Help quails losing feathers

[JaeG]

Here's some of them. I love the colors of the white one but the darker one standing in bowl is my favorite. He's the second to smallest but he always stands high on legs and buffs his chest out. Looks like a penguin lol.

So pretty!

 

[aapoole]

Another question guys and gals... I know most birds have to have gravel to help digest their food, do my Coturnix quail who are now 2 weeks old need gravel in their cages? If so, at what age do I start putting gravel in cages?

 

[JaeG]

Another question guys and gals... I know most birds have to have gravel to help digest their food, do my Coturnix quail who are now 2 weeks old need gravel in their cages? If so, at what age do I start putting gravel in cages?

They will only need insoluble grit when you start giving them food other than the gamebird grower which is water soluble. So if you feed them mealworms or greens they should have insoluble grit. They will need oyster shell grit from 6 weeks old for good, hard egg shells and they will choose to eat it when they need it.

 

[Esc_Quaily]

BDon't worm them with any fenbendazole (safeguard) during a molt because the feathers will grow in really freaky. LOL Makes them curl.

Do the feather stay curly until the next molt? Why does the medicine turn the feathers curly? This is fascinating. I can see me going down a rabbit hole with this one.

 

[Esc_Quaily]

I'm not sure if you can tell, but here's a pic of my quail... notice the white streaks in wing area, I believe they are getting their adult feathers. I really didn't even expect these to hatch for this being my first time and I still need to learn a lot.

Quail mature incredibly quickly. At week 2-3 feathers will come in and by 6 weeks the hens will be able to lay.

I was quite overwhelmed when my first hen laid her first egg on my child's 1st birthday. Skip a few weeks forward and that same hen (born in July 2025) had an egg popped into the incubator and now she is a mamma. They mature incredibly quickly.

Also check out the quail forum for great advice on raising these beautiful birds.

 

[Nabiki]

It always blows me away when they start getting wing feathers on day 3.

 

[007Sean]

It always blows me away when they start getting wing feathers on day 3.

Yeah, and by week one you better have a top on the brooder or you'll be chasing them all around the room!