Quote: Unless OP decides to get Chinese painted button quail. They're monogamous.
Keeping Quail Indoors???
- Thread starter Dolly1218
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Now Im confused
Coturnix are 1 male, several females. 3 is fine. 1 is fine, actually, if there is only one male. But otherwise, you need at least 3 females per male. More females is better.
Buttons are monogamous--1 male, 1 female.
Hope that helps.
Buttons are monogamous--1 male, 1 female.
Hope that helps.
If you keep Coturnix 1 to 1 your hen will be featherless. The males are very viral and will chase the poor girl around pulling on her head feathers. Kept 3 to 1 the hens will submit to mating rather than be raped. At 3to1 your egg fertility will still be very high.
That's right. I forget that most people keep them in closer quarters than I do. Mine are in a 10x10 aviary, so when kept 1 to 1, the female has plenty of places to go. And they each have 50 sq ft to themselves. In close quarters the way most quail are kept, females kept alone with a male will end up scalped. Thank you for the clarification!
Mine are in a 10x10 aviary, so when kept 1 to 1, the female has plenty of places to go. And they each have 50 sq ft to themselves. In close quarters the way most quail are kept, females kept alone with a male will end up scalped. Thank you for the clarification!
Your welcome. Mine are currently in a greenhouse for the winter on the ground and loving it. After a butcher session I am down to 18. 4 roos and 14 hens. I had taken 11 little tuxs from a friend that had hatched them and was shocked at how they fight. Well of her 11 only one was a hen! I had to butcher all of her brothers because of aggression. Which is fine as they were tiny compared to mine and I am not fond of tuxedo. I have noticed that they do not flock together as it would seem they would, but instead wander around alone of with one other.
- Sep 9, 2012
- 124
- 28
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I keep my buttons indoors. Here are a few things i've learned:
-feed the highest quality organic food you can find, and supplement their diet with spirulina and wheat grass powder if you can. The reason for this is that commercial game bird crumbles make for poo that is eye-wateringly stinky. The blue-green algae and grass powder contain chlorophyll which is a good de-funking agent.
-corn cob husk bedding is absorbent and inexpensive, as well as gentle on the birds' feet.
-provide an artificial light source for 12-14 hours per day and preferably one that provides UVB light. Otherwise, your birds will stop laying and may end up with metabolic bone disorders. If you don't want to shell out for the special light (they are available at most pet stores, but somewhat expensive) then you'll need to put your birds outside for a few hours every week or so and allow them to soak up the sun.
-clipping your button quail's wings on one side will prevent them from flying and they'll eventually "boink" less often.
-female buttons can happily live in groups without a male. They'll still lay delicious eggs, though the eggs won't be fertile.
-if you offer a sand bath (which you should!) choose a cage with high plastic sides like a deep guinea pig or rabbit cage. That sand flies everywhere!!
-mine enjoy an empty fish oil capsule as a toy. I poked a hole in the capsule and squeezed out the oil over their food, and the leftover capsule is about the size of a button quail football. The girls love to chase each other and play tug of war for it.
-my tuxedo and golden pearl girls seem to lay smaller eggs and lay less often than my "wild type" girls. This may not be true of all button quail, and could have something to do with the breeding practices of an individual breeder. Hard to say, as i don't know anyone else who has multiple colors and monitors their eggs production that closely!
Regardless of which species of quail you choose, i hope you get as much delight from them as i've had. I honestly think that bringing quail into my life was one of the wisest decisions i've ever made!
-feed the highest quality organic food you can find, and supplement their diet with spirulina and wheat grass powder if you can. The reason for this is that commercial game bird crumbles make for poo that is eye-wateringly stinky. The blue-green algae and grass powder contain chlorophyll which is a good de-funking agent.
-corn cob husk bedding is absorbent and inexpensive, as well as gentle on the birds' feet.
-provide an artificial light source for 12-14 hours per day and preferably one that provides UVB light. Otherwise, your birds will stop laying and may end up with metabolic bone disorders. If you don't want to shell out for the special light (they are available at most pet stores, but somewhat expensive) then you'll need to put your birds outside for a few hours every week or so and allow them to soak up the sun.
-clipping your button quail's wings on one side will prevent them from flying and they'll eventually "boink" less often.
-female buttons can happily live in groups without a male. They'll still lay delicious eggs, though the eggs won't be fertile.
-if you offer a sand bath (which you should!) choose a cage with high plastic sides like a deep guinea pig or rabbit cage. That sand flies everywhere!!
-mine enjoy an empty fish oil capsule as a toy. I poked a hole in the capsule and squeezed out the oil over their food, and the leftover capsule is about the size of a button quail football. The girls love to chase each other and play tug of war for it.
-my tuxedo and golden pearl girls seem to lay smaller eggs and lay less often than my "wild type" girls. This may not be true of all button quail, and could have something to do with the breeding practices of an individual breeder. Hard to say, as i don't know anyone else who has multiple colors and monitors their eggs production that closely!
Regardless of which species of quail you choose, i hope you get as much delight from them as i've had. I honestly think that bringing quail into my life was one of the wisest decisions i've ever made!
- Sep 29, 2012
- 59
- 10
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I have had quail inside quite a bit. They like to be on the ground at foot level and dont need to fly around or perch. So think along the lines of low and flat with room horizontal instead of vertical. Set the cage on the floor.
I believe wire hurts their feet but many quail are raised in commercial establishments that have nothing but wire. I just dont like it for my birds. Hay or straw or wood chips over wire is a good arrangement. We have hay and they nestle down in it and pick around for the seed heads. Once it is soiled, the hay sticks to the poop and it all rolls up like a carpet and comes out in big easy to handle sections. This idea works so good, I am using it now in the large chicken house. Clean up is a breeze.
Fish tanks work good, but there is a potential hazard lurking. If the water were to spill, you would have standing water in the bottom. I had some young quail that tipped the water a little and all the water siphoned out. I heard their distress call from the other room and when I found them, several were near death. There as about a quarter inch of water but it just stressed them out real bad and I lost 2 that night.
A soft top is important. Quail will jump up and smash into the lid hard enough for injury or worse. Loose cloth under the wire lid sounds like a good plan.
They love love love to get into sand and dirt. Nothing fancier from a quail's view. But they toss the sand and dirt here and there so if you can figure out an area that they can get in and toss the sand and dirt around without tossing it outside the cage, that is the way to go.
All females together are ok. You will get just as many eggs with or without a male. If you have a male, the correct ration is 3-4 females to 1 male.
If you give them some outside time, a covered pen is best. Again, the ground is what they like. The outside pen either needs to be low enough that they cant get much upward speed or tall enough that their flight trajectory turns from straight vertical to more horizontal .
Good luck and have fun
I believe wire hurts their feet but many quail are raised in commercial establishments that have nothing but wire. I just dont like it for my birds. Hay or straw or wood chips over wire is a good arrangement. We have hay and they nestle down in it and pick around for the seed heads. Once it is soiled, the hay sticks to the poop and it all rolls up like a carpet and comes out in big easy to handle sections. This idea works so good, I am using it now in the large chicken house. Clean up is a breeze.
Fish tanks work good, but there is a potential hazard lurking. If the water were to spill, you would have standing water in the bottom. I had some young quail that tipped the water a little and all the water siphoned out. I heard their distress call from the other room and when I found them, several were near death. There as about a quarter inch of water but it just stressed them out real bad and I lost 2 that night.
A soft top is important. Quail will jump up and smash into the lid hard enough for injury or worse. Loose cloth under the wire lid sounds like a good plan.
They love love love to get into sand and dirt. Nothing fancier from a quail's view. But they toss the sand and dirt here and there so if you can figure out an area that they can get in and toss the sand and dirt around without tossing it outside the cage, that is the way to go.
All females together are ok. You will get just as many eggs with or without a male. If you have a male, the correct ration is 3-4 females to 1 male.
If you give them some outside time, a covered pen is best. Again, the ground is what they like. The outside pen either needs to be low enough that they cant get much upward speed or tall enough that their flight trajectory turns from straight vertical to more horizontal .
Good luck and have fun
All of our quail are raised in the house because Ohio weather is just too unpredictable and they are intolerant to drastic changes. Though many commercial breeders with a lot of quail swear by cages with wire floors, we've kept ours in a guinea pig cage like the ones you buy at pet shops and never had any issues with their feet, just as long as you keep their cage clean and give each quail a reasonable amount of room.
My Coturnix are outside in Anchorage Ak. Last week it was 10 below this week 45 above
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