Coturnix questions

[BobcatKen]

After reading online a little about Coturnix quail I've got this fantasy I can raise them in a rabbit pen in my garage. I'd keep them for eggs and meat. Because I live in a suburban townhome with neighbors attached right next to me, I wonder if noise will be a problem.

1. Will males be noisy? Do they do their calls all day?

2. If I cull out the males, will the females be noisy? Do the females need males around to lay eggs?

thanks in advance! If this is a really bad idea, feel free to burst my bubble before I get too excited about this.

 

[AK-Bird-brain]

No bubble popping here!
Their quiet, or atleast not as noisy as chickens. Both males and females make sounds. If you want to continue to raise them for meat you should plan on keeping atleast a couple of males to ensure you have fertile eggs so you can hatch them out.

 

[Dodgegal79]

They do make noise, but they aren't loud. The males do a crowing noise, it is very funny. The females lay like crazy, with or without the males. The males can be hard on the girls, I always felt sorry for mine, they are very forceful. I kept mine in the house until they started to stink too much.

 

[Mrs MIA]

The females make a low chittering - almost purring - sound. The males crow, and it sounds like someone doing a cat-call while gargling. They stand on their tippy-toes to do it, and it's the cutest thing. But they're not loud at all. Of the 3 breeds we have, they're the friendliest, quietest, and lay consistently. They don't need a male, but the female's egg-laying capacity can drop after the first year, so if you want to keep eggs/meat, I'd rotate your breeders out every year.

You won't be sorry... they're my favorite.

 

[BobcatKen]

Thanks for the info about the noise.

Last night I was reading about an ammonia smell from their droppings. Is that true? I don't want my neighbors annoyed by any smells coming from my garage. They think I'm weird enough with my geckos, tarantulas, and 9 snakes.

Still researching,
Ken

 

[Mrs MIA]

When I had them indoors, I kept them in a cage with a sliding tray - I put papertowels on it, and every day I'd dump the old and replace with new towels. Never smelled ammonia, and the only time they even started to smell was when the poopies built up on the cage and needed cleaning.

 

[LilRalphieRoosmama]

I have eggs hopefully coming tomorrow and I am planning to keep them in the garage too. In what, I don't know because I haven't figured that out yet. How much room do they need? If I were to build a pen out of 2x4's and chicken wire, would that work and how big for say 6-10 birds? Can I use pine shavings for bedding? Do they eat turkey feed like the button quails?

Sorry Ken - don't mean to hijack your post but I was wondering the same things!!!

 

[Mrs MIA]

For coturnix, figure on 1sf per bird. 2x4 would be 8 birds, comfortably.
A rabbit hutch, with 1/2" hardware cloth as a floor is good. Pine shavings work well, too, just stir them often. Give them a box or deep bowl of clean sand - they'll love you for it, and I've found that they lay their eggs in the sand. Harder to find in the shavings because they blend in.

They eat gamebird starter or turkey starter when they're chicks, and move up to regular gamebird feed when they're older. I still find it easier to grind it up a bit in the blender, because it's too big. And then I add dry vitamins and crushed eggshells, and some premium finch seeds in there, and grind it all up - they love it.

 

[BobcatKen]

Thanks Mrs. AK Bird Brain for the responses.

No worries LilRalphieRooMama.

Are Coturnix eggs available to be shipped year round? Or is there a season when they are not available?

Also I'm thinking about buying a quail breeding pen like on this website:

http://www.twinoakspoultryfarm.com/cages.htm

Would this be appropriate for large Coturnix? It's pricey but I like how it seems pretty easy to feed and water the quail and it seems like egg collection will be a snap.

thanks in advance.

 

[Mrs MIA]

If you're talking about the top one, yes, that should be ok for a pair or possibly a trio.
If let to do their laying naturally, I've heard Mar/Apr to Oct is the normal breeding season. So if you're going to get eggs, I'd do it soon. Mine just started laying, but I don't know how much longer they're going to go.
You can extend their laying season with artificial light, but I don't know that I'm going to do that other than keeping them warm in the winter.