Determine age of quail

[Plant Lady]

I'm beginning to raise quail...have not got them yet still doing my book worming trying to learn as much as I can first. But I plan on raising them for eggs and meat and keeping some eggs for hatching some new chicks along the way to keep the process going. But, how do I know how old they are? I planned on keeping them all together in one pen outside. I have considered to band there feet somehow to mark their hatch date so I would know which ones to butcher for meat first. Also what age is a good age as far as days or weeks to mix the new hatched chicks with the rest of the mix? Any and all help would be appreciated and sorry if this is posted somewhere on the forum I have not came across it yet them...I love this site though its so informative! Oh my I'm becoming as addicted to here as Facebook lol. Also how do I know if they eggs are fertile or not?

 

[veggiecanner]

After they are 8 weeks old I don't think you can without the breeder telling you how old they are.
I use tiny little zip on their legs so I can tell them apart. Right now I have only 3 age groups, One group has a white zip tie on the left leg, one has white on the right leg. And the other has black on the left leg. I get more uses out one color that way.

 

[Plant Lady]

I never considered alternating the legs to use one single color twice...nice tip! I saw these on ebay:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/320350451535?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1438.l2649

...and thought they would work good but I really have no clue on the size and I assume the chicks legs are smaller than the adults but i do not know as I have not got any birds yet. I want to make sure I have a little knowledge before I get them at least. The rest maybe learn as I go...that sounds so bad but we all have to at some point.

 

[veggiecanner]

When I was looking at those Ifound information that Indicated they used size 4 For adult Cortunex quail.
If you use Zip ties the 18 pound 3-4 inch ones work well.
I got 1000 black for $6.99. Colored ones cost more so I got 500 for $8.99. I already have the white ones left over.
But I don't intend to put them on till I have to mix them.

 

[Plant Lady]

So do you put them on to determine the oldest to kill first? Or how do you band them? Also so you house your quail together depending on their age? Maybe that would work better...I still am trying to figure out how to house them I was going to make a pen for them tomorrow for them all to live together in...thinking about it it would be more easy to have a few seperate ones maybe...ugh this is so simple but leading me in so many directions getting started raising these guys

 

[veggiecanner]

I am using a method called spiral breeding. I will raise the young ones in one cage and the breeders in groups in as many cages as needed. From what I understand their productivity is pretty short for eggs compared to chickens. So you have to raise more to adults. Fortuntely it only takes 8 weeks.
I was thinking I would put leg bands on the breeders so I could tell who to age out and the young meat ones would be in there own cage with a cage tag rather than leg bands. With the exception of when I have mix hatches for some reason.I guess it will work it self out right now I still have to figure out my first incubation set.

 

[James the Bald]

Plant Lady, I can answer some of your questions.

You don't mention it, but I am assuming that you will be getting Cotournix Quail. You said that you will use some of your hens for breeding to keep the process going. To do so, you will need an incubator. From your readings, you will find that Cotournix will not lay on their eggs to hatch them. If you initially hatch your own eggs, you will know how old they are. I have 3 cages; one cage for 3 hens and a male (fertile eggs), 3-5 hens in another cage (unfertile eggs for cooking and baking), and all the other males in the 3rd cage until they are big enough to butcher and put into the freezer or frying pan.

In my case, I only intend to breed the largest males and females. My thought process is by breeding average sized quail, the result will be "average" quail down the road. This author of this thread has a pretty good breeding program to raise large quail. Not saying I'm going to follow everything he's done, but I will be documenting the size of my quail. Those that don't "make weight" will be put into the grow out cage until they are big enough.

My cages are 24" x 36" x 12", which in theory could hold 6 quail, but I won't put more than 5 quail in one cage. Also, I have no real carpentry skills, but I was able to build my first cage in an afternoon with a handsaw, a phillips head screwdriver, a drill and some 1/2" x 1/2" hardware cloth. One day, I'll post pictures of how I built them.

Within the next several weeks, I'll be getting more Texas A&M quail eggs from James Marie Farms, so I will be boosting my hens and start some quality sized birds. Here is a link to determine if they eggs are fertile or not?

My best advice to you: keep reading as much as you can, bookmark "interesting" websites, and ask questions. Hope this helps.
Good luck!

 

[veggiecanner]

One misconception about raising meat is you can only breed the largest. That's not always possible when your first starting out. You can breed any thing you want just save replacements from your biggest and best. WHEN a birds Off spring Is better than they are move the parent to freezer camp and promote the younger bird.