Mistakes I Made In My Quailing Experince. 7 Things You Can Do To Avoid Learning The Hard Way!

[strawberricatt]

~1. Using a heat pad for brooding.
This is by far the worst mistake I have ever made while raising quail. The heat pad is fine when raising ducks or chickens but it is a death trap for quail. So I'll be honest with you I have only raised two quail. Ever. 1 Coturnix and 1 Button. The brooder I was using killed the rest. NEVER: Use a heat pad, always use a heating lightbulb. Orange and red give of the most heat. Don't use a neon bulb because they don't produce any heat.

~2. Running the brooder/incubator on limited power.
This costed quite a few chicks their lives. We live in the middle of nowhere so have very limited power. The heat pad and limited power were a disasterous combo. NEVER: run a brooder and a incubator on limited power.

~3. Just dumping quail in a small unsafe cage.
This was the first mistake I ever made. The first issue was when I got my button quail pair. I had a cheap cage from some supplier that we hadn't used in forever. So when I bought them home I dumped them in that. I learnt the hard way. NEVER: Put your quail in an unsafe cage.

~4. Bringing quail out of their cage in an unsafe area.
I lost my male button Elijah this way. They were a feral pair I got from a pet shop. I didn't think they could fly because of their tiny wingspan. The first time I got him out to clip his claws. And he darted away. I quickly closed the cage and raced to retreive him. I found him in an old beebox. I think he was a little stunned from his first flight so grabbed him and put him away. The second time I was feeding them so he just slinked past me. And flew off. His mate was nesting at the time and when he left she was very distressed. NEVER: Bring your quail out or feed them in an unsafe spot. Always have a feeding door.

~5. Having unsafe latches.
This was how I lost my button hen. The latch was a bit of wood that you turned to realease the door. Anyway, apparently mums Doberman x Mastiff had been watching me. At night he pushed the latch and killed her. He crushed all her eggs as well. NEVER: Have unsafe latches like that. Always use good quality ones.

~6. Feeding your quail with no true calcium.
This caused my coturnix quail to lay some very interesting eggs. If you don't give your quail good calicium they will lag odd eggs. The first weird egg had no shell and no yolk. It was just the inner shell and white weird. The second was snow white with brown spots .normal, but in the brown spots there was fluro green splodges. I did some research and this was from calcium deffciency. NEVER: Feed your quail gamebird feed alone. Always use 3 cups of their food by on cup blood and bone. Make sure the blood and bone is non medicated.(If you feel bad about feeding your quail ground up sheep then do it the hard way and grind eggshells as find as sand.

~7. Buying pet shop quail.
I bought a coturnix quail "Female" at the closest pet shop. Turns out it was a male(We didn't know that yet). We gave "her" quarrantine and then popped it in with the others. And then It started fighting with my male. I broke up the fight and then vent-sexed it to check. Yep it was a male. I wanted to get it rfunded. But by then my 4 year old sister lucy had grown attached to it. And because it was white she started calling it ice-cream. I let her keep it. We rang the pet shop and they said it had been laying eggs. Maybe It's confused.
NEVER: Buy quail from a pet shop. Unless you can get all their imformation don't buy them. Try find a breeder near you.

Hope You Learnt Something~Feather Hearts

 

[Dragons4u]

I had a female pharaoh that would crow like a male....every time she laid an egg.

 

[strawberricatt]

Read this!!!

 

[le_bwah]

~1. Using a heat pad for brooding.
This is by far the worst mistake I have ever made while raising quail. The heat pad is fine when raising ducks or chickens but it is a death trap for quail. So I'll be honest with you I have only raised two quail. Ever. 1 Coturnix and 1 Button. The brooder I was using killed the rest. NEVER: Use a heat pad, always use a heating lightbulb. Orange and red give of the most heat. Don't use a neon bulb because they don't produce any heat.

~2. Running the brooder/incubator on limited power.
This costed quite a few chicks their lives. We live in the middle of nowhere so have very limited power. The heat pad and limited power were a disasterous combo. NEVER: run a brooder and a incubator on limited power.

~3. Just dumping quail in a small unsafe cage.
This was the first mistake I ever made. The first issue was when I got my button quail pair. I had a cheap cage from some supplier that we hadn't used in forever. So when I bought them home I dumped them in that. I learnt the hard way. NEVER: Put your quail in an unsafe cage.

~4. Bringing quail out of their cage in an unsafe area.
I lost my male button Elijah this way. They were a feral pair I got from a pet shop. I didn't think they could fly because of their tiny wingspan. The first time I got him out to clip his claws. And he darted away. I quickly closed the cage and raced to retreive him. I found him in an old beebox. I think he was a little stunned from his first flight so grabbed him and put him away. The second time I was feeding them so he just slinked past me. And flew off. His mate was nesting at the time and when he left she was very distressed. NEVER: Bring your quail out or feed them in an unsafe spot. Always have a feeding door.

~5. Having unsafe latches.
This was how I lost my button hen. The latch was a bit of wood that you turned to realease the door. Anyway, apparently mums Doberman x Mastiff had been watching me. At night he pushed the latch and killed her. He crushed all her eggs as well. NEVER: Have unsafe latches like that. Always use good quality ones.

~6. Feeding your quail with no true calcium.
This caused my coturnix quail to lay some very interesting eggs. If you don't give your quail good calicium they will lag odd eggs. The first weird egg had no shell and no yolk. It was just the inner shell and white weird. The second was snow white with brown spots .normal, but in the brown spots there was fluro green splodges. I did some research and this was from calcium deffciency. NEVER: Feed your quail gamebird feed alone. Always use 3 cups of their food by on cup blood and bone. Make sure the blood and bone is non medicated.(If you feel bad about feeding your quail ground up sheep then do it the hard way and grind eggshells as find as sand.

~7. Buying pet shop quail.
I bought a coturnix quail "Female" at the closest pet shop. Turns out it was a male(We didn't know that yet). We gave "her" quarrantine and then popped it in with the others. And then It started fighting with my male. I broke up the fight and then vent-sexed it to check. Yep it was a male. I wanted to get it rfunded. But by then my 4 year old sister lucy had grown attached to it. And because it was white she started calling it ice-cream. I let her keep it. We rang the pet shop and they said it had been laying eggs. Maybe It's confused.
NEVER: Buy quail from a pet shop. Unless you can get all their imformation don't buy them. Try find a breeder near you.

Hope You Learnt Something~Feather Hearts

Would you mind telling me what about heat pads didn't work for you? I'm using a heating plate, but we're only on day 4 so I'd like to know what there is to watch out for. The rest of this advice sounds pretty common sense/easy to follow, so thanks.

 

[wildone]

they will crawl under corners or folds, get stuck and die.

 

[strawberricatt]

Would you mind telling me what about heat pads didn't work for you? I'm using a heating plate, but we're only on day 4 so I'd like to know what there is to watch out for. The rest of this advice sounds pretty common sense/easy to follow, so thanks.

I used, a Brinsea ecoglow:

So, the thing with these is that you can raise or lower the main plate, and I lowered it to the lowest it could go so my quail could stay warm. The second time I hatched quail they all just died off one by one, I was so confused and sad. They would make a mournful cheeping noise and then just die. I tried everything, changing the cage/brooder box they were in, changing feed, giving really shallow water dishes, but they still died. The next time I hatched button quail and they began dying. In desperation I used an old desk lamp to keep them warm. Only one survived.
The ecoglow just wasn't compatible for quail, It just killed them.

 

[strawberricatt]

Symptoms that my chicks showed before death
-They would make a mournful cheeping noise, and only stop when you picked them up and they would snuggle into your warmth it was so heartbreaking
-They would become irresponsive, and not eat or drink
-They would seem to slip in and out of being alive
- They would become floppy and fall over
-And finally the little ones would die
(This all happened in the span of a week after hatch)

 

[BantyChooks]

I used, a Brinsea ecoglow:

So, the thing with these is that you can raise or lower the main plate, and I lowered it to the lowest it could go so my quail could stay warm. The second time I hatched quail they all just died off one by one, I was so confused and sad. They would make a mournful cheeping noise and then just die. I tried everything, changing the cage/brooder box they were in, changing feed, giving really shallow water dishes, but they still died. The next time I hatched button quail and they began dying. In desperation I used an old desk lamp to keep them warm. Only one survived.
The ecoglow just wasn't compatible for quail, It just killed them.

A heating pad worked pretty well for me, but yes, they do get stuck easily if you don't have a good setup.

Since quail are so fragile, what I've been doing is putting a heating pad down flat in the brooder and a then a 125w heat bulb above it. It kept them warm enough to get through that die-if-you-look-at-them-funny stage, and after that was over, I switched to a standard MHP frame, which worked great. Note that my house temperature is in the 60's, so if you live in a warm climate, that's likely overkill.

I had a 250 watt bulb as the sole source of heat before. That worked okay, but then it burnt out and I didn't have any more of that wattage. Plus, it's a bigger fire hazard.

 

[strawberricatt]

A heating pad worked pretty well for me, but yes, they do get stuck easily if you don't have a good setup.


Since quail are so fragile, what I've been doing is putting a heating pad down flat in the brooder and a then a 125w heat bulb above it. It kept them warm enough to get through that die-if-you-look-at-them-funny stage, and after that was over, I switched to a standard MHP frame, which worked great. Note that my house temperature is in the 60's, so if you live in a warm climate, that's likely overkill.

Interesting, It did seem to work alot better when I used the hot water bottle, perhaps it was the heat from below that kept them from dying? But with a mama quail the heat would still be coming from above?

 

[BantyChooks]

Interesting, It did seem to work alot better when I used the hot water bottle, perhaps it was the heat from below that kept them from dying? But with a mama quail the heat would still be coming from above?

I haven't used a brooder plate, but it seems a bit too stiff and without enough edge for them to snuggle up to, only the warm top. My quail liked to burrow into the corners.