Single Quail (literally)

[TiffanyMeow]

So I have ONE quail..... not sure if everyone knows my story, but I ended up with one (out of two). Only 2 of 18 eggs hatched. One died, nowI have one left.

I'm new at this, so my question is, my big boy is now 6 weeks. He has a coop coming on Wednesday. I let him outside (supervised), but he's totally freaked out. Is this normal? He's been in the garage for the last six weeks, so outside is very new to him.

Also, I have two females coming. I'm picking them up this weekend at AZ quail farms. So excited for him to have interaction. Do I need to keep them separated for a bit and put them together gradually? He seems to be a bit stressed this week.... I don't know if it's because he is now sexually mature and lonely? But he peeps at me a lot (I whistle his call and he goes nuts looking for another quail).

And last question.... what temperatures are okay for putting quail outside? I'm in the Phoenix area and tonight the low is 33 degrees. It will warm up next week, but should I put a heat lamp with them outside?

Can't wait to know what I'm doing!

Thanks all....

 

[TwoCrows]

You will need to acclimate this one quail to colder temps slowly. When you put him outside, hang a heat lamp in one corner of the pen at nights only. Not too close, but close enough he can get some heat from it. If he needs it, he can use it, if not, he can move away. Keep the heat lamp on for a week or two till he doesn't seem to need it at night anymore.

When you get the new quail, you can TRY to mix them immediately. Being that they are new, and the single one is not, he will probably be ok with the company. But watch closely for aggression. Watch for a few days to be sure. If they start to fight, then you will need to separate the new ones on the other side of some wire so everybody sees everybody. Leave them separated for a few weeks, then remix them. By then, they should be ok with being together. But always keep an eye on things for several days after mixing quail.