NY Coturnix
Songster
With the temps dropping over the last couple of days, S Tier of NY, I try to check my quail water a couple times a day if I can. I had left work early for a Dr appointment yesterday and got home around 3 which is 2 hours earlier than normal. It was nice because I'm normally out with quail in the dark but the sun was still up. I have one pen that I have separated 3 hens on one side and 4 males on other. They are extras and we all know what's coming. Anyway....when I got to their pen I only had 1 male. The other 3 were gone. I quickly checked the other side, separated by a piece of cardboard, and my 3 hens were there. I looked everywhere and no sign. No feathers. No tracks. All I can think is that when I was feeding and watering in the morning I must have lost my mind because the snap was there but I think I missed closing the latch. I had to run to town to pick up my wife from work so I had my son walk the property and check all the bushes while I was gone. 20 min later my son call and had found the quail. I was sure he was going to say they had been killed by something. We had a huge snow storm back in Dec and it has slowly melted and frozen so anyone in the north knows that frozen snow doesn't leave tracks but he found some about 20 feet behind the pen heading toward our creek. These little buggers had gone down a 10 foot bank across a creek and where hiding under a tree root about 50 feet down the creek. I still can't believe he found them. Have no idea how long they were out. The high yesterday was 18.
Now my wife says we're keeping them so I need to build another pen.
Now my wife says we're keeping them so I need to build another pen.
