Cold hardiness of quail

[farmerbrowne]

I have a chance to have 12 quail eggs hatch for me for free, but have one main question. How cold hardy are they? I live in north western Ontario Canada and in the winter the temps drop to -40 often. Can they handle it like my Rhode islands and other chickens?

 

[007Sean]

Yes, they can handle the cold as long as there are no drafts and it's not wet in their emclosure. You may want to consider giving scratch grains during winter months, helps to produce body heat.

 

[paneubert]

Yeah, if on the ground, just make sure it is dry and preferably somewhere they can dig down a little to snuggle into the earth. Sandy soil, deep litter, etc...

If raised on wire, a lot of folks wrap up their quail for winter with plastic sheeting on all sides to keep the drafts down. They should be just fine. Maybe add a dust bath for them to burrow in for winter if you dont provide a dust bath year round.

 

[Alaskan]

I found mine to be VERY sensitive to drafts. Until they were full grown they were way more sensitive to cold than my chickens.

They did do just fine full grown in my insulated draft free coop with zero heat.