Pet Coturnix Care

[Stevoooo]

Hi! I was considering a pair of Coturnix Quail and well, the information seems to be here but, its all strewn around and diff people use diff things... makes it rather confusing .. so I got a ton o' questions!

I read round here something like a rabbit/guinea pig cage is acceptable depending on size/number of quail... is this true?

Foods and required supplements? Grit?

Is a dust/sand bath required?

Any notable health hazards? (poisonous plants, chemicals, etc)

 

[007Sean]

There are many ways to raise Coturnix quail. That's the reason you have read so many different ways to raise them....I haven't raised Cot's in a very long time and how peeps raise them today, is different from the way I raised mine.
I'll tag a few peeps that will be able to give you some expert advice. @Texas Kiki , @CoturnixComplex, @Crazydoglady99
They will be along shortly!

 

[CoturnixComplex]

Hi! I was considering a pair of Coturnix Quail and well, the information seems to be here but, its all strewn around and diff people use diff things... makes it rather confusing .. so I got a ton o' questions!

I read round here something like a rabbit/guinea pig cage is acceptable depending on size/number of quail... is this true?

Foods and required supplements? Grit?

Is a dust/sand bath required?

Any notable health hazards? (poisonous plants, chemicals, etc)

A trio or quad (1M 2-3F) will be happier long term, less overbred girls and pulled feathers. Luckily they only need about 1 square foot per bird, so yes, a guinea pig or rabbit cage is usually perfect for a small group! Just make sure there is either a solid floor or 1/2" or less wire mesh on the bottom. Oh, and cedar is not great for birds, avoid it if possible, a lot of cheap rabbit hutches are made of it.

They need special gamebird food - this can be the trickiest aspect of their care. 24% protein is considered the absolute minimum, but can be kind of hard to find. 28% is even better if you can find it. Look for mannapro and purina brand gamebird feed. It can be tempting to use like the chicken meat bird 22%, but this doesn't have all the vitamins they need long term and they will develop issues. If you have to, get the purina 19% gamebird feed (Tractor supply almost always has it) and feed them 60/40 with alfalfa sprouts, that's an affordable way to up the protein level and keep them getting the actual vitamin levels they need.

I highly highly highly recommend a sand or dust bath. I have never seen quail happier than new dirt day . It is one of their few little joys in their relatively boring lives. It will also help prevent parasites like mites from taking over and if you use granite-based sand or dirt with granite in it (I live on a granite mountain so this is easy, I just go outside) they can also use it as their grit. Otherwise, you have to offer grit separately or they'll have digestive issues.

The only common health issue I've dealt with was bumblefoot. Remember what I said about meat bird feed? Yeah, well, tractor supply was out of my food and I didn't want to drive to Reno and was lazy and fed it to them for a few weeks. That led to vitamin deficiency, which combined with my wire floors let it spring up . I doubt you'll have any issue with it if you avoid these factors, but I do recomend having some tricide-neo antibiotics on hand before you need them. It's only $25ish, but if you need express shipping it quadruples. It's magic for this particular issue.

 

[CoturnixComplex]

Oh - another tip about food and tractor supply. They carry farmer's helper ultrakibble for chicks, which is actually 30% protein. Only in teeny weeny bags but you can use it to help supplement and bring the protein level up.

 

[R2elk]

The only common health issue I've dealt with was bumblefoot. Remember what I said about meat bird feed? Yeah, well, tractor supply was out of my food and I didn't want to drive to Reno and was lazy and fed it to them for a few weeks. That led to vitamin deficiency, which combined with my wire floors let it spring up . I doubt you'll have any issue with it if you avoid these factors, but I do recomend having some tricide-neo antibiotics on hand before you need them. It's only $25ish, but if you need express shipping it quadruples. It's magic for this particular issue.

When you have to use feed that does not contain the proper amounts of lysine and niacin, you can supplement by mixing a good vitamin B complex pill or capsule at the rate of 1/2 pill or capsule to 1 gallon of water. Make the water fresh daily and do not mix anything else in it. You can supplement the methionine levels by grinding up some BOSS (Black Oil Sunflower Seeds) and adding it to the feed. Do not over feed the BOSS because while it is a good source of methionine, it is also a low protein, high fat food.