Quail and a pan of water question

[pac]

So it seems that given enough water a quail chick will drown itself in it.
What about adult birds and a pan of water? Do they know enough to stay out of it in cold weather?

I recently watched a video on keeping chickens in winter. And it made a lot of sense. The youtuber said the best thing he has found for freezing temps and his chickens has been one of those rubber bowls you see at TSC. When it freezes you simply turn it upside-down and step on it to get the frozen water out of it and refill it.
I remember when I had chickens and rotated waterers and many times the one thawing would still be frozen when it was time to replace the one in the coop.

I'm wondering if something similar would work for quail. Maybe a silicone dog water bowl.
Or are the adult quail going to end up jumping in it because they don't know any better?

 

[Nabiki]

I'm pretty sure the quail would stand in it in freezing weather and die. They don't seem to have a concept of avoiding stepping in any place that's in their pen.

 

[pac]

Thanks.
Wishful thinking on my part I guess.

 

[CliftonQuail]

Quail find creative ways to die. Adding a pan of water would merely encourage them.

 

[NatJ]

I remember when I had chickens and rotated waterers and many times the one thawing would still be frozen when it was time to replace the one in the coop.

One possible solution to that: have more than two waterers, so you do always have one that has thawed long enough.

 

[pac]

I was hoping they would grow out of that phase.

Kinda makes you wonder how they have a place in the wild.

 

[pac]

One possible solution to that: have more than two waterers, so you do always have one that has thawed long enough.

That was Plan A.
More and smaller.

I used those 3g Little Giants when I had chickens. And it did take them longer to freeze and the chickens could peck through the ice for a while. But it never thawed completely before putting it back in. And I don't have the room to be thawing a few of them at a time.

I still might come up with something.
Now that I know I can't have an open pan/bowl.

 

[Nabiki]

I was hoping they would grow out of that phase.

Kinda makes you wonder how they have a place in the wild.

They don't. Coturnix quail have been domesticated for a long time.

 

[pac]

They don't. Coturnix quail have been domesticated for a long time.

Survivability has been bred out?

They look to be quite skittish. I figured they were a step removed from their wild "cousins". I guess not.

So that answers another question in the back of my mind. Why people say quail hens make poor mothers.

I guess Coturnix are the English Bulldogs of the bird world. Form before function.

 

[PennyWars]

That was Plan A.
More and smaller.

I used those 3g Little Giants when I had chickens. And it did take them longer to freeze and the chickens could peck through the ice for a while. But it never thawed completely before putting it back in. And I don't have the room to be thawing a few of them at a time.

I still might come up with something.
Now that I know I can't have an open pan/bowl.

My issue with open anything regardless of season is poopy feeties walking through it. Plus bedding, feathers, and feed crumbs, no matter how far away the water is from any of that. Then the water turns brownish yellow with crusties dried around the edges, and a rinse is no longer sufficient to remove that combo of glue-like gunk. Which grows bacteria within 12 hrs, and that plus bugs will definitely kill some birds.

That said, I have partridges as well, and they seem to require a sufficiently brutal winter experience for motivation to breed in Spring. My usual setup is to drill into the caps of plastic soda bottles, insert a poultry nipple, and poke two holes near the bottom to run hanging wire through. When temps dropped with -20 wind chill, and I couldn't feel my fingers 30 seconds into bottle swaps, some ingenuity was in order. The answer for me was an outdoor extension cord and the smallest length of electrical heat tape sold for wrapping around household water pipes. I wrapped the heating part around a 16oz aluminum can from an energy drink several times and covered/secured it with a sheath of electrical tape, to prevent any pecking at wires. Drilled out a hole in the bottom of the can for the nipple to screw into, and poked two pinholes near the top for hanging wire. The existing pull-tab hole is perfect for a squeeze bottle nozzle to fit through, for easy refilling without needing to remove it from the hutch. I also used a couple of cable tacks to run the remaining heat tape down to the floor of the enclosed part of the hutch, loosely coiled the remaining few feet and taped that to the outside of a large ceramic baking dish. Then piled Aspen shavings into the dish. Worked like a charm! The water never froze, and the birds had a spot to nestle down in and warm up/dry off snowy toes as needed.