Does anyone raise quail on the ground?

[igorsMistress]

I usually cull them by keeping the more agressive one in isolation with a couple other hens, since I usually don't have that many quail, since cull just means remove from your breeding flock.

Culling here means freezer camp and future meals.

 

[someusername]

Yeah,, but it's still removing from breeder stock.
Makes sense if you are homesteading, not much sense for a guy who raises them as pets.

 

[igorsMistress]

Updates today. Also processed 7 birds.

 

[CoturnixComplex]

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Updates today. Also processed 7 birds.

Your setup is to die for Spoiled birds! Did you end up keeping some of the whites?

 

[le_bwah]

Love the covered flowerpots!

Are there any plants in there the quail leave alone? I'm planting my enclosure this spring and I'd love to avoid having everything eaten to the root.

 

[igorsMistress]

Your setup is to die for Spoiled birds! Did you end up keeping some of the whites?

Thanks, it's supposed to be a garden not an aviary, we're using it for both right now.

I kept only 2 white birds, one with the black stripe on her face. The rest were males. I kept the all white one too.

This isn't done, there will more changes later when we can build the brooder

 

[igorsMistress]

Love the covered flowerpots!

Are there any plants in there the quail leave alone? I'm planting my enclosure this spring and I'd love to avoid having everything eaten to the root.

I'm in the desert so what works here may not for you.

They leave the rosemary alone and the Mexican Heather too. The ivy looking thing on the ground is fine. Eventually they'll leave the Red Bird of Paradise alone except near the bottom but it gets big. I saw the male sampling the artichoke so we'll see what shape it's in this morning.

It's trial and error. The Red Bird of Paradise, my chickens LOVE it and the quail too but it gets rather large so they won't be able to wipe it out if I can keep it alive long enough. Rosemary and thyme are strongly aromatic so they usually leave those alone, marjoram is another.

Another thing you might try is greens in one of those suet cages. I have one for the chickens and one for the quail. I stuff them with curly mustard, cilantro, dill, kale, parsley and they eat that stuff like crazy.

I also give them squash and they LOVE cucumber but won't eat broccoli.

Also, keep in mind there were only 14 quail in there and I'm down to 6 now.

 

[le_bwah]

I'm in the desert so what works here may not for you.

They leave the rosemary alone and the Mexican Heather too. The ivy looking thing on the ground is fine. Eventually they'll leave the Red Bird of Paradise alone except near the bottom but it gets big. I saw the male sampling the artichoke so we'll see what shape it's in this morning.

It's trial and error. The Red Bird of Paradise, my chickens LOVE it and the quail too but it gets rather large so they won't be able to wipe it out if I can keep it alive long enough. Rosemary and thyme are strongly aromatic so they usually leave those alone, marjoram is another.

Another thing you might try is greens in one of those suet cages. I have one for the chickens and one for the quail. I stuff them with curly mustard, cilantro, dill, kale, parsley and they eat that stuff like crazy.

I also give them squash and they LOVE cucumber but won't eat broccoli.

Also, keep in mind there were only 14 quail in there and I'm down to 6 now.

Thank you for sharing! Glad you've found some plants that work out.

 

[mixedUPturk]

@cosmosue I think you'd love this setup as much as I do

 

[igorsMistress]

@le_bwah

This might help you out with planning for your aviary. Your best bet is to think big enough they can't eat it all and use some pavers or large rocks to keep them from bathing in the root zone of the plants. Good luck!

https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.id...den/margaret-lauterbach/article131569864.html