ChanP
Songster
- Jun 10, 2021
- 78
- 210
- 121
Just for those of you who are thinking of keeping adult egg-laying coturnix quail here's exactly what I do...
It work well for me and I have never had any serious problems.
I keep 13 quails outside in an aviary: 12 females and one male. I hatched all of them so they are quite friendly and eat out of my hand. Also I can catch them with hardly any trouble. Two females are younger - been laying for about 1/2 months now and are different coturnix varieties. The older ones are about 7/8 months old and are half and half Japanese (brown) and Italian (white with speckled), and they all get along perfectly as they were raised together. The older ones all came from a brilliant website: moonridgefarm, who sell the hatching eggs and also older POL (point-of-lay) quails, as well as a lot of other poultry.
The aviary has an mostly open 6-foot tall run, which is very open to the outdoors except for two sides and some shading from a plant outside. It doesn't get as hot - or cold - as the rest of the garden and the quails are never uncomfortable. The run is 8 x 4ft, with an attached inside area (shed) that is about 2 x 2ft. They have plenty of space each and the only time they have ever fought has been when I added another male that I raised, but I got rid of it and they're fine now.
The base of the outside area is a thick layer of bird sand, which has grit in it to help digestion, and this not only keeps cool, but provides them with sand baths most of the year round. The inside has straw, which I rarely have to clean out as they prefer to spend time outside, but they do lay eggs indoors which keeps them clean. I've also planted some bamboo and some other small plants for shade and there are some rocks which they love to go under. Their food and water is outside too.
They way I know that they are all very healthy and happy is that I currently get 10/11 eggs a day from 12 laying females, which is brilliant! I kept the male with them because if they ever get startled he calms them down. When I first put them in the cage they would startle when I went in there and fly up and hit the wire netting, but now they are very calm and come to me for treats!
I've never had a problem with any sick or poorly quails, and when some females did get pecked from the new male, I found that the best cure is a bit of TLC. I moved them into the garage where I kept the injured quails separate in dog crates with some fresh bedding, food and water, and they healed very quickly once they weren't stressed.
For those of you who are having trouble getting your coturnix quails to lay - don't worry. My quails laid pretty late, and I think it was due to them moulting in November/December, and then the winter months when they didn't have enough sunlight hours. To lay, your quails need a stress-free environment. Not too many males to females (note: I only have one to keep the peace as I'm hatching the eggs), enough space (at least 1 square foot per bird), enough shelter so that they aren't completely open to the weather, and food and water always available. They can lay once they are 6 weeks, but if you just bought and settled them, don't expect them to lay until they have got used to their new environment. Also, give them time. It took my quails a few weeks to lay well, and the number of eggs gradually increased until I was getting 10/11 out of 12 eggs every day.
I feed them Heygates food - chick superstarter crumbs from 0-4 weeks, growers pellets 4-8 weeks, and layers pellets from then on. Brilliant food, and at about £17 per 20kg if you get it delivered. This lasts just under 2 months. You could probably get it for around £10 if you had the time to collect it as many different shops stock it.
Hope this information is helpful, and please feel free to ask any questions about my quails, although I can't promise that I will answer quickly. Hope you find it as enjoyable and rewarding to raise quails as I did.
It work well for me and I have never had any serious problems.
I keep 13 quails outside in an aviary: 12 females and one male. I hatched all of them so they are quite friendly and eat out of my hand. Also I can catch them with hardly any trouble. Two females are younger - been laying for about 1/2 months now and are different coturnix varieties. The older ones are about 7/8 months old and are half and half Japanese (brown) and Italian (white with speckled), and they all get along perfectly as they were raised together. The older ones all came from a brilliant website: moonridgefarm, who sell the hatching eggs and also older POL (point-of-lay) quails, as well as a lot of other poultry.
The aviary has an mostly open 6-foot tall run, which is very open to the outdoors except for two sides and some shading from a plant outside. It doesn't get as hot - or cold - as the rest of the garden and the quails are never uncomfortable. The run is 8 x 4ft, with an attached inside area (shed) that is about 2 x 2ft. They have plenty of space each and the only time they have ever fought has been when I added another male that I raised, but I got rid of it and they're fine now.
The base of the outside area is a thick layer of bird sand, which has grit in it to help digestion, and this not only keeps cool, but provides them with sand baths most of the year round. The inside has straw, which I rarely have to clean out as they prefer to spend time outside, but they do lay eggs indoors which keeps them clean. I've also planted some bamboo and some other small plants for shade and there are some rocks which they love to go under. Their food and water is outside too.
They way I know that they are all very healthy and happy is that I currently get 10/11 eggs a day from 12 laying females, which is brilliant! I kept the male with them because if they ever get startled he calms them down. When I first put them in the cage they would startle when I went in there and fly up and hit the wire netting, but now they are very calm and come to me for treats!
I've never had a problem with any sick or poorly quails, and when some females did get pecked from the new male, I found that the best cure is a bit of TLC. I moved them into the garage where I kept the injured quails separate in dog crates with some fresh bedding, food and water, and they healed very quickly once they weren't stressed.
For those of you who are having trouble getting your coturnix quails to lay - don't worry. My quails laid pretty late, and I think it was due to them moulting in November/December, and then the winter months when they didn't have enough sunlight hours. To lay, your quails need a stress-free environment. Not too many males to females (note: I only have one to keep the peace as I'm hatching the eggs), enough space (at least 1 square foot per bird), enough shelter so that they aren't completely open to the weather, and food and water always available. They can lay once they are 6 weeks, but if you just bought and settled them, don't expect them to lay until they have got used to their new environment. Also, give them time. It took my quails a few weeks to lay well, and the number of eggs gradually increased until I was getting 10/11 out of 12 eggs every day.
I feed them Heygates food - chick superstarter crumbs from 0-4 weeks, growers pellets 4-8 weeks, and layers pellets from then on. Brilliant food, and at about £17 per 20kg if you get it delivered. This lasts just under 2 months. You could probably get it for around £10 if you had the time to collect it as many different shops stock it.
Hope this information is helpful, and please feel free to ask any questions about my quails, although I can't promise that I will answer quickly. Hope you find it as enjoyable and rewarding to raise quails as I did.
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