Coturnix and Tenn Reds

[Randy17]

I have never hatched quail before and a guy I work with gave me 7 Coturnix eggs and 3 Tenn Red eggs to put in the incubator. So far 6 of the 7 coturnix eggs hatched and are doing well. I am still waiting on the Tenn Red eggs to hatch.(Hopefully today or tomarrow). So having never messed with quail I am in the middle of gathering stuff to build a pen to keep them in.My question is can I house the Cots with the Tenn Reds ? I have a bunch of 8 foot 2x6's I was gonna use to build a 8 Foot long x 24" wide pen. Should I divide it in the middle to keep them seperate?


Randy17

 

[HowieNZ]

I would set it up with a division as it gives you the option of keeping them apart Cots/Reds as they may very well not get on or you might find you need to keep some of the male birds separate as you will most likely end up with to many males to females. Ideal ratio of 1 Roo to 5 Hens.

 

[Randy17]

Thanks for the help I will start working on it tomarrow!


Randy17

 

[dc3085]

Tennessee reds are probably the most aggressive breed of quail you can come by. They are bobwhites and should be kept in breeding pairs during breeding season, but can be kept in a covey the rest of the year. They can become cannibalistic very easily so you will need to be ahead of that. As far as a first time quail, you really jumped in with both feet. They require more space than coturnix, 4 sq ft per bird is a good number for bobwhites. They will only lay eggs from May to August and typically lay around 100 eggs total. They must be at least 30 weeks old when the breeding season starts for them to lay. If they aren't they'll hold off till the following season. In your case they will be old enough come next spring.
They will need a separate brooder than your coturnix at this point. If you put them in there the cots will kill them, since they'll be so small and weak the first days. Since they require different brooder temps at this point also it just isn't recommended to let them share a brooder. Bobwhites require higher brooder temps than coturnix and must be brooded under red light to suppress aggression. Start bobwhites in the brooder at 97 degrees and lower the temp by 5 degrees every seven days. With coturnix you start them at 95 and also lower temp every seven days.

Coturnix should be kept in small coveys of 1:4-1:7 Male:Female and given about 1 sq ft per bird. They will most often not tolerate more than one rooster in a cage.

Quail of all species can be very aggressive, so keep an eye out.

In a large aviary it would be ok to a few of each if they had space to hide from each other and plenty of room so they aren't fighting over it. Quail are very territorial.

Here are some things you can read to learn more about quail.

Bobwhite quail propagation practices
Coturnix quail

You can also read the links in my signature.