Californian Quail... housing and feeding requirement questions

[All4Eggz]

I don’t know if that you tuber keeps them for meat or eggs or both, but it’s common to keep for meat and offer high protein their whole lives, because their lives are short, they reach adulthood and are processed.

He keeps them for eggs and meat

When I had quail, I also used them for eggs and meat. The excessive males were for meat, but the females were for eggs.

Again, in my experience I found game bird starter or turkey starter to work well for their entire lives.

 

[birdnoob]

You will want to keep California Quail more like you would bob whites. If you have a large area with a lot of natural hiding spaces, you can keep several pairs together, but I’m talking like 200 sq ft or more, with rocks and bushes etc. you can’t keep a large number in battery cages or a rabbit hutch like Coturnix, they will kill each other. I want to say there’s someone on the site who has a single California Quail living in a large group of Coturnix and it does fine, but it hatched with them and has been with them all along.

I have 4 CA quail and 26 or so Jumbo coturnix in a 12'x12' converted barn stall, And I have had no aggression issues, but they haven't been in there a full year yet. They may get more aggressive in the spring breeding season, but I hope to have the 24x24 outdoor section ready by then.

 

[Chookwagn]

In my experience, chicken layer pellets reduced production in laying birds.


The Slightly Rednecked YT channel had helped me quite a lot throughout my quail journey. He (Chris) recommended high protein starter for their entire lives, and it seemed to work great for me. They layed very well.


So just to clarify, I was recommending things based on my experience, and what I think would be best for the quail based on what I learned from keeping quail.

I'm thinking the difference between coturnix (the most common quail kept) and Californian is that coturnix lay from a very early age and lay all year whereas California's are a seasonal layer and mainly only lay 2 clutches of about 15 -20 eggs each clutch.... I can see why most people would feed higher protein feed to coturnix because they lay almost all year ....

 

[Chookwagn]

I have 4 CA quail and 26 or so Jumbo coturnix in a 12'x12' converted barn stall, And I have had no aggression issues, but they haven't been in there a full year yet. They may get more aggressive in the spring breeding season, but I hope to have the 24x24 outdoor section ready by then.

Sounds good.... keep us updated

 

[eveliens]

I have been raising Gambel's which are closely related to the Californias. This is my first time raising them but maybe I can help a bit, since I'm assuming they've hatched or are close to hatching now.

I have a group of 9 quail that are over-wintering together. They are all about 4-5 months old right and I've seen the beginnings of what looks like pairing behavior. It is a bit early but I think the funky weather is throwing them off. Or they might just be practicing, since they're still quite young. For CAs you do want pairs (they are monogamous) and pairs that are house separately because they do get very aggressive during breeding season. Unless, as is already said, you have a huge outdoor space where they can get away from each other. As I understand it, the female chooses the male, who tries to woo her, so you'll want to keep your babies together in a group during winter and let them choose their mates.

As for food, I kept mine on Gamebird Starter while they were chicks and through them getting their adult feathers. Now that they are mature, I have switched them over to 24% chick(en) starter. They also get a bit of seed mix and greens from the yard (grass, chard, dandelion, clover, etc) plus whatever bugs they munch in their aviary. Baby Gambels/CA quail eat a lot of insects in the wild, hence why they need a lot of protein as chicks, but adult quail have a very different diet and the protein level should be lowered or you will have health problems.

 

[Chookwagn]

I have been raising Gambel's which are closely related to the Californias. This is my first time raising them but maybe I can help a bit, since I'm assuming they've hatched or are close to hatching now.

I have a group of 9 quail that are over-wintering together. They are all about 4-5 months old right and I've seen the beginnings of what looks like pairing behavior. It is a bit early but I think the funky weather is throwing them off. Or they might just be practicing, since they're still quite young. For CAs you do want pairs (they are monogamous) and pairs that are house separately because they do get very aggressive during breeding season. Unless, as is already said, you have a huge outdoor space where they can get away from each other. As I understand it, the female chooses the male, who tries to woo her, so you'll want to keep your babies together in a group during winter and let them choose their mates.

As for food, I kept mine on Gamebird Starter while they were chicks and through them getting their adult feathers. Now that they are mature, I have switched them over to 24% chick(en) starter. They also get a bit of seed mix and greens from the yard (grass, chard, dandelion, clover, etc) plus whatever bugs they munch in their aviary. Baby Gambels/CA quail eat a lot of insects in the wild, hence why they need a lot of protein as chicks, but adult quail have a very different diet and the protein level should be lowered or you will have health problems.

Thank you so much for the info

So I'm guessing I will be able to keep them all together until I see pairing behavior

 

[eveliens]

Thank you so much for the info

So I'm guessing I will be able to keep them all together until I see pairing behavior

Yes, that shouldn't be an issue. They're very social and gregarious during the winter.

 

[Chookwagn]

Yes, that shouldn't be an issue. They're very social and gregarious during the winter.

Perfect that should suit me fine..... gives me a chance to get some more cages made and all my quails in a row

 

[Chookwagn]

So far I have had 5 hatch

Keen to see how they feather out etc

 

[Chookwagn]

These little runners are super high powered lol.... even a small game bantam chick looks enormous next to them