Start a sustained breeding population loose in neighborhood

[Metzger Mountain]

This is my first post but I heard this website can be a great resources for quail. I live in the Portland Oregon area and recently read that Louis and Clark reported mountain quail when they went to current day rooster rock (Multnomah county/Portland) I want to breed mountain quail in my backyard with the idea of releasing them in my neighborhood. It would be great to see a self-sustaining population in our multi acre acre parks or 80 to 100 year old trees etc. etc. I recognize not everyone will like this idea but I’m open to all feed back.

main questions, how many eggs should I start with? I understand I’ll need to build an area for incubation, chicks, and adults.
Although I don’t personally have a problem with people that are raising eating or hunting quail, that isn’t the goal of this project. I imagine I will want each area to mimic their natural habitat as much as possible versus be convenient for farming and should limit human contact when possible.

what’s a reasonable population to release at a time while still maintaining the breeding population at my house?

 

[nuthatched]

First, I'd check your wildlife resourse people to see if they approve of something like that.
Beautiful area up there.

 

[Metzger Mountain]

First, I'd check your wildlife resourse people to see if they approve of something like that.
Beautiful area up there.

Oregon Fish and Wildlife requires me to have a license if I plan to sell the bird or eggs (which I don’t). Because it’s a native species I don’t need to worry about negative environmental impact (part of the reason I want to do this is because I’m sure our eco system would benefit from the return of a prolific breeder). Because it’s a game bird I can own them for personal use unlike other animals that are endangered or rarely seen in the Portland metro (owls, eagles, beavers, otters etc)

it’s a unique gray area idea and I’m really excited about it.

 

[SpotTheCat]

Oregon Fish and Wildlife requires me to have a license if I plan to sell the bird or eggs (which I don’t). Because it’s a native species I don’t need to worry about negative environmental impact (part of the reason I want to do this is because I’m sure our eco system would benefit from the return of a prolific breeder). Because it’s a game bird I can own them for personal use unlike other animals that are endangered or rarely seen in the Portland metro (owls, eagles, beavers, otters etc)

it’s a unique gray area idea and I’m really excited about it.

I would still talk to somebody who does something with wildlife (not sure who exactly) in your area, just because it is a native species does not means dumping a load of them out won’t cause problems. Also they can tell you how to raise them in a way that would give your quails a higher chance of survival in the wild

 

[21hens-incharge]

And then there is the impact on the neighborhood, neighbors, and whether the birds would live naturally in whatever density you plan to release.

 

[NY Coturnix]

I wanted to do the same thing when I started a year an a half ago. Was going to go with Bob Whites with the though I'll just release the extras. I'm in the country and they are native to my area. I contacted the Wild life office in my county(Chemung County in NYS) and found out that I still was required to have a license just to purchase them. One type to sell a cheaper one to buy. You may want to confirm that. As was mentioned you should make sure you have a sustainable environment for them. I'm not sure what kind of food they will need but after looking my area didn't have the farm land that would support releasing them. Lots of woods but not the open farm fields they'd need to survive. The wild life officer actually advised me to raise coturnix instead which I do now.

I really think you have a great idea "if" you can do it. I don't know anything about the type you want to raise so I can't answer anything about egg counts and breading numbers.

I hope you can pull it off.

Good luck.

 

[AOrchard]

Are there any native quails left in your area? Or are they totally gone?

In both cases, do you know why there aren't more quails living by you right now? Was the land destroyed and the quails disappeared, then the land was improved but the quails didn't come back? Or is there currently no clean water source, heavy spraying of chemicals that impact egg shell strength, not enough secluded areas for them to breed, etc? You can always just toss them out there and see if they can survive. Your project might have more success though if you've identified what the barriers were for the quails, and those barriers are either gone now, or you have ideas to work around them. There is always a reason why the quails aren't currently there, and if you have identified that reason you will have a better chance of setting up a population.

When you say neighborhood, what is your neighborhood like? Is this a suburb, a small group of rural homes, etc?

What size and kind of natural area is available for the population? The quails are unlikely to nest and breed if they are being chased by local dogs out on walks all the time...

I'd be real tempted to get a strictly free range bantam chicken hen from a farm nearby and have her raise your first few batches of quail chicks outside in a natural environment. She'll have a lot better survival skills and will teach them to find food and water and stay away from many dangers. I would expect those chicks to have a better survival rate upon becoming adults. (There are disease risks to this approach that must be managed, however I'd assume at least one person in your release area has chickens, so it's nothing the quails can avoid risking anyway).

You might find benefit by researching raising pheasants for release if you haven't yet. At least by me that is much more common. Usually it's with the goal of building up a population for hunting, but the principles, population numbers, and how they raise and handle the birds should be equally applicable to your quails.

It's better for the population if you can get birds from several different sources for genetic diversity, and keep a highly diverse breeding group. This is probably more important than the size of the breeding group that you maintain at your house. A slightly smaller group of more diverse quail has better odds of establishing a healthy wild population than a larger group of more inbred ones.

Be prepared for some other side effects. You likely will see increases in predator activity, including human nuisances like raccoons.

I would start with a few relatively small groups of eggs (like 3 batches of 20 or something, spaced out over a couple months). This will let you work out the kinks in your system.

I would imagine you could raise and release a few hundred a year for the first few years after that? Spitballing here, gut number. Predator loss will be very high in the birds you release. As an example, I would talk to people that free-range chickens and let their hens hatch and raise chicks. Two of my neighbors do this, and maybe 20% of their chicks survive the first year (and that's with a mother and flock, which is different for quail). Those that do survive tend to live a longer time though.

 

[FloorCandy]

It seems you still need a permit to release them. Some types of quail can be released for bird dog training but must have been acquired from a licensed state facility.

https://app.leg.wa.gov/WAC/default.aspx?cite=220-450-010

 

[Metzger Mountain]

It seems you still need a permit to release them. Some types of quail can be released for bird dog training but must have been acquired from a licensed state facility.

https://app.leg.wa.gov/WAC/default.aspx?cite=220-450-010

That’s our sister state to the North (Washington) no laws exist that would prevent me from doing this.

 

[Metzger Mountain]

Thank you everyone! I can’t believe the amount of thoughtful responses I received. This is a very nice online community you have built. I will keep everyone updated as I research and speak with other wildlife organizations in the area. I’ll be sure to post pictures too.