quail brooder

[688peterl]

i used a travel cot as a brooder for ducks but that wouldnt be suitable for quail because it has no roof (quail can fly right? im new to quail) so what should i use? i was thinking of getting an indoor rabbit cage and putting some kind of soft padding on the roof so that when they fly up they wouldnt hurt themselves, but then where do i put the heat lamp??? what do guys do for a brooder?

 

[688peterl]

i wouldnt be able to put the lamp above the brooder anyway because they just fly up into it, i do have a guard on it but the holes are big quail would probably fit through them ps how long after they hatch can they fly it would be great if they didnt fly until they didnt need the heat lamp lol

 

[JJMR794]

A. What Type Of Quail?
B. Easy Brooder--- Go To Dollar General Store, Big Lots, Or Other Similar Store And Buy The Really Large Rubbermaid Totes With Lids--- Take Them Home, Cut Out The Inner 2/3's Of The Lid And Zip Tie Chicken Wire Over The Opening. For Freash Hatch Chicks Line With Old Towels, Paper Towels, Non-slip Drawer Liners, Etc--- Use This As Long As You Can ( I Try To Keep Them On This Surface For A Week If Possible) Then When You Clean The Brooders Empty Out The Lining Material And Dispose Of Appropriately, Soak The Brooder For 30 Min With Water And 1/2 Cup Of Bleach To Sanitize, Dry Thouroughly And Then I Switch To Newspaper Liner For The Remainder Of The Brooder Time--- Change And Clean Brooder As Needed. Also Sanitize All Appliances Such As Food/ Water Dishes When You Clean The Brooder Bins.

Now Remember That Chicken Wire In The Middle Of Your Bin Lid? Set Your Heat Lamp Right On Top Of The Wire(dont Let It Contact The Palstic Rim) And Not Only Is Your Brooder Now Nic And Toasty Warm For The Lil Fuzzballz, But It's Flight Proof Too!

Some Basics=== Bad Idea To Mix Chicks---- Lemme Explain A Lil Bit, 1. Chicks Of The Same Breed But Different Ages Dont Work Out So Well When Mixed As Far As Gamebirds Go. It Usually Leads To Mass Carnage And Serious Casualties.... 2. Gamebirds With Any Other Type Of Chick--- Bad Idea. Gamebirds Easily Get Diseases That Chicken/ Waterfowl/ Turkeys/ Guineas Carry But Rarely Succumb To--- But To Gamebirds It Will Be Fatal, You Will Have Lil Or No Results Trying To Treat It, And It Will Spread Thru Your Gamebird Population Like Wildfire. So Throw This 1 Under The "very Bad Things" File.

Feed--- Gamebird Starter--- Chick Starter, Depending On The Manufacturers Recipe And The Babies Eating It Will Cause Constipation And Death, Or Diaarhea Which Leads To Weak Chicks And Pasty Butt Which Causes Death. Easiest And Best Results= Game Bird Starter. The Higher The Protien The Better 30% Or There Abouts.

Warmth--- You'll Find Quail Way More Cold Natured Than Other Birds--- They Will Huddle Quickly And Mash Each Other To Death--- If They Are Huddling Increase Your Heat--- Add A 2nd Light, Increase The Wattage On Your Existing Light, Move The Brooder To Warmer Parts (inside Etc..) Even Carefully Cover The Wire Opening Not Under Your Light With A Towel To Help Hold Heat In... (gotta Watch This 1, Heat+ Towel In Contatct With Each Other May Upset Your Homeowners Insurance When They Pay For The Fire Damage... So Use Caution And Discretion With This 1)

Disposition--- Quail Are Lil Spaz Cases! Some Breeds Worse Than Others, But All Are Way More Freak Out Prone Than Any Chicken... Also Quail Are Mean! They Can Dish Out Lethal Abuse On Brooder Mates Quickly! Again Some Speces Are Worse, Some Better, But All Are Mean To A Degree(this Is The Way Of The Gamebirds) Observe Closely For Pecking In The Brooder. Red Lights Help. If Pecking Occurs Thin Down The Number Of Occupants ( Set Up Another Brooder And Split Them 50-50 Between The 2) Cut Down On The Heat--- Hard To Beat Your Buddy George To Death If Your All Bundled Up Trying To Get Warm...

Tricks== 1. Place Nice Shiney Dimes On Top Of Their Food For The 1st Week--- This Grabs Their Attention And Helps Teach Them To Eat. 2. Never---- I Mean Never Ever Ever Place The Lamp Over The Water Font! E V A R!!!! The Water Will Warm Up And They Will Be Attracted To It Like A Moth To A Flame--- They Drownd Easily! If They Dont Drownd They Will Get Wet, Cold And Hypothermic And Die--- This Is Another 1 For The "very Bad Things" File! Umm Lets See.... Oh Yeah! Jar Type Feeders--- Eh Not So Good With Quail, Unless You Plan On Canning Them Early Because The Lil Farts Will Somehow End Up In The Jar On Top Of The Feed Freaking Out--- Hillarious To See.... The First Time, Then It Gets Old. Water Fonts--- Best Is The Actual Quail Size Lids--- Has Lil Bitty 1/4 Inch Open Trough For Them To Drink Out Of--- Makes Getting Wet/ Drowned Harder To Pull Off--- Fill The Trough With Marbles, Rocks, Etc So They Have To Get Water From In Between The Rocks --- Again Makes It Harder To Drowned If You Cant Get Into Deep Water. Unless Flight Condition Birds Is A Requisit For You I Recomend Pinioning Them At 3-4 Wks Old.

Monarc Has A Sticky At The Top Of The Page Here That Covers Almost All Aspects Of Coturnix Quail--- Good Reading! She Also Posted A Tutorial On Pinioning--- Should Be Able To Find It In A Byc Search. Good Luck And Happy Hatching!

 

[JJMR794]

Quote:
YES THEY DO FLY--- AND QUICKLY. SOME SPECES AS LITTLE AS 1 1/2-2 WKS OF AGE.

 

[Tony K T]

[/ur[url=https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/uploads/13763_tonys_birds_050.jpg]l]
Here are my brooders.I use a 250 watt red light for the 1 st week and then move on to a 100 the 2nd week and then a 60 the 3rd week and the a 40 watt the 4th and thena 25 watt for the 5th and then they are ready to go outside.I paint all my light bulbs red to cut down on glare and if anyones starts to bleed it helps to hide the blood a little.I basically raise pheasants,but do hatch bobwhites occationally.I also did buttons,but I won't get going on that again.
In N.H.,Tony.[/URL]

 

[JJMR794]

Quote:
TONY UR JUST FULL OF ALL KINDS OF SWEET SETUPS! I WAS READING YOUR POST TO DAKID IN PHEASANTS---- 12X12X8-5.10 ALL HARDWARE CLOTH? WOW! YOU HAVE MORE MONEY IN PHEASANT PENS THAN MY WHOLE PLACE IS WORTH! BUT THEY LOOK VERY SWEET! JUST LIKE YOUR BROODER BANKS HERE--- NICE, VERY NICE...

 

[Tony K T]

Thank you very much.It doesn't cost all that much.I get a sweeeeeeeeeet deal on the hardware cloth from Ace hardware.He charged me 75.00 for a roll of 4'x100',I couldn't resist.It took me 3 rolls to do the entire enclosure.I the wood is rough cut,so it cost me 2.50 per board,It takes 15 2x4's to a 12x12 section.
And I wanted to build a pen that wasn't an eye sore.
The brooders I've built in the past just didn't do the job right,so I figured I better build some that will last and fill my needs.
In N.H.,Tony.

 

[Overeasyplz]

Quote:
LOLOLOLOLOLOLOL JJ you are the funniest guy I swear..canning quails..u need to send me a pic of that, I'd pop it on y desktop lol
I am saving this thread for my baby quails when I get to that stage. I want to keep my causualties to a minimum

 

[SamG347]