I'm new to the forum, and relatively new to quail, but I thought I'd respond with my experiences getting started. I live in a community that doesn't allow 'farm animals' so I'm flying under the radar a bit with quail. No issues so far.
I got a straight run of 100 jumbo brown coturnix (day old, via USPS) in August. I lost a few during shipping and a few more the first week, but the rest thrived. They are about 8 weeks old now and the hens are really starting to lay. I got 35 eggs yesterday from 45 hens. I'm raising them in 3 rows of pens with a solid floor covered with litter, inside of a shed. The pens are roughly 2'W x 2'H x 12'L so they are a bit crowded. I have 75 birds now so they have about 1 sq ft per bird which still seems a bit crowded. The pens will be about the right size when I get done butchering all the extra roo's in a few weeks. I'll end up with about 48 birds in 72 sq ft of floor space and I think everyone will be happier at that point.
They ate, drank and pooped much more than I expected! Granted I had 100 chicks but they were going through 50 lbs of feed a week at one point. Now that they are fully grown they backed off a little on the feed (I think) but I was at the feed store much more often than I anticipated!
I experimented with different (free) litter sources.... leaves, mulch hay, shredded paper.... before caving in and buying pine shavings. The pine shavings work so well I wish I would have started with them. The only problem with the shavings is they are small enough to fly through the cage wire as the birds scratch and dust themselves. Every morning the floor of my shed is covered in shavings that I need to scoop up and put back into the cages. I debated whether to house them on wire but I like watching them scratch around and dust themselves in the litter. The wire would have been much easier maintenance.
I was not prepared to 'deal' with the roo's as they got older, or at least I was not prepared to deal with them so soon. They were cute when they started to crow around 4-5 weeks of age. Then they turned into loud, obnoxious little boys who wouldn't leave the hens, or each other, alone at 6 weeks. I separated them from the hens at 7 weeks and that helped somewhat. I just butchered my first batch yesterday and I'll be butchering the rest over the next few weeks. I'm ok with butchering them but it isn't something my wife and kids are crazy about.
These all seem like negative points but the quail have been a fun, rewarding project. In hindsight it would have been better (for me) to start with fewer birds and build the flock over time. We're just getting started with egg sales at this point. Depending on how things go I may build more pens and expand the flock next Spring.
Dave
Thank you so much for your insight!
I've been gradually preparing, my incubator arrived today, small one that will hold up to 12 smaller eggs, I made my brooder out of a plastic storage bin, cutting a hole in the lid and zip-tying a screen over it [as I do have two cats], and I've made plans for a cage which I'm going to build [4' L, 2'W, 1'H] The plan is to have a wire bottom, but provide at least one pan of bedding or sand to give their feet a break and for dust baths or scratching around in. What is your recommendation for a number of birds for a cage/pen this size? I generally won't have more than 10 birds at one time, and doubt I'll ever go over 20-- at least not any time soon. Is a cage this size appropriate for this number of birds, or should I up the dimensions? From your description, you think that 1sq ft per bird is crowded, and my plan is 8sqft so 8 would be crowded. I want to keep it at least semi-portible, since I want to be able to move them if I need, since there's a small enough number of them. I suppose I could add another level and make it 2' tall and have a ramp between the two.
There's a seller not too far from here that sells fertile coturnix eggs for $0.50 each as well as chicks and adults, so I will most likely be getting a dozen from them to incubate. If too low [less than half] a number of them hatches or makes it within the first week, or if the survivors are all one gender, i'm prepared to go get more.
I still need feeders and waterers[both chick and adult], chick feed, bedding, a heating lamp, and of course, the adult pen. I won't be getting any eggs until I have everything I need, the only thing I'm alright with putting off is adult feed, since it would just be sitting for a month before I even used any.
This will be more of a personal hobby than attempt for any profit, getting eggs and meat. I'm not sure I can handle the butchering myself, i've only processed fish. I'm hoping I can get passed that. [I've not had quail meat for a long time, I hear it's tasty though. I know people who like it though so even if I end up not liking it, I can give it to them.] I've been looking at processing methods as well. Looks not too difficult, but I'm sure it's harder than it looks, at least for someone who's never done it before.
