Keeping Quail cool in the heat

[rick0200]

I've been raising quail now for about a year and a half. The roughest part of raising these hardy little birds is watching them suffer the heat. I live in NW Indiana and we can get some pretty hot, humid days without wind on a steady basis throughout the summer. Average temps in June, july, august can be in the 90's or even higher. I've watched my birds and they start panting in the upper 80's so I know the 90's have to be tough on them. I've scoured the forums looking for ideas, thoughts and just about anything I can find to keep them cooler and lessen their heat stress. I have my birds outdoors in wire cages under a white canopy, now a silver heat reflective canopy. But, they still suffer when there is no air movement. I put fans on them, ice in their water and was using water bottles. When I realized that they were standing on the frozen water bottles, I thought about how I could increase the frozen surface for more of the birds to use. I have anywhere from four to five birds per cage and I have four cages. Here is what I am doing now and it's working nicely so far. I take 1 gallon freezer bags and fill them about 1/4 full of water. I push out all or most of the air so that they'll lay flat and place them on baking sheets. I then insert them into the freezer and now I have flat sheets of ice for the birds to walk on that have some surface area. Just thought I'd share this. I haven't seen anyone else doing this.

 

[Patiocoturnix]

I've been raising quail now for about a year and a half. The roughest part of raising these hardy little birds is watching them suffer the heat. I live in NW Indiana and we can get some pretty hot, humid days without wind on a steady basis throughout the summer. Average temps in June, july, august can be in the 90's or even higher. I've watched my birds and they start panting in the upper 80's so I know the 90's have to be tough on them. I've scoured the forums looking for ideas, thoughts and just about anything I can find to keep them cooler and lessen their heat stress. I have my birds outdoors in wire cages under a white canopy, now a silver heat reflective canopy. But, they still suffer when there is no air movement. I put fans on them, ice in their water and was using water bottles. When I realized that they were standing on the frozen water bottles, I thought about how I could increase the frozen surface for more of the birds to use. I have anywhere from four to five birds per cage and I have four cages. Here is what I am doing now and it's working nicely so far. I take 1 gallon freezer bags and fill them about 1/4 full of water. I push out all or most of the air so that they'll lay flat and place them on baking sheets. I then insert them into the freezer and now I have flat sheets of ice for the birds to walk on that have some surface area. Just thought I'd share this. I haven't seen anyone else doing this.

That is actually pretty smart an I might try that when I make my bigger cages.I live in fl and the heat here has been in the 100s so I covered thier cage with a sheet and use ice bottles so this idea might help.

 

[Charlie Wooster]

I just use fans and they are fine.. it’s been 100-105° last week and heat index 115-117°.. I’d be worried about damage to their feet, their feet do not regulate their body temperature but panting does.. I could imagine when the feet go numb from standing on ice permanent damage may occur.. a better idea would be to stand up or hang the ice bags where they can walk around them and feel the cooler temps around their bodies.. keep us posted..

 

[Charlie Wooster]

Panting is not necessarily a bad thing. Same with dogs.. that’s how they regulate their temperature.. and they have for thousands of years.. shade, fresh cool water (not cold), and air flow is all they really need..

 

[Soulsinabottle]

That's a good idea. If you have a sealer you could probably make sealed bags that you won't have to worry about them leaking. I have a vacuum sealer so maybe I'll make a few, it doesn't generally get very hot here in Maine, low 90s for a few days in the summer is the worst of it usually, but a freak heat wave is always possible. would be good to have on hand.

 

[rick0200]

I just use fans and they are fine.. it’s been 100-105° last week and heat index 115-117°.. I’d be worried about damage to their feet, their feet do not regulate their body temperature but panting does.. I could imagine when the feet go numb from standing on ice permanent damage may occur.. a better idea would be to stand up or hang the ice bags where they can walk around them and feel the cooler temps around their bodies.. keep us posted..

They don't seem to stand on them too long. Just a minute or two. But I do like the hanging idea. I just ordered lunch box Ice packs that are heavy plastic and about 1/2" thick so it's easier to walk on. https://amzn.to/3JJZ5Az I'll have to keep an eye on them when we use them. But I don't think they'd stand on them to the point they'd freeze their feet. I may have to try hanging these.

 

[007Sean]

As Charlie has stated, ' 100° to 107°F and a heat index of 112° to 119°F here in South Central Texas, shade, cool fresh water, and a good breeze is enough to keep the birds from dying in this heat. If I'm home during the hottest part of the day, I will spray down the pens with water. And some of my pens have a brush arbor on top of the runs, I wet this down too, evaporative cooling effect.

 

[Mallards and Quail]

The high where I live in Texas has been 107 degrees, their whole enclosure is mostly shade, but I do give them a little pan that I put cool water in and they dip their feet in and thats all they need. Make sure they have plenty of drinking water as well.