Quail Breeding/Raising

[davewg297]

I'm going to buy a set of quail eggs off of ebay, they are going to be a mix of Brown Coturnix, Texas A&M White, Golden, and Tibetan colors. I am in the process of building the cages and or pen that they will live in as adults. I plan on making a small to medium sized breeding operation for meat/eggs/hatching eggs. Would it be better to build small breeding cages for a trio or should I breed them as a covy in one large pen? Also what other info do I need to know before starting this venture?

 

[TwoCrows]

It is up to you as to how you wish to keep them. I am a fan of aviary style set ups, giving the birds as much freedom and natural living as possible. However if you are in this for strictly breeding, you may want to use cages or pens.

There is so much to learn about quail. Most of us just dove in head first and learned along the way. LOL But if you have any specific questions, we would be happy to answer and help you out with them.

 

[James the Bald]

Dave,
Some of us have been through the trial and errors of cage building for quail on our ventures. Here are a few of mine:

• if you're going to build your own cages, the maximum height should be no higher than 12".
• If you can't provide natural light, artificial lighting should be "full spectrum" to provide more than "white light".
• No artificial light within 24" of the cage.
• Read all of the links listed on Dons' signature (at the bottom).
• provide crushed oyster shell for your hens. They will need it.

Good luck and keep us posted.
James

 

[davewg297]

Thank you guys! I think I'm going to go with the aviary, one pen style because even though my whole goal is to breed them and have eggs and so on, I'm also keeping them to look at and for my enjoyment so I think it would be fun to raise them all together like that. I am raising a few different colors of quail so is there anything I have to worry about wen I'm keeping them all together?

 

[crazymax02]

Thank you guys! I think I'm going to go with the aviary, one pen style because even though my whole goal is to breed them and have eggs and so on, I'm also keeping them to look at and for my enjoyment so I think it would be fun to raise them all together like that. I am raising a few different colors of quail so is there anything I have to worry about wen I'm keeping them all together?

The only thing I could think of is the males fighting over the hens.

 

[TwoCrows]

If you go aviary style you will need to provide brush piles for them to hide under. Not just for a more natural feel but this will protect birds from each other if they are fighting. Birds can hide under these. They act as barriers to territories. You won't be able to go with the 1 square foot rule as with coturnix quail in an aviary. When they have more room, they will want more room. So figure on about 4 square feet per bird or more if you can afford it.