New to quails

[Bellagrl]

24% should work - is it for Turkeys or chickens? I use Purina Turkey starter & Game Bird feed with 30% for 8 weeks for max grow out. I recommend saving the 24% & getting a bag of Turkey starter. The chicken feed is low in lysine for coturnix. Do add Nutridrench or Rooster Booster (Tractor supply has this one) to the water. They do need the vitamins. I’m worried about the store birds not getting enough.

Are these pets or dinner?

my hatch this morning.
View attachment 2045594

It's for chickens, I'll go to tractor supply and get both today, thanks! And they are so cute! I'd like to keep them as pets for eggs for now and I'd love to try and hatch some at some point.

 

[RUNuts]

It's for chickens, I'll go to tractor supply and get both today, thanks! And they are so cute! I'd like to keep them as pets for eggs for now and I'd love to try and hatch some at some point.

The eggs are delicious.

read the other threads & you will learn a bit. I am new to quail (just made a year) & still learning from everyone.

enjoy the babies. Keep in mind in 6 weeks the boys will be mature & start fighting. Your choices are to separate a boy with several females (social creatures shouldn’t be alone) or provide a lot of space. 1 square foot per bird is minimum (some do less). More is always better.

would love to see your coop. Mine is in my album.
Cheers

 

[sunbursts]

I got them from tractor supply, of course they don't know what breed it is. I don't think they really know much of what they are doing. When I went back they had a bunch of dead ones in with them and I don't think the feed they gave me has enough protein. Can I add something to it for more protein or do I just need to get something else? It's a crumbled chick starter and it's 24% protein

They look just like my bobwhite quail when they were chicks. And you might want to put marbles or something in their water bowl so they don't drown.

Good luck with your new quail chicks!

 

[Bellagrl]

They look just like my bobwhite quail when they were chicks. And you might want to put marbles or something in their water bowl so they don't drown.

Good luck with your new quail chicks!

Thanks, thankfully my boyfriend showed up 10 min after I got them and told me that. I was used to the chicken chicks and didn't realize that.

 

[mdees88]

99% sure they're bobwhites. Whole different ballgame....

 

[Bellagrl]

The eggs are delicious.

read the other threads & you will learn a bit. I am new to quail (just made a year) & still learning from everyone.

enjoy the babies. Keep in mind in 6 weeks the boys will be mature & start fighting. Your choices are to separate a boy with several females (social creatures shouldn’t be alone) or provide a lot of space. 1 square foot per bird is minimum (some do less). More is always better.

would love to see your coop. Mine is in my album.
Cheers

Thanks for the help! I checked your pictures out. I'm still putting together some ideas for the coop. I have something already made up that I was using last year when I had 33 chicken chicks, I guess like a chicken tractor, I was thinking of fixing up into a quail coop. I figured if I had too many males they'd just end up in my freezer. My boyfriend and I raised meat chickens and we hunt, we pretty much live off what we grow and hunt. I'll be sure to post pictures as I go.

 

[Bellagrl]

99% sure they're bobwhites. Whole different ballgame....

I keep looking up pictures of both breeds and couldn't figure out what they were, thank you!

 

[RUNuts]

Chicken tractor with top lid? Have a small hole, long handled net to catch them when they flush. Is your dog soft mouthed? He may help.

We had a lot of fun when we tried that.

didn’t lose any (that time) & plan on trying it again, but found out the dog is soft mouthed quite accidentally when several quail flushed over the dog fence. Surprised me greatly. Sight hounds aren’t known for this.

 

[mdees88]

You're welcome. They're very similar but the pattern on the head and eye are different. Hopefully some bobwhites specialists will comment on this thread....

Just understand that what you've read about coturnix quail doesn't apply. Bobwhites take around 16 weeks to mature, not 6, and they usually won't start consistantly laying eggs until 22-25 weeks. They require a lot more space than coturnix and if you cram them up they attack each other. You cannot keep them in 5 female to 1 male ratios. They have to be kept in bonded pairs. If kept together the bonded female will kill all the other females, don't ask me how I know. You can keep them in larger groups if you have a very large pen so the bonded pairs stay away from each other.

Also you need to check about permitting. Since they are game birds some states require you to obtain permits to raise them.

I used to have some a couple years ago. They're pretty cool birds and I enjoy hearing their call. I think I'm going to order some eggs in another month or two and raise some more this summer.

Raise them up and see how you like them. Would definitely be a cool bird to have on the farm. If you decide that you want more docile quail and more prolific egg layers then order some coturnix quail. They lay about 3 times as many eggs and the eggs are generally bigger too. They are very easy to work with.....

 

[mdees88]

Here's the difference so you can be certain. A coturnix quails head is light on the sides, dark on top, and it is a light strip right down the center of the head..... like these.

Bob whites have light colors on the sides and solid brown on top (no light stripe down the middle). They also have a black stripe behind the eye. Like these......