Illinois...

[Faraday40]

Yes, every girl wants her pony. For us it's basically getting a dog big enough to ride.... like a Great Dane. LOL

My son always gets socks for Christmas. He manages to ruin more socks than I can count. In preschool he used to take them off (& then come home with one). How does that happen? ..... and on a regular basis!?

Well at conferences we discovered his nickname was "One Shoe" boy. He would take off one shoe & one sock. When asked his reply was simply, "That foot was hot."

 

[Faraday40]

Did you keep them outdoors in winter? I am finding a lot of varying opinions on how quail fair winter on wire. I'm going to add a solid miniature coop structure to the end of each cage. I'm thinking that should be sufficient if the can pile in and take advantage of body heat.

My quail did fine outside in the winter. It was the frozen water that was a pain. I switched the set up from Dec - early March. I have a piece of linoleum that I put down over the wire floor of the hutch area & an L-shaped piece of wood to use as a lip to prevent bedding material from falling out through the 2 doorways. My winter set up also had a tarp over the whole thing. On warmer winter days, I'd flip it back to give them extra light, but they never layed eggs in winter anyway, so I think it was just to make me feel better. What was strange is that the quail would still sometimes sleep outside of the warmer hutch area. They are not smart birds, but at least I never had any freeze. When we were headed for those -20'F to -40'F nights, I just put them in the garage with a heat lamp. After a few weeks of the artificial light, they started laying, so I kept them in the temporary garage cages for about another month to enjoy the eggs.

 

[chickendreams24]

Whoops yeah I should have been more clear.

Unless you're looking to specifically choose breeders I wouldn't let them grow out more than 6-8 weeks.

I really enjoy/enjoyed our quail we did seem to have some pretty cold hardy quail and ours did fine in the coop or our unheated porch. Without heat lamps unless in got well below zero.

I will say several of our last ones that died very suddenly were quite old for quail from what I've heard and read but they did seem to be effected by the cold despite it not being real bad yet.

I wouldn't leave them out in winter unprotected and definitely not just on wire. With nothing to stop the wind blowing up under them. That being said it's mostly farm land around us and the wind gets wicked and cold as heck.

I will say this other than the hardware cloth floor in the covered area of the tractor none of our quail have ever been on wire and I find I prefer it that way. Over grown toenails, sore calloused feet, lameness and bumble foot are all possible on wire. I've seen/talked to the man I know that raises quail about such things.

Also the quail poo doesn't fall through the, I forget if it's 1/2 or 1/4 inch, hardware cloth we used. We tip the tractor up to hose it off once in a while. While the quail hang out in a dog crate or box. The tractor was also built large enough to be used as a chick grow out or small breeding pen.

The quail are excellent foragers and I love them in there but they're not really bright it's true. The would often sleep in a corner of the unprotected part of the tractor. That is why we lost several to a raccoon last year. Hence the plan to make a door so they can be locked in for protection at night and from inclement weather.

 

[BReeder!]

Whoops yeah I should have been more clear.

Unless you're looking to specifically choose breeders I wouldn't let them grow out more than 6-8 weeks.

I really enjoy/enjoyed our quail we did seem to have some pretty cold hardy quail and ours did fine in the coop or our unheated porch. Without heat lamps unless in got well below zero.

I will say several of our last ones that died very suddenly were quite old for quail from what I've heard and read but they did seem to be effected by the cold despite it not being real bad yet.

I wouldn't leave them out in winter unprotected and definitely not just on wire. With nothing to stop the wind blowing up under them. That being said it's mostly farm land around us and the wind gets wicked and cold as heck.

I will say this other than the hardware cloth floor in the covered area of the tractor none of our quail have ever been on wire and I find I prefer it that way. Over grown toenails, sore calloused feet, lameness and bumble foot are all possible on wire. I've seen/talked to the man I know that raises quail about such things.

Also the quail poo doesn't fall through the, I forget if it's 1/2 or 1/4 inch, hardware cloth we used. We tip the tractor up to hose it off once in a while. While the quail hang out in a dog crate or box. The tractor was also built large enough to be used as a chick grow out or small breeding pen.

The quail are excellent foragers and I love them in there but they're not really bright it's true. The would often sleep in a corner of the unprotected part of the tractor. That is why we lost several to a raccoon last year. Hence the plan to make a door so they can be locked in for protection at night and from inclement weather.

Most of my quail will be for meat over time. Once I establish layers (lots of them) and a number of breeders, the majority of our future hatches will go to the freezer once large enough, only growing out the best few to add to our breeder stock and replenishing/refreshing the layer stock when necessary.

I am going to do movable hutches 8'x3'x2' or 8'x2.5'x2'. This way I can move them into the shed or garage during winter. I'm really considering turning the whole shed into a quail operation, but I have a lot of tools and hardware in their that I would have to find a place for, and it's not all going into my already messy garage. I need to be able to still park two cars in the two car garage.
The hutches will have wire floor through 3/4 of the length (8ft total) with a few containers for dust bathing and branches and perhaps some foliage to give the quail something to hide under and wander around. The other 1/4 of the length will be 2' of solid floor and enclosed as a tiny coop. I intend to lock them in the tiny coops on cool nights if necessary. I do want to provide them a good home, but I also need to be realistic about the space I am able/willing to dedicate to them and the amount of time I intend to keep each bird (most only for 6-8 weeks, at least half of which they will be in a brooder (100 gallon rubbermaid trough converted to brooder). The layers and breeders will have some solid flooring. And during good weather I could set the hutches directly on the ground (mulch, dirt, or grass) making if a wire bottom tractor. The wire will be able to sit directly on the ground, so that would elevate pressure on their toes/feet. But I'll have the plus side of not having to clean the floors much and no standing water or wet ground as I can lift them onto racks during inclement weather.
Let's hope it actually works out that way. I am going to try to build at least 1 2 tier mobile hutch containing two removable cage/tractor units. I'll need 2 hutches (4 cages in total) by the time we fully populate our quail program, which I think will take 2 or 3 breeding cycles assuming that I get at least 60 hatches out of our 100 eggs.
Oh yea! I upped the egg order to 100 after ordering those quail trays that will allow me to incubate up to 120 at a time using the auto rotator. All in!

 

[cavemanrich]

You may gently try to find out if there are any restrictions on processing your quail in your community/town. In Chicago, you are allowed to keep chickens but restricted from killing them even for your personal use. I'm sure peeps do it so nobody knows about it. Option for them is to take to a live poultry shop that is licensed to do such.
I would not start bragging to neighbors that you are raising quail, and enjoying the nutritious meat. Just claim that you eat the eggs, and sell the rest of your extra quail .

 

[BReeder!]

You may gently try to find out if there are any restrictions on processing your quail in your community/town. In Chicago, you are allowed to keep chickens but restricted from killing them even for your personal use. I'm sure peeps do it so nobody knows about it. Option for them is to take to a live poultry shop that is licensed to do such.
I would not start bragging to neighbors that you are raising quail, and enjoying the nutritious meat. Just claim that you eat the eggs, and sell the rest of your extra quail .

Same here in that I am supposed to take them to a shop to be processed. There is a butcher just 5 minutes away who will process game. That's an option. I could also just take them out to family or friends in more rural area with less restrictions for processing.

 

[cavemanrich]

I just thought I would mention this so you would keep a low profile. My DD lives in Plainfield also, but in her community, she, nor anyone else could keep chickens. Some places stick to strict rules, that seem overboard.

 

[BReeder!]

I just thought I would mention this so you would keep a low profile. My DD lives in Plainfield also, but in her community, she, nor anyone else could keep chickens. Some places stick to strict rules, that seem overboard.

What a shame. She must have an HOA policy that prevents them. The local ordinance allows chickens with a one time permit. Only up to 8 hens and no roos though. No ordinance specific to quail - isn't of state laws around Bobwhite quail it seems though so sick to Coturnix.
I fortunately do not have an HOA - really not a fan of a group of my neighbors getting to tell me what I cannot do. I get along with my neighbors and we all are alive to communicate if the is a problem rather than go file a complaint to an HOA.
If your DD wants poultry, could she keep a small quail hutch with a 5 or 6 birds? I have been reading in other forums and articles on quail that many people raise them in an all numbers ad a substitute for chickens because of local ordinance or HOA policy against chickens. A small number of quail is just some pet birds that happen to lay eggs. Its even possible to keep quail in your house if you are raising them in a cage or hutch.

 

[BReeder!]

New topic for you. I am sure to come back to quail when the eggs arrive Monday or Tuesday.
I found 1 drop of blood in my chicken coop below my roost. There was one of my LB roosting just above it. The drop was still bright red. There was a single long feather (tail feather maybe) next to the drop.and the quill looked a bit red. I checked the LB and the other birds. No bleeding or scabs or anything could be found. Checked feet, wings, combs, toe nails, beaks, etc. Nothing. Could the drop be from the feather quill? Perhaps the feather was pulled out by another hen even. Thre was no blood on my beautifully white LB. Black feathers near the tail could have hid signs of a small bleed possibly though.

 

[Faraday40]

New topic for you. I am sure to come back to quail when the eggs arrive Monday or Tuesday.
I found 1 drop of blood in my chicken coop below my roost. There was one of my LB roosting just above it. The drop was still bright red. There was a single long feather (tail feather maybe) next to the drop.and the quill looked a bit red. I checked the LB and the other birds. No bleeding or scabs or anything could be found. Checked feet, wings, combs, toe nails, beaks, etc. Nothing. Could the drop be from the feather quill? Perhaps the feather was pulled out by another hen even. Thre was no blood on my beautifully white LB. Black feathers near the tail could have hid signs of a small bleed possibly though.

When I see blood on the roost, the 1st thing I check is the feet. Just like the quick of a dog nail, chickens can nick the quick and begin to bleed. It's easy to fix by cleaning it up and applying corn starch with a little pressure. If its bad or reopens, try some triple antibiotic, corn stach, & a bandage.

The feathers when growing have blood in the shaft, so if a blood feather is somehow cut, it will bleed. Also if the feather was plucked, it can bleed. If you catch it while bleeding, corn starch again.

Nicked combs can also bleed a lot. Sometimes the hens get grumpy when confined during winter.

None of these injuries are uncommon & can be easily treated. If you don't have one, make up a little chicken 1st aid kit. It's faster than running about your house looking for materials while holding a bloody hen & more sanitary to let the chickens have their own stuff.