How much space do my quail need and what species can I mix together?

[jerry44]

Hi. This is my first year raising quail and I've really jumped in. I have a lot of questions so if you have any input or answers to anything I'd appreciate it. I have 10 valley quail chicks, 5 gambel quail chicks, and expect at least 20 Tennessee Red bobwhite quail to hatch soon. I'm also picking up a pair of adult valley quail later this week. Right now I don't have my aviary finished. I have a barn with two stalls and a 20' x 37' corral attached to the back of the barn. I bought a couple huge rolls of 1 inch poultry wire and have fenced in the entire corral area. Now I want to split the corral into two sections and connect each section to a barn stall to allow the birds a nice place to get out of the elements. Obviously the only way this will work is if I can keep different species together in the same pen. I was hoping to put the reds in the same pen with the gambel quail to prevent the gambel and valley from breeding (is that possible?). Does anybody know if they would be aggressive towards each other or if the gambel and reds would try to breed? Does that seem like plenty of space for that many birds? I would have 25 to 30 birds in an area that is 32' x 18'. Do any of these quail get aggressive towards each other or other quail when they are breeding? When I raised chukar in the spring they would get very aggressive. I'm wondering if I need to build a separate pen or try to split my current design into 3 or more smaller pens.

Another thing. I am considering releasing some of my birds and just keeping a couple pairs of each species to breed. If I release these birds but continue to feed them will they stay in or near my yard? I have a pretty good habitat on my 2 acre property. I have a few large bushes around and have planted many more all around my property. I also have quite a few mature trees, a couple small ponds for my two ducks, and a large area with tall grass. I'm surrounded by farmground and the only other trees or bushes are found in other yards down the road. I live in the country and don't have many neighbors. I would love to release many of the birds if they stay and live on or near my property. I have heard that gambel quail are a little bit more likely to stick around than the valley quail. can anyone verify that? I'm also thinking that if I keep some quail in my pens any quail that get released may be more likely to stick around. I also am worried that I might get into trouble for releasing these birds (i think you need special permits in idaho). So I don't really want to release them if they don't stay close to my property. Any thoughts?

 

[dc3085]

I wouldn't worry too much about putting the gambels and valleys together. The chance of them cross breeding without someone interfering is pretty low (it can happen but it's rare and the chicks should theoretically be sterile). The birds i'd try not to keep with the clan are the bobwhites. Tennessee reds are known to be one of if not the most aggressive mutation of bob. Bobwhites are even known to bully fully grown ringnecks around.

Bobs are every bit as aggressive as chukars and sometimes even worse.

The main problem with releasing the birds is that their instincts already at this point are damaged too much for them to survive in the wild. Restocking or releasing birds tends to have a very low success rate. Even when they do survive and propagate studies show the future generations of offspring suffer and eventually the population levels return to what they were before you released any birds. At any rate releasing birds requires permit authorization from your states Dept. of Fish and Game.


These all refer to restocking bobs but success (actually lack of) has been the same with almost every breed.

http://teamquail.tamu.edu/files/2010/09/Survival_of_Hatchery_Raised_Bobwhite_Quail.pdf

http://www.ammoland.com/2012/04/the-decline-of-bobwhite-quail-in-the-southern-usa/#axzz35ONfAjPE

http://mdc.mo.gov/blogs/more-quail/why-we-dont-stock-quail?page=0,0

 

[jerry44]

Cool. Thanks for the reply. Good to know I can keep the gambel and valley together. I figured since they were very similar in appearance they might be able to breed. I currently have them together since they hatched at the same time and I can't tell the difference between the chicks. Anybody know specifically what permit I need to release birds in Idaho and what it costs and how I can get it? I have contacted the fish and game and left messages and they have yet to get back to me. I can't find anything on their website either. I don't expect to establish a wild population of birds, I actually hoped I could get them to be relatively tame and stay in my yard. I just enjoy seeing the birds and if I have to raise and release a few birds every year in order to keep them around then that is what l might do. I had no idea the reds were so aggressive. I enjoyed chukar, but their aggressiveness was a big turnoff for me and I stopped raising them because of it. I bought the reds just to experiment and because they were cheap. I might let my brother take them off my hands to train his dogs with.

 

[dc3085]

The problem with cage raised quail being loose is they lack the instincts to evade predators. Snakes, cats, raccoons, foxes, bobcats, and anything else with sharp teeth likes the way quail taste. You can try it though, you just might need more quail later. Another limiting factor to keep in mind is that bobwhites most likely won't tame down enough to hang around.

Regarding getting a hold of fish and game, it took them quite a while to get back to me so I'd guess just wait it out.

ETA black crows and ravens will also kill and eat quail.