons for that much and the person that sells him pigeons is my friend's 12 year old....it just kind of came up in conversation that maybe I'd have some coturnix to sell him. I was thinking just my extra's but then he wanted 50 so we'll see, I'd have no problem if i could give them to him early like at 4 weeks... but 12 weeks seems long. I am not actually talking to the guy.
I was helping the 12 year old keep the business for his pigeons since the guy wants more birds. My not work out. Hoping someone with experience with the training checks in so I understand if coturnix are even a good bird for this.

Coturnix are not very flighty at all. If you treated them like bobwhites, with the least amount of handling, and a good-sized flight pen, they might be okay for dog training. Key work there is 'might'. Most coturnix are just naturally friendly, and wouldn't flush well at all.
I would say that if he wants them that old, he is wanting them big enough to eat. Coturnix grow till they are 12 weeks, but they don't get that much bigger between 8 and 12. I would say that if you decide to do this, you need to go with a smaller type (variation) like tibetan or A&M, something like that, as they are normally more flighty than the jumbos. I wouldn't sell them for $2 each, unless they are all males. That's about what I get each on extra males.

coturnix dont make any where near a bird for dog training they dont fly very well at all. and i agree that price is not sufficient for the amount of feed you will have to buy. Tell him stick with the pigeons early on then buy some bob whites. Explain to him also that if he buys so called flight conditioned bobwhites make sure the people selling them as such, have a sufficient flight pen. It's hard to find someone with properly conditioned birds. Thats why we raise our own. Just for training our german short hairs. Coturnix also have a different scent and would confuse his dogs if he uses them late in their training.

Instead of Bobwhites you should talk him into getting the jumbo brown coturnix or just brown. They blend in MUCH better and are fully mature by 6 weeks so they can fly earlier then bobwhites = less time taking care of them = not as much money spent

Well coturnix is all I raise, I dont have to have a license for them but would have to for bobwhite. I'm not really looking to get into more than i have now.. just thought if it was a place I could get rid of my extra's and help him out.. it may work. I think maybe he thought I had bobwhite since he said 12 weeks. This guy may already get bobwhite's elsewhere.... I didnt talk to him.. this is all through the 12 year old who sells him pigeons sometimes. The guy has been training dogs for 20 years so I'm sure he knows what he's doing .. I just think he wasnt told anything but "quail" by the 12 year old. So many arent familiar with coturnix. I had some at a garage sale today and 99% of the people that saw them thought they would eventually look like valley quail. I had to explain over and over that they are a different kind of quail.

Morninglory- Jumbo browns is what I have... he isnt needing them to blend in.. they are coming out of a box he sets. Again I think it is a misunderstanding of what type i have available and what he thinks I have.

Hey Nancy

I think it's a misunderstanding too. I get MANY shooters and dog trainers wanting my coturnix for that and I politely tell them I dont sell them for that. Mainly because like Shelley and others said the birds would get stepped on in most cases before they ever even tried to take off Jumbos especailly. Ofcourse there are exceptions to any rule..... the best flier out of my coturnix's WAS a jumbo brown roo He flew straight up into the air about 20 ft and flew about 2 football fields away from me in no time in the middle of winter his first time ever loose, ever flying. So yes if you are sure you have good fliers then that may deffiantly be a good idea. I just cannot find it in me to sell them just because I sit and think about how some dont fly, the dog could run right over and maul the poor cuties to death....or the quail just run off into the woods and starve...it makes me sad so that's why I personally dont do it if it doesnt bother you though if some dont do what they are intended for then theres no harm in it, they are your birds to do with as you wish if it helps feed for your hobby and what not and the guy likes them then great! The good thing abotu coturnix is since they are rarely ever broody any that do get loose wont repopulate and will die eventually because of their lack of predator avoiding instincts and probably not finding sufficiant food unless they are lucky.

I have some who have begged me saying "oh comon...i dont care if they dont fly, if i have to I'll throw them up int eh air and shoot them that way... (without a dog.....JUST to shoot them) that bothers me....reminds me too much of caged hunting where the animal has no chance. So more power to anyone else who is cool with their birds going for that, i'd rather quickly kill and eat my own quail then sell them to someone else who just wants to blow them out of the sky Not my bee bees Just like theres many on here who cannot find it in them to kill the animals they feed, I have no problem with that though I can deffinatly see why others it bothers them and why they wont do it to their own.

If it works for you and you explain to him that they may or may not do what he wants then great!

Something to consider, releasing non native birds into the wild is not only irresponsible, but also I'd be willing to wager ILLEGAL without a state permit. If you know they are releasing those birds(they will miss one eventually) you would technichly be an accesory... I can't imagine Coturnix would survive 24 hrs in the wild here, but I doubt game and fish would care. I wouldn't do that regardless of how much someone paid me for birds unless I had checked with the proper athourities and had the statutes/permit printed out. Be real careful.

Swamp

For the record, having quail not "flush" for training is an old problem. They make a contraption that hurls the birds into the air at a push of a button to solve it. Works kind of like the old fireman's catch. Birds then have a choice, fly or crash. Sort of like the old joke about handing someone a lit stick of dynamite and then asking if they are gonna talk or fish?

Swamp