Coturnix Quail Basics- Information and Pictures Galore

[Chaneys Ranch]

so sharing again...
Had a fantastic hatch from my JMF eggs, out of 68 eggs, 55 hatched! Considering they shipped all the way to Indiana thats just amazing. I have never had that good a hatch on shipped eggs of any species! Super lively and robust chicks. WTG @James Marie they are just amazing, buzzing around like bumblebees and growing fast.

 

[Lynn Manes]

so sharing again...
Had a fantastic hatch from my JMF eggs, out of 68 eggs, 55 hatched! Considering they shipped all the way to Indiana thats just amazing. I have never had that good a hatch on shipped eggs of any species! Super lively and robust chicks. WTG @James Marie
they are just amazing, buzzing around like bumblebees and growing fast.

That's great Congratulations!

 

[Lynn Manes]

I love this thread, I'm very new to the coturnix quail and i could read thru this info till my eyeballs popped out!!!.

I currently have 15 birds, all a mixture of colors, I have no idea which color is called what, and really have no idea what I'm going to do with them, other than like my chickens and ducks (not housed together) as pets and for eggs.

my cage is 4'x8' solid bottom  They're on the east side of my house so they get nice morning sunshine and avoid late day heat.   I use pine shavings, and that's all for bedding.  Should I give them some nesting material for them to use? right now the eggs I'm getting pretty much just show up all over the floor of the cage.  I've given them chick grit and a handful of mealworms. They're eating gamebird feed, which I've had a hard time finding in big bags.  

Should i put some small boxes, or branches for them to have hiding spots?  I've heard they really don't roost so I haven't added any roosting poles or anything like that.


Can you think of anything else i need to do?,  I'll try to post some pics, maybe you can help me identify my colors?

I put dust baths in my pens. They go crazy for it. I change it out every day. It's so fun to watch them rolling around in it. And my girls like to lay their eggs in the soft dirt mixture. I use a black, heavy duty plastic oil change pan. I was lucky to find them at The Dollar Store, but you can get them at any auto parts store. I buy 100% peat moss and play sand from Lowe's. And DE and large scoops from Tractor Supply. The pans I use are round. So I put in 2 scoops of dirt and about 3/4 scoop of sand then just a sprinkling of DE. Then kind of mix it all together. The DE is my mite control & it keeps flies out of the pens too. I also feed mine game bird feed and I give them oyster shell, and chicken scratch and dried meal worms every day as treats.When they see that red meal worm bag in my hand, they go crazy and all run right in front of the door of the pen; so when I open it, I have to be careful they don't fall out.lol In one of my pens where my original senior quail live (1 male,4 females), I took 3 of those plastic 6" plant holders - you know the ones plants come in when you buy them-and put them in as nest boxes. I tried putting straw in at first, but they didn't like it. The girls do lay their eggs in them & the dust baths. I just laid the plant holders in the pen on their sides. I tried the sticks and making more natural effects but they didn't have any thing to do with it so I took it out. So now all that is 8n their pens is their feeders; waterers and dust baths. Apparently they are happy bc I get the maximum eggs from my girls every single day and in my one pen that are just the boys, there's no fighting and all are healthy. I hope some of my suggestions help.

 

[caeti21]

Our quails I have a plastic shoe box with sand in it and a plastic tub lid with sand (I know sounds fancy lol) the lid lays really flat u can't tell what it is when it's covered in sand anyways , but the quail love it then they have their feeder and waterer, I give them all sorts of treats they too seem pretty happy they just started laying I'm getting eggs from females they all seem to be making chipper sounds and my two males make their callings , I do put plastic black planters in there for them to hide

 

[Lynn Manes]

Our quails I have a plastic shoe box with sand in it and a plastic tub lid with sand (I know sounds fancy lol) the lid lays really flat u can't tell what it is when it's covered in sand anyways , but the quail love it then they have their feeder and waterer, I give them all sorts of treats they too seem pretty happy they just started laying I'm getting eggs from females they all seem to be making chipper sounds and my two males make their callings , I do put plastic black planters in there for them to hide

Caeti21, hi. It sounds like your set up is similar to mine. We also have raised pens. Easier on my old back

 

[caeti21]

Yeah , ours is raised as well , it works they all seem happy , so might as well keep doing it lol , right

 

[Halloweengirl13]

This is my quail pen that I just built a week or so ago, the bedding is pine bark mulch over sand. The half logs in the back are hollow giving them a place to go to get out of the wind.they like to dig under them and play in the sand, they also seem to enjoy standing on top of them to keep an eye on their surroundings. the wire on the outside goes into the ground with heavy boards over it.

 

[caeti21]

That looks pretty cool Halloweengirl13

 

[Halloweengirl13]

Its really funny when I go check on them and I can't see them until I realize that they have wiggled down into the bedding and are pretending to be invisible. Especially the dark brown ones( I can't remember what they are called)

 

[napdognewfie]

Very nice!