I need some Cage advice and help pondering!!

[sniper338]

I have 11 Coturnix quail, and 12 bobwhites as of right now... But I would like to end up with more birds rolling in and more birds rolling out into the freezer as soon as I can get set up right... My whole quail expedition here is to have a end result of meat meat meat!

I'm stilling wondering about the GQF 15 section Quail Breeding Pen

Each section is 10"x24" floor space - roughly 2 Sq ft each. (GQF manufacturers details info says 4 birds can be kept in each section - I take that with a grain of salt...) from what I have learned I have 5 coturnix in a 4sqft cage - 1 male and 4 females. They all get along fine, it is a matter of matching up birds together that get along!!! Thats one thing I seemed to find out...

So with that said these GQF cages are basically half that size of what I have, so Im thinking 1 male to 2 females per section in the GQF cages may work fine?... I just see over breeding problems possibly... I'd like them to have all their feathers and look nice, but its not a huge deal to me, as long as they dont kill each other I'm fine. Can I rotate out the coturnix males to breed once a week to another cage and still get fertile hatching eggs most of the time?

As far as the bobwhites go though from what I understand they pair of 1:1 for life... So I would have to do a 1:1 ratio per cage. Then I have heard the bobwhites will fight once they are in breeding mode so that tells me I cant put 4 birds in one cage together.... Am I correct here??

 

[WaterfowlWierdo]

You are 100% on the bobwhites! Bobs also need 4 sq. ft. per bird or more, but the coturnix need 1 sq. ft. per bird, but stress less when you give them more. As far as the GQF cages...is there a way to take seperators out? If so you could do 1 roo to 4-5 hens in each level.

 

[sniper338]

You are 100% on the bobwhites! Bobs also need 4 sq. ft. per bird or more, but the coturnix need 1 sq. ft. per bird, but stress less when you give them more. As far as the GQF cages...is there a way to take seperators out? If so you could do 1 roo to 4-5 hens in each level.

I have too many birds to only have 5 cages if I have to separate the bobwhite, and when the lights finally get to 15 hours a day to get the coturnix laying, I think sooner or later the bobs will go into laying mode too.

I keep the bobwhites and coturnix together in the same shed, in DIFFERENT cages. I have had absolutely no problem with them under the same roof. I have 12 bobs in a cage thats 8 sq ft floor space, have no problems at all with them all together, they are fully plumed out not a care in the world. I just know that once lights go on to get them all to start breeding I will cause problems with the bobs. Thats why I was going to separate out the males with a female each, then just put the rest of the females together in the smaller cages.

Space and easier clean up is my issues here.... The shed is used for more than just birds... I was hoping to be able to get this 15 section cage and put it in a corner and keep all my birds in it somehow so I could get more space in the shed, and have easier clean up...

 

[sniper338]

You are 100% on the bobwhites! Bobs also need 4 sq. ft. per bird or more, but the coturnix need 1 sq. ft. per bird, but stress less when you give them more. As far as the GQF cages...is there a way to take seperators out? If so you could do 1 roo to 4-5 hens in each level.

Yes they said you can take separators out if you want to.

 

[quail98]

Just to let u no most people get way to carried away with the bobwhite thing I have based them in groups of 20 birds together at a 1 male to 5 female ratio and get good feral eggs no fighting or anything they get along great and my flight pen usually had 100-300 bobs at a time in it during all parts of the year and 50-50 on sex and they get along great and I get eggs from them also wen enough light is avalible

 

[sniper338]

Just to let u no most people get way to carried away with the bobwhite thing I have based them in groups of 20 birds together at a 1 male to 5 female ratio and get good feral eggs no fighting or anything they get along great and my flight pen usually had 100-300 bobs at a time in it during all parts of the year and 50-50 on sex and they get along great and I get eggs from them also wen enough light is avalible

yep sounds like people get carried away IMO too.. so I am just going my way and see what works for me..

 

[quail98]

Yep u can tell if there is a problem or to many in a cage by the way they act just play with it and c what works best for you

 

[quail98]

If they are laying then u no u r good cause they won't lay under stress

 

[titika]

I have about 50 or so coturnix in a 6x8 pen. If I notice someone getting picked on I will seperate them but for the most part as long as they have food and water available they all seem to get along

 

[sniper338]

My coturnix we bad... I had 19.... lost some... I couldnt keep them together. I had to separate out females as they were the worst...