A&M / other Coturnix questions

[rittert3]

I have a pen I am wanting to keep a few breeding birds in this summer but I have a few questions before I decide for sure what to get. If I go with coturnix I would perfer A&Ms but if they arn't available I may end up with another variety. What kind of egg volume could I expect from a male and 3 females kept in indirect sunlight? What kind of fertility? What type of diet should they be on to produce hatching eggs? I have access to a 23% chick started (it's the highest protein I can find) I could also find a place to get some milo to mix with it for the breeders. Will this be high enough protein for hatch - 4wks (selling babies at an auction monthly.) What can I expect to pay at auction for a quad of coturnix? And will they most likely last me the season? I also might add that I plan to aquire my breeding stock the third sat. in april and produce until the end of sept. when I will resale my breeders and finnish my last hatch out for meat. I need to break close to even I will have around around $120 total expence. If they bring me $80 over the course of the season that will be enough.

 

[Prettiest Frog]

Gamebird feeder or starter with some additional calcium is sufficient, but I also add a lot of veggies. During the winter I buy those bags of frozen mixed veggies and add a few whenever I feed them. I average 2 eggs a day from 3 birds under incandescent lights, and 5 out of 6 birds when outside in good light. What you pay varies, I've never bought adult birds, just fertile hatching eggs. Quail fertility rates are excellent.

For additional protein, I use mealworms and the occasional scrambled egg.

 

[darkfur]

Make sure that chick starter is the non medicated kind. Medicated ones will lower the fertility of adult birds. It's also probably a bit low in calcium for layers so some soluble grit such as oystershell would be good.

 

[worldling]

I use Purina mills game bird starter 30% protein from hatch to dispatch. Coturnix quail are not chickens, and they do not need tons of calcium, like chickens, but it will not hurt them.
Chicken feed, medicated or not isn't good for coturnix quail. They really need a game bird ration.

rittert3, A&M's are coturnix quail. Other than color, or lack there of, they are coturnix, and if I say this once, I will say this a thousand times.....
a coturnix is a coturnix is a coturnix. Color/size be darned.
Bean counting is a side note, and may cost

 

[farrier!]

I agree with worldling I feed game bird starter.
I get close to 97% hatch rate on my own eggs.
When in peak laying season I expect 3-4 eggs a day from each pen of 4 females and one male.
I have some young birds that have not started yet and the cold has dropped egg production right now. I am finally at the point where I am culling breeders and keeping the biggest for breeding.

 

[farrier!]

I am selling 30 5-7 week old birds for 80.00 today.

 

[rittert3]

When I first got my start I was hatch/raising Bobwhite, Ringneck Pheasant, White rocks, Red Jungle fowl and mixed breed Banties. I started using 28% turkey started on all and liked the results but the highest % I can find now is 23. My cage will sit in side a chicken coop that contains about a doz. mixed layers, a roo, a White Embeden goose hen and a mallard duck hen. It will have a small window over one side and a chain link door to the other side. It is a rabbit cage that I modified I put a 1 cu ft 1"x1" wire pen on one end and put cardboard along the inside including most of the top and 2 6"x6"x3"h nests (will quail use these?) the pen has a removable drop pan and I was thinking about puting a wire floor over it all I have is 1/2 x1/2" hail screen/ hardware cloth, is this to big for quail? also the reason I wanted A&ms is that I read that they mature faster and get bigger and I want to keep and give a few away as meat birds. I also favor their color patern of the brown patterns, just personal preferance, but I will take what is available and within my price range. Can quail drink out of a rabbit type water bottle? this would save me a lot of figuring and fabrication.

 

[JJMR794]

Your housing will result in quail with a coryza or other mycoplasma epidemic. Mixing gamebirds and chickens/ ducks/ turkeys will result in this type of infection. The gamebirds have no immunity to these illnesses as the domestic poultry does-- the result will be biological warfare and the gamebirds always loose. This isnt a maybe, its a when this finally happens....

 

[rittert3]

hmmm, well I'm going to have to do some more figuring and see what I can figure out. I may have to wait for my own place to keep birds after all, bummer.