Newbie Quail Questions

[FunQuail]

Hello!
I'm interested in getting some quail. I plan to buy 1 day old babies, no raising eggs here!
First off, what kind do you all recommend to get? I was thinking possibly Button Quail, Bobwhite, or Coturnix Quail. Which one do you all prefer?
What housing would be good when they get older? Small would be nice. I was thinking like one of those barn/with fenced run area.
I plan to only get 3 hens 1 male. Good?
What kind of food would be good for the babies? And marbles in their water dish so they don't drown, correct?
Thank you!
The picture is the housing I was thinking of:

 

[JaeG]

Coturnix are the easiest by far. They are docile and friendly and lay eggs for you. Both Bobwhite and Buttons do better as single pairs, though Bobwhite can be kept as a group when they are outside of the breeding season. My Buttons are terrible escape artists and they are very wild, though not afraid of me unless I'm trying to catch the slippery little things. As chicks the Coturnix are definitely easier by far and I'll often raise a few with my Button chicks to be a calming influence on them.

You'll have to wait until they are around 3 weeks old before you'll know the sex of your chicks (and that's if you choose colours that can be visually sexed). So get more chicks than you need.

Handle them a lot just by putting your hand in the cage and letting them snuggle into your hand. They are generally very curious and sweet. You will love them.

I've had trouble with rats getting mine when they've been on the ground but it depends if they are potentially a problem for you. I've had no problems with them in cages that are set off the ground. They can be quite messy so think about ease of cleaning. The fronts of my cages open up and occasionally one will fall out onto the grass below because they are being overly curious but they are generally easy to catch. The only one of ours that got a fright and flew over the neighbours fence came back pretty quick and I caught him easily.

You'll need a game bird feed, ground up finer to start with and initially they'll need marbles in a shallow water dish, more to stop them getting wet and chilled (though they can drown even in a shallow dish so the marbles are important). Scatter food everywhere for a couple of days so that wherever they pick at they'll find food. You can also tap what you want them to try (including the water) and they'll follow your lead as if you were their parents.

 

[le_bwah]

I second Coturnix, very easy to care for and can be personable with frequent handling. 1 male to 3 females works for them, but not ideal for the other species.

People typically raise buttons in big fish tanks or small aviaries, Coturnix in raised hutches or flight pens, and Bobwhite in flight pens (more wild = needs more space to not feel trapped or territorial).

If you are able, it can be worthwhile in the long run to build your own enclosure. Prefabs are almost universally poorly built for their price, and intended for chickens rather than quail. While some people have had luck getting them to use a ramp and coop, there's no guarantee they'll figure it out (also, Bobwhite will perch, Coturnix and buttons won't --> no need for roosts with those species).

Whatever housing option you go with, its walls/wire shouldn't have any holes larger than a half inch to prevent predators from gaining access. And remember that the "1 sq foot per bird" advice is the bare minimum you should be providing.

 

[FunQuail]

Thank you both so much! This is all so very helpful!

 

[FunQuail]

Do I need to worry about the water? I read somewhere that you weren't supposed to give them tap water, because of the chlorine. Is this true?

 

[le_bwah]

Do I need to worry about the water? I read somewhere that you weren't supposed to give them tap water, because of the chlorine. Is this true?

The chlorine in tap water shouldn't be enough to cause harm (not like drinking out a swimming pool or anything like that). I've given mine tap their whole lives to no ill effect.

 

[Erkenstein]

I use filtered water for the first week just because I use a probiotic/vitamin mix in their water and don't want to kill the good bugs.

If you are considering outdoors, I'd go with coturnix. Most people keep buttons inside.

They won't use the pen you pictured effectively because they don't roost at night. However, some people have been able to train them to go up the ramp so nothing necessarily wrong with it. Probably the mesh isn't small enough either since it's made for chickens.

 

[HarleyQuailison]

Hello!
I'm interested in getting some quail. I plan to buy 1 day old babies, no raising eggs here!
First off, what kind do you all recommend to get? I was thinking possibly Button Quail, Bobwhite, or Coturnix Quail. Which one do you all prefer?
What housing would be good when they get older? Small would be nice. I was thinking like one of those barn/with fenced run area.
I plan to only get 3 hens 1 male. Good?
What kind of food would be good for the babies? And marbles in their water dish so they don't drown, correct?
Thank you!
The picture is the housing I was thinking of:

I am personally partial to my Bobwhites. I was going to do the same thing as you (3 hens and a male), but I tried incubating and hatching and only one survived, a beautiful female that I hand raised and fed. But she demanded all my attention from losing her first family member, and by 12 weeks old I knew she had to have other quail. I didn't want a bunch, which is all I could find for 3 weeks, and then I found someone locally, on Craigslist of all places, who had two 2wk old Bobwhite chicks, now I'm don to one female and one male, and they love each other and to my joy, just laid their first eggs!! As for the housing, I bought a house like that too!! I love it, it is like a Quail Mansion!! But I had to raise the ramp up as the incline was too steep for them. So I propped them up on some things and gave them stuff to help them jump up until they could get up on their own...so cute!! I'll post pictures of which one I got. Got on Ebay for $119.99. I would have built one, but I am disabled. They need room to run a bit on bottom though, and I sealed my bottom with board siding because mine are indoors pets. But if you plan outdoors, I'd buy a roll of 1/4" square hole wire fencing to seal the bottom so predators can't dig under and get them.

 

[Erkenstein]

One thing to consider is that bobwhites like to pair up and my understanding is that the males will fight each other in the spring. Coturnix males will also fight if the ratio is wrong, but you can have several females and a couple of males together without much problem.

If you are considering starting with chicks, you won't know which gender you are getting. That's easier to work out with coturnix, but you will still probably need to deal with extra males. If that is more than you want to deal with, it's better for you to start with young birds that are old enough to be sexed rather than with bitty chicks.

 

[Erkenstein]

And if you are not interested in hatching eggs, it's fine to have all females with coturnix (not sure about bobs). They will still lay eggs, and they will stay prettier since they lose feathers and get tatty when they are mated. There is also a smaller chance of aggression and fighting if you don't have any males.