Help needed Bobwhite chicks

[catsmithpuddin]

I found a guy selling bobwhite quail from day old up to 3 weeks old. .45 cents to .70 cents a piece.

I am going that way tomorrow evening and need a crash course in quail.

I have a brooder with a hen and 6 chicks in right now but can keep quailk indoors till brooder is empty.

I have medicated chickstarter but can I feed that to quail?

Would it be better to go day old or up to 3weeks?

At three weeks will they even need a brooder?

So many things to get together and I gotta pick up a 15lb pig tomorrow evening too!

 

[FeatheredObsessions]

You will need a higher protein chicker starter I'm assuming. Quail need high protein foods. They need over 20% protein. Gamebird starter and turkey starter are usually that high.

The three week older probably will still need lighting/heating. It would be up to you if you want older or younger. I would go for the older myself since they take longer to mature to start with it might be nice to have a 3 week jump start.

 

[CoopCrazy]

At three weeks oyu really shouldnt need a brooder.. Just to warn you though Bobs are very flighty birds who like lots of places to hide, limbs to hang out in and require more space the Coturnix.. I moved my bobs out at 2 weeks and they have done fine.. Be extra careful reaching in there cage to feed and water as they are known to fly out....

 

[FeatheredObsessions]

Do you know if they are in a brooder now? Also what is the temp they will be kept at? I start the brooder at 95 and drop it 5 degrees a week till they are at room temp. Others will do that different but if they are at 80 degrees and your home is 65 I wouldn't take heat away that quick.

 

[rwwjsw]

Well quail and chickens do not get along to well in close areas, so if you put them in your brooder you will need to clean it very well, I use bleach and water chickens carry disease that will not hurt them, but will kill quail.
They start to fly very early so you will need to watch that and they are very small I just started hatching them this year and found that nothing I owned (I have cages I use for brooders) had small enough holes to keep them in I am now looking at getting a parakeet bird cage to keep the young in inside my house.
I have had very good luck raising my quail I started off with 13 chicks a year ago the lady I got them from said they were a couple of weeks old found out that day they could fly when I opened the box to put them into my brooder and one flew out into the woods gone forever. I lost a male from fighting and had another male just drop dead but I feel that is expected to a degree sad to say epically in your early days of raising them.
Quail do need a good high protean food if you have nothing else the chick starter is something for now, but you need to get some medicated game bird feed. The only place I have been able to find it was at my local feed store and they had to order it, could not find it at Southern States or Tractor Supply.
Then you need to separate the male and female as soon as you can tell the difference, from what I have experienced the males like to show who is dominant around the females as I said I lost one, he was fine that night when I went to bed and he was dead the next evening when I went out to feed, looked like they ganged up on him. I would suggest not keeping more males than you need for breeding I have 3 males and 5 hens that is not doing to bad but I think 2 males and 5 hens would be better 1 of the males the other 2 sometimes pick on him. Try and keep you wire size for you pen pretty small it is unreal how small of a hole they can get through.
Good luck hope I helped some.

 

[JJMR794]

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