Coturnix Quail

jmbiker11

In the Brooder
11 Years
Dec 28, 2008
19
0
22
Finally got the ok from the parents to get some quail! Im going to get five or six coturnix quail to start off with one male two females. I have been reading a lot about them on the internet and have gone through page after page of post on here. I just have a couple of questions to make sure im doing this right.

Even though Im just getting five or six to start off with im going to build the cage 2'x8' and only make it 18" high using 1/2 inch hardware cloth. I know its getting cloe to winter and being cold so do I need to build a house or coop for them to go into. I live in Alabama so it doesnt get as cold here as some places even though we did get snow last year.

After I get the cage built is it too late to get Coturnix Quail will I have to wait till spring to get some?

I want them for eggs and meat. So when I do start processing them and replace them with the eggs that I hatch from them will I need to seperate the brothers and sisters so they dont inbreed or is that ok.

I think im going to get the Brinsea incubator just the one that holds like twelve eggs im hopefully not going to be dealing with thirty or forty birds.

Any other tips would be appreciated thank you for the help in advance!
 
I have already read that sticky a couple of times its really helpful. So as far as the inbreeding thing should i divide the cage in half and buy two different sets of birds and then when they have babies swap them out in each cage. or how do yall do it for those who use them for meat and retock after you kill the ones to eat?
 
Last edited:
First off...take a tape measure to your right/left arm and what ever that measurement is....only make your pen/pens that width and depth The height doesn't really matter. Unless you can climb in there, then keep everything within arms reach. 1/2 inch wire is fine with me! That's what I use.

Winter isn't the best time to go balls to the wall on egg or meat production in any poultry, but given the right lighting, shielding from the elements, you can keep up egg production (in coturnix), maybe even some amount of meat production....unless it gets down to -99 billion deg. F. I can't help you there
smile.png


As far as incubators go....I can't help you there either, but I will tell you this...If you want to hatch only 12 today...tomorrow you will probably want to hatch 120, then 1200, then a bazillion. I just thank my upright walking God that you didn't ask about broody coturnix. That's a sore spot with me! Same with (EXPLODING QUAIL EGGS)!
 
Well i would just want to get some now i wouldnt try to use them for meat or hatch eggs yet unless they laid a bunch.So should i just make a couple of smaller pens instead of one big one to seperate them and stop them from inbreeding, and i guess the arms length thing is so it will be easier to catch them?
 
Quote:
AS WELL AS CARE FOR THEM AND COLLECT EGGS. GIVEN THE RIGHT CONDITIONS AND CARE A COTURNIX HEN IS CAPABLE OF UP TO 300 EGGS PER YEAR( EACH COTURNIX HEN IS CAPABLE OF THIS)
 
Quote:
Well spoken.

As for breading, I separate the males to use for eating & put the females back in the breading pen. As they get a little older I might process some of the older birds. Right now I am line breading father/daughter but I will have to change that next time because there will be to many females for the males to keep up with.

Make sure you are keeping about 3 generations going at the same time so you don't notice a drop in egg production. If you are going to keep replacing your birds with the new ones then you want to overlap them so you don't have to start all over & wait on the new birds to mature. Quail also die easy or one goes on a rampage & starts killing the others so that is another reason to keep a few rolling at the same time.
 

New posts New threads Active threads

Back
Top Bottom