Lighting for quail

[dc3085]

If youll look closely at the link i shared youll see that LED lights dont produce an ideal spectrum of light under almost any circumstances.

 

[SuseyQ]

Tabasco Jack,
Sounds like you have a pretty large setup. How many do you keep in each hutch? Do you keep the males and females together? What is your ratio of males to females? Clearly I have a lot to think about and it appears good planning and preparation is one of the keys to success with these birds.

Thank You,
SuseyQ

 

[Tabasco Jack]

Tabasco Jack,
Sounds like you have a pretty large setup. How many do you keep in each hutch? Do you keep the males and females together? What is your ratio of males to females? Clearly I have a lot to think about and it appears good planning and preparation is one of the keys to success with these birds.

Thank You,
SuseyQ

Not really large. Right now I have 4 cages occupied with one male and 3-5 female in each. And 4 empty cages. I just posted this morning a photo of my cage in another thread. My last incubation of last year was 100 eggs set and 95 hatched. Those all went into a 2' x 4' brooder for 2 weeks. Then I split them by half into another brooder of the same size for another 2 weeks. Then they go into two 3' x 6' cage/boxes until I decide which ones to keep and which ones to process. The keepers go into the breeder cages at 6 - 8 weeks old.

And i'm aware that LED lighting is not the best, but it's a trade off I'm willing to make considering they use less power and since my birds are outside, it's only on for a few hours in the AM.

 

[JetCat]

And i'm aware that LED lighting is not the best, but it's a trade off I'm willing to make considering they use less power and since my birds are outside, it's only on for a few hours in the AM.

i keep mine inside a building with no windows (it's attic ventilated) so no light at all other then artificial, they are in battery pens 24x48in, they have only a single 3 watt LED on one end of each pen, it's 2700K puts out only 240lm and they are very healthy and lay an egg every single day regardless of temp. i wouldn't worry too much about your setup.

 

[SuseyQ]

JetCat,
So you don't need any natural light at all, wow, I'm surprised about that, but I guess they adjust pretty well to different environments. What is a battery pen and how many quail do you put in that size pen? The more I think about it the more I think I should put them indoors since we have a retriever pup now and we will soon have a Beagle pup. I don't want them going after the quail for sure. There is plenty of stuff in my yard for them to go after but if I have a concentrated area with bird aroma it might drive them crazy, especially the beagle.

Thank You,
SuseyQ

 

[DK newbie]

JetCat,
So you don't need any natural light at all, wow, I'm surprised about that, but I guess they adjust pretty well to different environments.

Most pelleted feeds has vitamin D, which is the main thing they get from direct (not through a window) natural light or full spectrum lights that normal lights can't give them. If their diet has sufficient amounts of vitamin D, they don't need special lights. With some birds the infra red light (or was it ultra violet?) from the sun or full spectrum bulbs seem to affect their willingness to breed (birds can see infra red (or was it ultra violet?) light, so it probably changes the color of the feathers in their eyes), but it's not my impression that coturnix have any problems with regards to breeding willingness..

 

[SuseyQ]

DK newbie,
Is there a specific pelleted food you could recommend? This is really neat to learn! I'd like having them in a building more than outdoors.

Thank you for this insight,
SuseyQ

 

[JetCat]

............. What is a battery pen and how many quail do you put in that size pen?

a battery is when you 'stack' multiple pens on top of each other with litter trays, mine are 3 levels high each, i keep 20 hen and 4 roosters in each level.

 

[SuseyQ]

JetCat,
Those are nice pens. What type of litter trays are you using? Is there some type of slide out drawer? Do you have a nesting and sand bath area? I'm assuming you couldn't breed any of the chicks in one pen with any of the males in that pen because it's hard to discern which male fertilized the egg, is this correct? Have you ever tried smaller pens with just 5-7 hens and 1 male? Do you males in these larger pens fight? Or do they seem satisfied.

Thank you for sharing. I'm still trying to locate some chicks or eggs. Once I decide on a location I will get my setup going. I'm really getting excited.
SuseyQ

 

[JetCat]

JetCat,
Those are nice pens. What type of litter trays are you using? Is there some type of slide out drawer? Do you have a nesting and sand bath area? I'm assuming you couldn't breed any of the chicks in one pen with any of the males in that pen because it's hard to discern which male fertilized the egg, is this correct? Have you ever tried smaller pens with just 5-7 hens and 1 male? Do you males in these larger pens fight? Or do they seem satisfied.

Thank you for sharing. I'm still trying to locate some chicks or eggs. Once I decide on a location I will get my setup going. I'm really getting excited.
SuseyQ

the litter pans are slide out trays and i only have dust baths as i don't see a need for a nesting area. as for breeding, i don't breed back birds of different ages so it's not an issue. i used smaller pens back in the late 70s early 80s because i thought i had to have every variety of quail/chucker/pheasants i could get my hands on and i wasn't trying to raise them just keep a hobby collection.