South Carolina

[Southern Bee Lady]

Lots of good guinea information on this website.
http://guineafowl.com/board/list.php?2
Jeanette Ferguson's book is great also.

another link I have used
http://www.gfba.org/


Looking forward to Sat.

 

[FarmerJohn3285]

Quote:
So you ARE keeping them on wire.....mine are outside too. But my floor is wired with 1/4 x 1/4 and the poop doesn't fall through. Recently they've had some spilled food that piled up because of the rain we've had. Everything was wet and yucky and the poop and food sticks to their feet and makes a terrible mess. I have shavings down for them in their nest box and they mostly lay eggs in there. Occasionally they will lay an egg outside on the wire but not much. The nest box is easy to keep clean with shavings but I hate the wire floor. I'm just thinking that I would like to move mine to the ground and have sand on the ground. I have sand in my duck yard and it drains fast and stays fairly clean and dry. I really hate cleaning that wire and it's really hard to clean with them in there as they will jump out.

And I meant to say feel free to ask questions. I'm glad to help if I can. I love keeping the quail, we eat the eggs when I can keep some. Their eggs are good sellers. And there is nothing cuter than baby quail! Tiny little things but full of personality. I've found that they overheat quickly so I always try to keep the heat lamp on one end of the brooder so they can move away from it. And you don't want to overcrowd them. One other thing, they are so small you have to watch what food you feed them. They can't eat some chick crumbles. If you can't find a mash (a finer ground chick food), then you may need to grind your chick starter for them. Hope this helps, just things I had to learn the hard way on my own so I always like to share.

Well, yes and no. They won't totally be on wire 100% of the time, but yes they will have access to the wire-open air- section of the pen 24/7. The mesh I'm using is .5 x .5 --I've seen on the quail forum that most ppl use that size so the poop will fall through. I plan to put the food and water in the enclosed section to keep them out of the weather (food won't get wet, water won't get to hot=algae). Will one milk crate as nest box work for say 5-10 hens? Do you suggest me putting down shavings on the floor of the enclosed part or leave it as just a hardwood floor, so to speak?

ETA: I'm going to feed them game Bird starter 28-30% protein because I can readily buy it as needed from my local feed store. That should take care of having to worry about grinding up into smaller pieces. I was going to ask you about selling eggs. How much do you sell yours for? By the dozen? Do you sell them as hatching eggs or eating? Is there a price difference is you do sell them both ways?

THANKS JOY! You're a big help!

 

[brandyk81]

Quote:
Brandy! Good to hear from you! I got a bit worried when they told me you didn't show up in Irmo at the sale/swap.
I figured you may be working on your garden and slaving away on the farm this summer. Farm work can be a booger but when you eat a meal you know all the work that went into it and it tastes so much better!

Congrats on that first egg!

The girls have grown up beautiful.
Now you just have to get a few hogs to raise!

Oh Amy, please don't encourage me with hogs...I already want a cow...the hubs is balking big time.

I didn't make it to the swap in Irmo because I got wrapped up in helping my church with their float for a local parade that same day. I hate I missed it, but its kinda hard to say no to the church...even if it is for chickens. HA!

 

[dixiebeast]

Quote:
So you ARE keeping them on wire.....mine are outside too. But my floor is wired with 1/4 x 1/4 and the poop doesn't fall through. Recently they've had some spilled food that piled up because of the rain we've had. Everything was wet and yucky and the poop and food sticks to their feet and makes a terrible mess. I have shavings down for them in their nest box and they mostly lay eggs in there. Occasionally they will lay an egg outside on the wire but not much. The nest box is easy to keep clean with shavings but I hate the wire floor. I'm just thinking that I would like to move mine to the ground and have sand on the ground. I have sand in my duck yard and it drains fast and stays fairly clean and dry. I really hate cleaning that wire and it's really hard to clean with them in there as they will jump out.

And I meant to say feel free to ask questions. I'm glad to help if I can. I love keeping the quail, we eat the eggs when I can keep some. Their eggs are good sellers. And there is nothing cuter than baby quail! Tiny little things but full of personality. I've found that they overheat quickly so I always try to keep the heat lamp on one end of the brooder so they can move away from it. And you don't want to overcrowd them. One other thing, they are so small you have to watch what food you feed them. They can't eat some chick crumbles. If you can't find a mash (a finer ground chick food), then you may need to grind your chick starter for them. Hope this helps, just things I had to learn the hard way on my own so I always like to share.

I am so glad yall are having this talk because quial is on my list of things to do...I love to hunt and eat them(my husband has never had quail)but not clean them! We have a good little hunt spot and so does a good friend of mine...I plan to raise some for release to stock our fields!!!

Oh and Farmer John...My chicks are doing AWSOME!!! We got home from the beach and I think my chicken sitter snuck them steriods because they more than doubled in size in 4 days!! I know they grow fast but I guess it was more noticable when we were away a few days!

 

[FarmerJohn3285]

That's great news Dixie! Yes, they do tend to grow faster when you're away. I know mine shot up like crazy while I was on business in Texas for 2 weeks.

 

[huckleberryfarm]

Quote:
Thanks, Pink! I didn't get to talk to him yesterday because there was no power. But I did speak to him this morning. He said his fingers hurt from playing the guitar so much. I can't wait to hear about his trip in detail. He said when they first got there and were driving through the town, it was hard not to feel sorry for the people and the lack of so much. But now that he's been there a few days, he realized they have way more than most people here do in all the important ways... family, time together, happiness, contentment.

He sent me this picture the other morning. They are up in the mountains and it's been very foggy.

Thankfully nothing dramatic at the farm tonight. No dead chickens! And I got 5 lavender silkie eggs! Woo hoo! I've only been getting one if that. Finally they are starting to lay! And I hatched my first two lavender silkies last week.

 

[huckleberryfarm]

Quote:
Good luck! Coturnix are pretty hardy and they grow fast. I have them but I made the mistake of keeping mine on wire. What a mess. I highly recommend sand for the substrate. I plan on moving mine to the ground as soon as possible. And I'm considering adding some Bob White quail too.

This is probably a silly question, but why do you raise quail? For eating them or hunting them? Just never thought about it and now I'm curious! Someone asked me the other day if they can come hunt doves on our property. They said we have about 500. I didn't even know! I think my knowledge about birds ends at chickens with just a teeny bit of guinea.

 

[FarmerJohn3285]

Quote:
Good luck! Coturnix are pretty hardy and they grow fast. I have them but I made the mistake of keeping mine on wire. What a mess. I highly recommend sand for the substrate. I plan on moving mine to the ground as soon as possible. And I'm considering adding some Bob White quail too.

This is probably a silly question, but why do you raise quail? For eating them or hunting them? Just never thought about it and now I'm curious! Someone asked me the other day if they can come hunt doves on our property. They said we have about 500. I didn't even know! I think my knowledge about birds ends at chickens with just a teeny bit of guinea.

I'm raising for eating, eggs, maybe some for a release program, and of course FUN!!

My brother is going to work on building a flight pen to condition them for hunting eventually....and thats for the Bobs not coturnix. The Japs are just for fun and breeding.

 

[CarolinaChickenKeeper]

Any ideas abt my bird with the runs???

 

[FarmerJohn3285]

Quote:
Hate to be graphic, but what color are the squirts? Without knowing, it could be from just drinking a lot of water in a short period of time. Since it's so hot out, they are consuming more water; therefore, have more fluids to get rid of....if she is not coughing, wheezing, puking, etc, etc, etc--could just be from water. BUT, as always, that's just my 2 cents worth