Coturnix Quail Basics- Information and Pictures Galore

[Chaneys Ranch]

they are on pee pads or paper towels for the first week, then into a wire floor brooder.

Same here paper towel. Then I go to wire, no risk of disease in shavings. They do produce a lot of waste, dampness invites disease and parasites.

 

[Klwright1122]

Hi,
I'm new to qual, but have lots of chickens. My husband and I purchased a dozen Courtnix the other day. They are almost 3 weeks old. We have them outside in a large breeder pen. Construction wire bottom, and solid rooftop. 3 sides of the pen are chicken wire, one wall (the inner wall) is plywood as it is the center divider to another pen. It is warm in SW Alabama this time of year. 90s during the day... They are shaded and not in direct sunlight.
We have lost 3 so far. The others that remain appear to be very outgoing. R they too young to be out in that pen? Do they still need a lamp? Remember it is hot and humid here. Thanks for your help

 

[LavLady]

Welcome to the wonderful world of Quail!

You should be just fine at 3 weeks with warm weather and draft protection.

But something else you said concerns me: you have chickens. Are you exercising strict bio-security? I rarely loose more than one in 50 after the first 3 days. If you are not careful the chickens could have diseases that they are immune to but which is potentially fatal to Quail and any other game birds. There are several threads on here that can help you set up and take appropriate measures to protect your quail.

Also what is the height of the cage? If you give your quail too much head space they may flush (or boink) and break their necks on the hard ceiling. in my cages if they are over a foot tall I make sure the top is soft. over 18" inside I make it a double decker. I have found that mine get more and more spooky and prone to flushing as they age.

Oh, and just because I am nosey: What colors of coturnix do you have?

 

[WV Farm girl]

My girls are 7 wks old yesterday. Should I be expecting eggs any day? The boys of the same age are showing some foam so I think that would show maturity even though I'm not seeing any mating yet. Thoughts? I'm ready for eggs!

 

[JJSS89]

My girls are 7 wks old yesterday. Should I be expecting eggs any day? The boys of the same age are showing some foam so I think that would show maturity even though I'm not seeing any mating yet. Thoughts? I'm ready for eggs!

Some birds start earlier than that, some start later. I've read that some birds start at 5.5 weeks but mine are around 8 weeks. I figure that is a good thing because they have a longer chance to develop before they start producing. Chickens that start laying later typically lay longer, quail might be similar

 

[Klwright1122]

I probably need to read about that, I had gotten the impression from another post somewhere that quail and chickens shouldn't be close. . The quail cage is on the other side of the yard from my chicken pen, probably a 100 feet or so. However they are in a breeding pen that had chickens in it several months ago. It has been cleared and nothing has Ben in it for 6 months.
My quail look like the ones on page 127, post 1269I think it is...

 

[Sill]

Mine start laying between 8-9 weeks of age.

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

Hi,
I'm new to qual, but have lots of chickens. My husband and I purchased a dozen Courtnix the other day. They are almost 3 weeks old. We have them outside in a large breeder pen. Construction wire bottom, and solid rooftop. 3 sides of the pen are chicken wire, one wall (the inner wall) is plywood as it is the center divider to another pen. It is warm in SW Alabama this time of year. 90s during the day... They are shaded and not in direct sunlight.
We have lost 3 so far. The others that remain appear to be very outgoing. R they too young to be out in that pen? Do they still need a lamp? Remember it is hot and humid here. Thanks for your help

What is your night time temps? My thought would be head bonking too, if they have more than 10 inches to 1 ft headroom its very possible.
I made this mistake with my first cage, repurposed a rabbit hutch and lost several. I have about 10 inches of height for them now.
The GQF roll out is much less headroom than that, and I have not lost any birds from that pen.

 

[WV Farm girl]

I got 3 eggs yesterday at 7.5wks old. Hoping for all 8 girls to lay any day now.

 

[Quail Jailer]

I have a pen with 8 or 9 hens, the first layed about a week ago and the last one started yesterday.