Some Quail Questions

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EarthView

Chirping
Jan 8, 2019
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Hello! So I have some questions. I would like to raise a few quail for eggs and meat (Not so much for eggs because their eggs are so tiny). I have a set of four rabbit breeding cages I plan to use that I had asked about in my first thread. I understand I could keep a trio in each cage. I would like to use an automatic cup watering system but have yet to find a clear tutorial. Anyways onto my questions. What would be a good number of quail to start off with? I plan to buy them as chicks but I am not sure how many to buy. I understand the purpose of grit but what type do I buy and do I mix it in with the food or have it in a separate dish? My problem is that the cages are not very large and I don't want to take up more space with objects in the cage. Also, how do people keep water from freezing in cold weather? Are there some sort of heated waterers people are using? I think thats actually all of my questions! Thanks!
-Max
 
Are you planning on keeping coturnix or bobwhites? Also could you send some pictures or include the dimensions of your cages?
 
As for getting chicks get more than you think you'll want say 25. Raise them up keep the ones you want to breed and butcher the rest.

I guess. How many quail do you want to eat over the course of the year. I figure 2 per person per meal.

How many eggs do you want to incubate at a time for a sustainable flock.

If you had 12 hens and 2 roos that would be 70 to 80 eggs a week.

There eggs may be small but use about 5 for equivalent to 1 chicken egg for cooking with.

I dont use grit for my birds. I place a Tupperware dish in the pens filled with dirt and sand. They use it as a dust bath and eat what they need for grit. If you do feed grit keep it separate and feed it free choice.

I use auto water cups most just screw right into the wire then run a hose to a bucket. In the winter I dont use the auto waterer I go to the quart or gallon type watered. I keep one in the house thawed then just replace the on in the pen daily and bring it in to thaw out.

I have used rabbit bottle waterers for quail. I know there are heated versions of those but have not used heated to see how well they work.

If you go to to youtube check out videos from slightly rednecked.

He has videos that answer most questions you have asked. His vids are informative.

Good luck on quail they are fun little birds to have.
 
So I would love to keep a larger flock of 25 birds but I live in town. Also, it's just me and my mother so the flock does not need to feed a lot of people. Oh, and I forgot two more questions I had. If I can't find any chicks in my area I would have to hatch out the eggs. Does anyone know of a cheaper incubator? And how many males can be kept together? If I need to I can build a long run type of cage instead of using my rabbit breeding cages.
I plan on keeping them in my garage, its not heated but they would be out of the wind
Thanks! -Max
 
The cages seem pretty small in person. Maybe I just want them to have a lot of room?
Thanks! -Max
 
As far as a breeding ratio I keep 1male to 6 females. But will depend on the Male I had 1 Male 10 hens wasn't enough he was a very aggressive breeder. Another Male I had 2 hens was all he wanted very timid.

They are no noisier than normal songbirds in the spring. So most neighbors won't even know you have them. And if inside probably never will.

Males can be kept together for up to 8 weeks usually without issues. But they are butcherable by then.

Incubators I have used the cheaper LG type. Found at local farm stores. Had so so results. As far as Styros if you want that type look at a gqf 1588 genesis. I have moved up to cabinet type now. Save up and buy the best type of incubator you can afford. This is usually one time where you get what you pay for.
 
Depending on where you live you may have access to chicks. People don't necessarily ship quail chicks like they do with chickens because quail chicks need to eat at most a day after they are born. Chickens can go a few days without food or water after they're born. I personally ordered my eggs online. As for incubators, I wouldn't know. I borrowed a Hovabator from the local high school's FFA with a pretty successful hatch rate. 17/25 hatched! I'd say ask around at the local 4-H or if you have access to it, ask around if you know anyone who has a farm or something. Make connections, it'll usually pay off. It could also be possible for you to check at your local feed store to see if they're offering chicks, but that's unlikely.
 
I do know someone who was selling quail chicks near me but they were brown (Wild Type I think they are called). I really like the Texas A & M birds but I can only find hatching eggs. I need an automatic turning incubator if I go that route as it's not possible for me to hand turn them. I would love to have a quality incubator but I am not sure how many birds I will be hatching and how often I will be hatching them.
 

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