Quail Forum Information

[Mrs MIA]

It's not that early, but it is early. Try adding a warm, wet papertowel to the incubator. I fold one up and put it under one of the vents, and I have a soda-bottle with a tube inserted through a hole in the cap that I use to squirt water onto the papertowel. Works great, though you do have to check it several times a day. Try it, though. We're the same way, usually. Especially in the winter, very very dry.

good luck!!

 

[shelleyd2008]

yeah, i tossed a really wet sponge in there, in addition to the 4 bowls with sponges in them that are there already!! i will go try that now and let you know. This poor baby just keeps crying!! It is SOOOOO tiny!! I've seen pics, but they don't give you the whole idea of just how small these little guys are!!

 

[shelleyd2008]

I put the paper towel in, and the humidity is around 58%. The A&M chick that was pipped is finally out, with a bit of help, before I checked this forum. The button that was pipped died in the shell. The membrane looked really dried out. It looks like I may have another pip on my A&M eggs!

The button I have looks like a cinnamon? or red? Idk the colors exactly, but it is dark brown, with a reddish hue to it, and has a white 'bib' under it's chin, and on it's breast. The one that died was all yellow, so I'm thinking it was a silver?

 

[shelleyd2008]

WOOHOO!!!

Humidity is 63% and another A&M is out!!! Let's hope I have a boy and a girl!! Only had 3 that were for sure developing!! No more buttons yet...poor little thing. These A&M's are huge next to that little button! The A&M's are almost as big as my newly hatched bantams!! And they look like little chickens, with their pink skin and yellow feathers! Hope I wake up to lots of babies!!

 

[Heather J]

Mrs. AK, you said you have 10 birds in one cage, what size cage, and are they button, or a larger variety? I'm trying to figure something out for winter for my bobwhite quail that are in the bator now and am not sure how much space per bird I need to alot.

Also, I know some people say never feed medicated feed to quail, while others say they do medicate the first weeks because of cocci...would a good solution be to mix a bit of medicated chick feed into the non-medicated turkey feed before blending? If so, what kind of mix, 25% medicated? I'm so new to this and just want to make sure I don't make too many mistakes. I have 18 eggs in the bator, but haven't candled yet because they are only 6 days along...two and a half weeks to go.

Thanks!

 

[Mrs MIA]

I've never used medicated food for my quail, but then, my quail don't set foot on soil... ever. Mine were in a wire bottom cage until I built the coop. Now I have 10 bobwhite in a 4x4' pen with plywood/shavings. Wire all around. They are 4' off the floor, too, so they are up high where it's a little warmer. I had a 40w bulb for them until they were fully feathered. Now they huddle for warmth, but they do fine. Figure a minimum of 1-1.5sf per bird for Bobwhites... they like space.

Bobwhites take a little longer... 23-24 days to incubate. So sometimes I really don't see anything going on until day 8-10. But they're easy to candle.

good luck on your hatch!!

 

[Heather J]

Thanks, Tori, I just got Cortunix eggs for the october swap this morning. I know I can't pen the two types together past the first few weeks, do I give the same space for them? I know they grow much faster than bobwhites. Once they are feathered at six weeks or so, could I pen them in the coop? I don't plan to let the new chicken condo get much below freezing, or do I need to figure out a way to keep them all inside until temps get better in the spring--It doesn't get quite as cold here as it does where you are. lol

Two quail pens plus my chick brooder inside all winter might drive my dh crazy.

 

[Jenlyn9483]

I think a Quail Topic or Gamebird Topic within BYC is a great Idea! I also like the idea of having a duck and turkey one too. So I guess Im with PC.

 

[Mrs MIA]

Quote:
After raising several clutches of the quail, I don't think I'd try to keep them with my chickens. I've kept the coturnix and bobwhites both in a hutch similar to a rabbit hutch. If you had that inside the pen, that would work. Just from experience, though, the Bobwhites WILL fly away given the chance, and even the coturnix will pop up and out quickly. They're sneaky little boogers. But unlike the BWs, the Coturnix will hang around and you can usually catch them again.

Once they're fully feathered at 6 weeks, the coturnix are fine down to freezing temps if you acclimate them to it.
I used the vertical space in my breeder pens to house my quail. I have small 4x4 pens with pop-doors outside to larger runs, and since silkies don't care about roosting high up, I built a pen 4' above the floor above their three pens. One for BW, One for coturnix, and one for chukars. (Ooh, I took photos last night...let's see......here!)

Where the water bottles are, that's the start of the upper pen. Here's the coturnix...

(I had to open the door, otherwise all you'd see was wire.

)

 

[Heather J]

I am separating my 'condo' into three individual pens plus storage space (I told you once that I was holding you responsible for the fact that I built such a big building--I love your breeder coop), and I planned to put them in their own cages. I have an old cabinet I was going to convert to a breeder coop and stick in the chicken run, but maybe I'll lift it off the ground and use it for a quail cage instead--once the temps are up for the summer again. Did you use those drink cups, some pipe and the soda bottles to water them? I was wondering since I know their pens are above the main watering system in your coop. I love your setup. Guess I'll have to figure something out inside for the winter months.