Breeding quail on a tiny scale

[CascadiaRiver]

And by tiny I mean 4 birds :') the feed store isn't selling any more this year, and there's only one other person nearby whose selling them for $15-20 a bird which to me seems too much, I swear it used to be $5 for a pharaoh. I can't currently justify $140 on a few hens right now unfortunately, plus they look wild and not handled in the photos

How long does a hen need to be with a boy who's old enough to breed successfully? Could I introduce a boy to a girl or two for a few hours and remove him so he doesn't over breed them (but they'll still be fertile hopefully?) or is that not enough time? I don't want to over breed my hens (hoping I have two hens in my new chicken but may just have my older hen + a 5wk old hen, and my two boys separated).

I know it's not ideal, I'd like to hatch and get a bigger covey asap but I'd need some fertile eggs from them to start that :') is my "short date" idea okay, will they likely breed enough to get an ok hatch rate, or do I leave them together as long as I can and remove once the over breeding & feather picking starts?

 

[CliftonQuail]

If you have the means to incubate eggs already, I suggest ordering eggs from a reputable breeder instead of buying whatever the feed store has. I don't think that four birds is really enough to get started. There are also places online that will ship birds, and probably at less than what you're seeing locally.

 

[Susan Skylark]

Most places want $50 a bird to ship adult quail. Order some hatching eggs (more than you want for chicks but no more than you can handle if they all hatch) from the source of your choice. Artificial insemination or short conjugal visits might work but you’ll have a very limited gene pool.

 

[CascadiaRiver]

If you have the means to incubate eggs already, I suggest ordering eggs from a reputable breeder instead of buying whatever the feed store has. I don't think that four birds is really enough to get started. There are also places online that will ship birds, and probably at less than what you're seeing locally.

I would normally 100% agree and normally this feed store is honestly real bad, but it was a staff member who I had spoken to's quail and he had really nice birds, a nice set up and really tame, healthy quails! Unfortunately I now know the ones I got from was one of the last hatches he did for the year

I will look into who can ship eggs & birds although I think live birds may be a smidge out of my price range. the only person locally currently selling eggs is the person selling the $20 hens lol I hope maybe if I hold out the other people who normally sell quail/eggs at normal prices will appear haha

 

[CascadiaRiver]

Most places want $50 a bird to ship adult quail. Order some hatching eggs (more than you want for chicks but no more than you can handle if they all hatch) from the source of your choice. Artificial insemination or short conjugal visits might work but you’ll have a very limited gene pool.

I'd be okay starting with a small gene pool to get them to a safe sex ratio, I just want them to be happy until I can get other quail (eggs or birds locally just not from the one guy selling, both for cost but the condition of the birds)

I'll see if anywhere online can do eggs in a small amount, although I am nervous about the hatch rate for shipped eggs but fingers crossed for close to 50%

 

[Nabiki]

Your idea may work, but your male is likely to get over zealous. I agree with the idea of ordering hatching eggs instead. Myshire Farm has reasonable prices, though shipping can get expensive.

 

[CascadiaRiver]

Your idea may work, but your male is likely to get over zealous. I agree with the idea of ordering hatching eggs instead. Myshire Farm has reasonable prices, though shipping can get expensive.

Oof yeah that shipping is up there, and that's a bummer the eggs don't ship until at least 2 months after you place an order, I've never ordered eggs online before that's interesting to say the least!

 

[Nabiki]

Oof yeah that shipping is up there, and that's a bummer the eggs don't ship until at least 2 months after you place an order, I've never ordered eggs online before that's interesting to say the least!

Too bad Pacific NW covers a lot of territory. I'm in southern OR and I have eggs galore.