Best Time of Year to Quail

[tbrown3589]

I live in Phoenix, Arizona where our current temperatures are around 110 degrees. My wife and recently picked up some Bantam Cochin hens for laying and both of them have shown some broodiness. We are getting ready to start building a second coop for our brooder coop and then for future breeding Speckled Sussex. Once that coop is complete, I was considering having my hen hatch some quail eggs for me before I start my Sussex, but was curious if there is a "good" or "bad" time of year to hatch Pharaoh or A&M Quail. I can't actually start my Sussex until around January, so if quail would be OK to brood around the end of summer, I can build some quail cages and then work on my second coop. Sorry for the length, I guess my question is what temperatures are best for hatching and raising quail chicks as my hen should raise them without the need for a heat lamp. We were actually considering putting the second coop in the garage so that it would be a little more climate controlled. Also, I read that coturnix quail do good in the winter, but it didn't specify if that was for laying/breeding or if it was good for brooding chicks as well.

Any help would be appreciated, or even point me towards another post that may have this information? I checked out the newbie post already and it had some good info.

 

[dc3085]

Quail and chickens should be kept biosecure from each other. Chickens are resistant to many poultry diseases that will cause mortality in quail. Diseases like coryza MG and blackhead cannot be tested for vaccinated against or cured. Most poultry diseases are that way.

Lots of people will tell you its fine but they are willfully ignoring tons of good scientific info on the subject. You can win at russian roulette too but there were still bullets in the gun.

If you just absolutely dont want to buy an incubator use doves or pigeons to the hatch quail instead of chickens.

 

[tbrown3589]

OK, that makes sense. I wasn't intending to keep them together, but I understand why there could be some issue when the eggs start hatching and "mama" is brooding them. So, without using a broody chicken, when is the best time of year to hatch quail chicks? Do they do good with heat if I were to get an incubator and hatch them in July? Do they do good in the winter and would it best to wait until September? Or is my best bet to wait until February or March to get a hatch?

 

[dc3085]

Incubators are thermostatically controlled so the ambient temperature has little effect on how your hatch turns out.