I think I want to raise quail, tell me what I need to know first.

[Fat Daddy]

If I understand you right you want to sell bobs for shooting and training dogs. For this flight conditioned birds would be a plus. This would take the big pens you describe. I would assume these pens are dirt floor, on the ground.

The only problem I could see with this would be the easter egg hunt when they start laying...Thats only a problem if you want to hatch eggs from your birds thou. And I would suggest worming your birds regularly.

But you have to take all this for what its worth, some of the advise you have been given comes from folks that have never tried what you intend to do. I have never raised bobs on this scale or on the ground. Lots more experienced folks than myself here, sorting out the ones with experience from the ones with opinions, is your most challenging task. BTW, I fall in the OPINION category.

good luck, Bill

 

[MandyH]

LOL, thanks Bill. That's why I asked the questions, so I might get some good info BEFORE I jump right in. And yes, I have sand in all my coops. Is that a problem when raising quail?

 

[Fat Daddy]

I think sand would be what you want for a ground based pen, easy to clean. I would still feel I needed to worm them, but I'm in the opinion side remember!! Randall keeps large #'s in colony pens, as you are talking about doing. His are on wire thou, I would pick his brain a bit for roo to hen ratios if I were going to do this... He will tell you hes no expert, but hes got a little know'in....

 

[_Randall_]

Bill's right, I don't profess to be an expert by no means. I've learned a bunch here, and a lot by experience. I have tried the "pairing off" breeding thing (actually a very few 1 male : 2 female trials in some small coops), and it didn't go well at all. There seemed to be one of the ladies in each case that got terrorized by the male and the female; in one case watching closely for a couple of days the dominant female made sure the other lady wasn't going to enjoy her stay at the Inn. My trial was short, and it didn't take me but about 15 minutes, and all the honeymooners were back in the big pen with all the others where all was fair in love and war (except for the injured, and they went to rehab)! 1:3 worked out pretty good on the fertility last year, and I started out with that a few weeks ago, but trying to push the envelope, I've went out on a limb and worked that down to 1:2 a couple of weeks ago. So far, so good. Now, if the limb starts havin' that crackin' sound, I may have to liven up the party with some more gals.....or.........send some of the fellers off to bachelor camp......dunno.....

OH, and yeah, my Bobs LOVE sand, but keep in mind, it's not sand that serves as their floor, thus having poop blended in with it. I put big plastic dishes of natural sand (that's very near by) in their pens to do their natural grooming in, and they ingest about as much as they kick out, especially in the summer months. It will also benefit you when egg-laying time comes, as they love to drop their eggs in the sand, and they will be extremely clean when you gather them!

 

[JJMR794]

FROM THE PROSPECTIVE WISHES LISTED IN YOUR OPENING....

#1 10 X 30 PEN... FOR FLIGHT CONDITIONED BIRDS YOU WILL NEED MAXIMUM ROOM.... THIS WOULD BE GOOD FOR YOUR SALES STOCK, USE THE 10X 20 COOPS FOR YOUR BREEDING COLONIES

#2 BIRDS KEPT ON THE GOUND WILL NEED DEWORMING 4X YR AND PREVENTATIVE COCCI TREATMENTS AS WELL AS MULTIPLE ROUNDS OF BROAD SPECTRUM ANTIBIOTIC YEARLY TO HELP WARD OF ENTERITIS OR ENCEPHALITIS

#3 WELL DRAINED SAND IS A BONUS

#4 AND THIS IS 1 OF THOSE MINOR TRIVIAL DETAILS THAT EVERYTHING HINGES ON...

THESE ARE EXISTING PENS.... I DONT SUPPOSE YOU BUILT THEM JUST TO LOOK AT THEM THEN SUDDENLY WOKE UP 1 DAY AND DECIDED "WE'LL PUT QUAIL IN THEM"??? --- I'M WILLING TO BET NOT... WHATS BEEN IN THESE PENS ALREADY?

ANOTHER TINY LIL CAVEAT... CHECK YOUR LOCAL LAWS THOUROUGHLY TO SEE WHAT PAPERWORK MAY BE REQUIRED FOR THIS LITTLE VENTURE. THERE'S A LINK HERE IN THE STICKY SECTION TO US FISH AND WILDLIFE THAT WILL TAKE YOU TO ALL STATES... IF YOU CANT READILY READ THE LAWS CALL YOUR STATE FISH AND WILDLIFE DEPT PERSONALLY

NOW AS FAR AS MEAT AND TRAINING BIRDS.... USUALLY THEY DONT COEXIST IN A SINGLE SPECES... MEAT BIRDS ARE LARGE JUMBOS AND MAKE FAT LAZY FLIERS--- WHICH YOUR DOG TRAINING CLIENTEL WILL NOT BE OVERLY HAPPY WITH... STANDARD SIZE BOBS OR NORTHERN JUMBOS WOULD BE THE BEST CHOICES FOR TRAINER BIRDS AS THEY ARE SMALLER AND STRONG FLIERS

AS RANDALL ELUDED TO GET READY TO DO SOME HOMEWORK...

 

[MandyH]

Thanks Randall for the info.