Illinois Quail Keepers

[CoopyDoo]

That might work out perfectly, thank you! Where did you get your eggs from? I started to look into going the same route you did and was going to order from JMF. If you ordered from someone else, maybe I'll still go ahead with my JMF order and we can trade some birds later on.

 

[BReeder!]

That might work out perfectly, thank you! Where did you get your eggs from? I started to look into going the same route you did and was going to order from JMF. If you ordered from someone else, maybe I'll still go ahead with my JMF order and we can trade some birds later on.

I ordered from Orchard Hill Poultry down in GA. If you do hatch from another source (JMF or elsewhere) I would gladly trade.

 

[snooky1959]

I am so glad I found this thread. I am raising Jumbo Pharaoh Coturnix quail. I got my initial eggs from Kansas last year and incubated them. My first hatching didn't fare so well but I have established some breeder stock and I did a second hatching and had a better rate. Since the 2nd hatchlings matured in October, I have not had any eggs from this second flock yet. I have already connected with a gal in northern Illinois that wants quail chicks and I was thinking of selling chicks for people to start their own flocks. Does anyone know if Illinois requires a license for this? I cannot find anything on the state websites. I live in west central Illinois (about 50 miles from Peoria) and interested in connecting with other quail owners or want-to-be quail owners. I enjoy raising quail even more so than my chickens and I never thought I would find something more enjoyable than fine-feathered hens!

 

[AmberZooKeeper]

Hello! I am looking for Jumbo Pharaoh!! I am just about five miles from Peoria.

Here is the two permits you could get:

• Wild Game & Bird Breeder, Class A is required to possess various game mammals, game birds and migratory waterfowl. Class A is noncommercial and does not allow licensees to sell.
• Wild Game & Bird Breeder, Class B covers the same as class A plus allows license holders to sell alive or dressed for food purposes.

Class A is $10.50; class B is $20.50. I can't recall the specific numbers on the amount of birds now, and their website is not very user friendly in my opinion

 

[snooky1959]

Hello! I am looking for Jumbo Pharaoh!! I am just about five miles from Peoria.

Here is the two permits you could get:

• Wild Game & Bird Breeder, Class A is required to possess various game mammals, game birds and migratory waterfowl. Class A is noncommercial and does not allow licensees to sell.
• Wild Game & Bird Breeder, Class B covers the same as class A plus allows license holders to sell alive or dressed for food purposes.

Class A is $10.50; class B is $20.50. I can't recall the specific numbers on the amount of birds now, and their website is not very user friendly in my opinion

Yes, I noticed how hard it has been to find information on our state's website. Thanks for the information. At least this gives me a starting place. I am going to incubate some eggs this spring and I would like to keep the "G-men" at arms length, so I want to stay within the state's guidelines as much as possible. I want to sell some quail chicks as I have already got a few people interested. So I need to have all the proper permits in place before I do.
(I am about 50 miles west of Peoria)

 

[Kenny001]

I’m new to the BYC. I’m glad I found it. I’m thinking about raising quail but wasn’t sure about the regulations. @BReeder! im about 10mins away from you in Romeoville. How hard are quail to keep?

 

[BReeder!]

I’m new to the BYC. I’m glad I found it. I’m thinking about raising quail but wasn’t sure about the regulations. @BReeder! im about 10mins away from you in Romeoville. How hard are quail to keep?

First,
Romeoville is not far at all. It's great to meet another person close to me.
As for the quail, they really are not that difficult. I went crazy and order 100 eggs and ended up with ~45 birds. Brooding was a bit messy simply due to the sheer number of birds I had, but it has not been particularly difficult. I raised day old chicks twice now in much smaller numbers (5 the first time and 2 the second time). The maintenance is very comparable. We try to keep things simple and easy as possible. The two things that have made it easier to raise so many quail at once are a DIY waterer and a large feeder. The DIY waterer is made of 2" PVC and poultry waterer cups. I believe there's 5 or 6 poultry cups on it and it holds well over a gallon plus I could attach it to a larger reservoir later if I wanted with just a few PVC parts. The feeder is store bought, but it's a 3lb feeder. The chick feeder troughs and jar feeders are useless with a large number of birds because the like to eat a lot. Also, they like to knock over the jar feeders once they get low. I will say, incubating quail eggs was my first go at incubating, and while I'm excited to incubate again it certainly comes with painful moments of newly hatched chicks dying or suffering from handicaps and the need to cull chicks. Not everybody can handle that - my wife couldn't watch, especially after she spent days trying to nurse a few handicapped chicks who just were not thriving. Overall though, DO IT! GET QUAIL!

 

[Kenny001]

Awesome thanks for the tips. Yea I think I’m gonna go ahead and dive in. First I want to have everything setup. I might want to start off with like 5 or so. Would you be interested in selling some eggs?

 

[BReeder!]

Awesome thanks for the tips. Yea I think I’m gonna go ahead and dive in. First I want to have everything setup. I might want to start off with like 5 or so. Would you be interested in selling some eggs?

Mine are not laying just yet. They will be very soon. They are over 7 weeks old. I expect eggs in a week or two. I'd give you the eggs for free since I will not have a good gauge on fertility rate. I have not finished building my breeder cages yet so they are all just in a big cage (8'x3') together as a covey. I'm pretty sure the male to female ratio is insane though since I haven't culled them yet. That's scheduled to happen next weekend when they are past 8 weeks of age. You would have to wait just about 2-3 weeks for eggs from me. That's time for you to get things setup though. Feel free to message me.

 

[Kenny001]

Thanks I really appreciate it. Yea that would perfect so I can start building their setup. Good to know I’m not the only crazy one in the area.