Quail Forum Information

[papagoose]

I met a lady today at the local farmers market who was selling quail eggs (to eat) for $1.00 a doz. When DW and I started talking to her and questioning her about what she has and how she is set up for winter she said she has about 1000 quail of various types and she winters them over in her barn in a pen. The big thing about wintering over she said, is like chickens, they need to be draft free. They can withstand the cold if they aren't in a drafty place.

I cut a deal with DW and she said I can build a small pen in her side of the barn to house the quail. I plan on building it, putting in a bunch of straw and hay so they can burrow and make trails in it. From what everyone is saying, that's what they like.

The lady we spoke with said she has been raising quail and chickens for quite a while and has been messing with the genetic side of breeding trying to perfect certain traits. She claimed she is the one who developed the "bob-bird" and has been selling it to the hatcheries along with some other chicken strains she had been working on.

We were invited out to see her operation, but we have to make an appointment because she has a closed farm and does not show to anyone without a appointment. DW and I are both looking forward to it!

DW has her card and I can't remember her name other than her first name is Pam.

 

[Mrs MIA]

Quote:
Ah... Camp Kenmore.

We have lots of turkeys and roosters that go there, and only return when called for dinner.

I did not know about the chickweed... it is an invasive plant here, and we're covered in it... I'll start feeding it to the quail.
I stick with the finch seeds for the coturnix, but the occasional cucumber end or grape is devoured quickly. Lately I've been pulling up whole clumps of grass and putting the whole thing in their cage. The love to rip it apart.

 

[LilRalphieRoosmama]

"Camp Kenmore" -

Never thought about grapes; I have some so they'll get those for breakfast today along with a small zucchini. If they like cukes, they should like the zukes too.

They sure do make some strange sounds. I was cleaning cages last night and heard a blood-curdling noise that I'd never heard before. Freaked me out but when it happened again, I noticed it was one of the coturnix! Was kind of like a growling sound. They are 4 weeks old today.

 

[LilRalphieRoosmama]

Forgot to mention that the buttons love chickweed too -

 

[Mrs MIA]

That "growling" noise - sounds like a gargled catcall? That's one of your males crowing.

I need to get some of the chickweed harvested before it all freezes... the grass was crispy critters this morning.

 

[WisconsinChick]

Not shure if someone posted this already but there is a quail forum at howtoraisequail.com

 

[Mrs MIA]

Quote:
I've posted there... there is a lot of information already posted, but it is not very active. Nothing like BYC, of course!

 

[LilRalphieRoosmama]

And probably not as friendly!!!

YES - a gargled catcall!!! In the pen with 5 4-week olds, I think there are 3 males and two females but it's still hard to tell. The males have a more orangy breast, right?

After hearing my buttons crow, I expected something more like that.

I am busily building a button pen - all by myself! DBF just HAPPENED to leave his power tools here. Got the two end frames built and getting ready to wire them. I'm really winging it here.

How did you make the doors on your cages? I bought 16 gauge wire and was going to cut out a square of the 1/4 inch hardware cloth, wire it around the edges for reinforcement and then wire one side back to the cage. Will that work?

 

[austinhart123]

cool i want quail

 

[austinhart123]

can someone post a pic of button quail chicks next to chicken chicks?!