Gambels--How Many

[deserthotwings]

Can anyone give me an idea of how many grown breeding age gambel quail I can keep in a ground floor pen (6' by 20'). I'm new to quail breeding and not sure if I sould keep them in pairs or how many hens to a male. Thanks for any advise.

 

[TwoCrows]

Gambels are generally kept in pairs, one male to one female, and don't colony breed. Keeping breeding pairs together will cause fighting issues.

For a pen this size, you could probably keep 10 pairs, or 20 birds in this size of space, in the "off breeding season". During breeding season, April thru September, you will need to cage the pairs separately and give them their own space, about 4 square foot per bird. However once the breeding season is over and fall arrives, you should be able to mix all these birds together for the winter covey, which they appreciate snuggling all together.

 

[deserthotwings]

Would it work out ok if I put a pair of gambels in a 20'x20' pheasant pen with about a dozen silver or golden pheasants? I have about 20 such pheasant pens and that would save me from having to build seperate little pens for each pair of quail. Thanks for the info.

 

[TwoCrows]

Since you already have the pens, why not mix in the quail. You can mix quail and pheasants, however you will have to watch out for aggression. Pheasants are much larger than quail and if you have any cranky pheasants, they might harm or kill the quail. Give it a try, but keep an eye on things for a while to make sure the quail stay safe. The quail can also eat the pheasant food.

 

[deserthotwings]

Should I limit the quail to one pair a pen mixed in with the pheasants ?

 

[TwoCrows]

You will have to experiment with this yourself as far as how many to mix in. I have never mixed pheasants and quail before and I too would not know what to expect. But if you have gentle pheasants, it can be done. If these were my birds and I was trying to mix these two types of birds, I would put a bunch of brush piles in the corners and center of the pens so that the quail could escape and hide. Keep water and food near or just under the piles so the quail don't have to come out too far. Quail like lots of hidey places and get stressed when exposed. So these brush piles will serve 2 purposes. You can cut fresh branches from nearby trees, or what I do for my quail is use fake christmas trees. I got tired of hauling branches around and cutting them off the trees. When you do mix these quail, remember to keep a close eye on them for some time so you know the quail are safe.

 

[deserthotwings]

Yea, I'm just going to experiment with them and see if it works. I usually put discarded Christmas trees in my pens after Christmas. That should give the quail protection if I have to pull them out. Thanks for your help and I'll let you know how it goes when I try it. We don't have too many tree branches to cut off here in the desert, but I might start off with some sage brush put in the pens until I can make my yearly collection of Christmas trees.