Newbie to quail. Advice?

[kellysmall87]

Hi, I am an experienced chicken keeper but have no idea about quail. I need to know everything from hatching in an incubator to feeding them and housing them. I have a lady who i give hatching eggs to, and she is giving me some quail eggs for free, so i want to try and raise some.
I have done a bit of research into this, but figured that if i started a thread then you could all give me your golden advice in bullet point form, so i can have a quick overview of all the information i need. I heard about the breaking of their own neck through flight, more info on this?

Cheers,

Kelly.

 

[TwoCrows]

What type of quail will you be hatching and raising? Some quail require different incubation, brooding and housing.

 

[James the Bald]

What type of quail are they? If they are coturnix, here is a good thread worth reading. Also, since you say that you are experienced with chickens, may I suggest you read this thread.

 

[kellysmall87]

Hi, thanks for your replies. I will read those threads. They will be Japanese painted .

 

[TehLizardKing]

Sorry if this sounds rude....but what species do you mean? because they could either be Chinese painted...or Japanese...never heard of painted japs before. If you do mean Chinese painted, or button quail, they don't need much really. I aspire to make the lives of my animals the best they can be, and basically all they need is a cage/tank, about 3-5 foot long, and 1-3 foot wide, but it can be a little smaller. they can eat specially formulated quail food, but mine refuse that, they only accept chick crumb. they are best kept in pairs, but groups are ok. Never keep one quail on it's own, it will literally die of loneliness. they need to be at room temp really, but mine LOVE to sit right next to the fire along with the reptiles and soak up the heat. They can live outside in summer if introduced slowly, but anyone who lives in England will know that summer is not really summer here

. Make sure to cover the top of the cage/tank with loosely hung netting to cope with the boink factor (its horrid to see a quail fly up out of the cage and brain itself on the ceiling, as I had the misfortune to see when I went to buy my girls and the breeder wasn't paying attention...

) You can eat the eggs, but they are so small it isn't really worth it to be honest . Hmmm....sorry again about the kinda rude question at the beginning, I feel quite bad, but I didn't really know how to phrase it differently...oh and also, msg if I've forgotten anything.

Hope you get on with the birds well!,

Stevie.

 

[TehLizardKing]

Also, if they are coturnix, just say and i'll tell you a bit about those if needed

 

[kellysmall87]

Hi, no its not rude at all! Im not sure, The lady im getting them from keeps refering them as japanese painted quail.. maybe she means chinese then? Thanks for all your advice, the boink factor sound horrifying!!!

 

[TehLizardKing]

soz im REALLY late, i've been away for a while. If you havn't got them yet, yeh if she says painted quail, she means chinese. Also, about 'boinking' (which is, as you say, horrifying) if the birds have been hand reared, they probably won't 'boink' when they see you. Sometimes you don't need netting over the top, but be warned if you decide not to, be prepared to sometimes find a bird laying eggs in your slippers.... Also, a couple of other things I didn't say, I'm sure you know about choosing birds and that, so i'm not going to bore you, but remember, if you want to breed, buy a male from a different place. You can have more than one boy, as long as they have at least one girl each, or else they tend to get bored and start fighting (brothers are fine together though). Don't let cats have access to them (obviously), parrots and corvids love to torment them too...so basically, keep them away from 'vicious' pets lol.

Sorry again for being late, and if you have any other problems, just msg!

 

[kellysmall87]

Thanks for your advice! Lots of good stuff there. I have decided to wait a bit until I know more about them before buying eggs.. but wil keep this thread as a ref point. Thanks again! much appreciated.

 

[James the Bald]

Thanks for your advice! Lots of good stuff there. I have decided to wait a bit until I know more about them before buying eggs.. but wil keep this thread as a ref point. Thanks again! much appreciated.

And your quail will thank you for being a knowledgeable quail owner. I swear, with all the info here in these forums, you can make a decent "How to raise Quail for Dummies". I've been copy and pasting a LOT of good info. This website here has a lot of interesting info.... made for the Poultry farmer, but you can still use the information for backyard quails.