I got a box from alaska - quail

[ticks]

Wow, I really want bobwhites

 

[Mrs MIA]

As skittish as they are, they are very beautiful and unique. I love the "buh bob WHITE!" call that they make... I've learned to imitate it perfectly, and it usually brings the hen a-wandering over...

(I love being able to share my babies...)

(Here's the papa to your eggs, Miss P... momma's in the back with her eggs!)

 

[ticks]

Stop killing me!
How much space would about a dozen birds take?

 

[Mrs MIA]

Figure like the Coturnix, ~ 1sf per bird, so a 4x4' should be able to hold up to 16? 3x4' would hold 12 well.

I'm only able to send out a few eggs at a time right now, because I only have one pair that is laying consistently. She's stockpiled 9 eggs, and I've read that their first clutch can be anywhere from 12-16 eggs. I don't know how she's going to cover that many, though...

But I'm hoping she'll incubate her own eggs. If she gets up to 17 eggs, I may take them away and put them in the incubator. I've only had one egg of hers that did not develop.

 

[Wolf-Kim]

Aww...

-Kim

 

[MissPrissy]

Those are great photos. I love thelast one - papa. What a face! Now I am excited even more.

 

[Mrs MIA]

They're beautiful birds, MP... I hope you keep at least one pair so you can hatch more. Obviously eggs are still viable after lying around for a couple of weeks if the hen stockpiles 12-16 per clutch, so I just save up 2 - 5 at a time and pop them in the incubator. I think I've had baby BWs in the brooder since April. I have one customer that keeps taking them away at 3-4 weeks, though, so I haven't actually RAISED any new ones. I'm hoping she hatches her own clutch, so I'll have a ready made flock that I don't have to try to introduce new birds to the adults.

 

[MissPrissy]

Is it as hard to introduce new birds to a flock with quail as it is chickens?

 

[Mrs MIA]

Truthfully, I don't know... :| I haven't been able to keep the babies around long enough to find out.

 

[ticks]

Mrs. AK-Bird-Brain :

Figure like the Coturnix, ~ 1sf per bird, so a 4x4' should be able to hold up to 16? 3x4' would hold 12 well.

I'm only able to send out a few eggs at a time right now, because I only have one pair that is laying consistently. She's stockpiled 9 eggs, and I've read that their first clutch can be anywhere from 12-16 eggs. I don't know how she's going to cover that many, though...

But I'm hoping she'll incubate her own eggs. If she gets up to 17 eggs, I may take them away and put them in the incubator. I've only had one egg of hers that did not develop.

That's next years project I guess then! That and pygmy goats​