Starting quail outdoors?

[Jrose]

Howdy! Thinking (again) of starting quail. My interest is in raw cat food, not pets. The dogs and I might nibble a few too though I've been on and off with the thought for years but got re-inspired today and am searching for hatching eggs.

So I have a 100~ sq ft pen I secured for rabbits earlier this year. The rabbits were rehomed- dispatching bunnies isn't quite my forte. So the 10x10 pen remains. It's got 2x4" wielded wire fencing (4' high), the entire ground has had fencing buried and there's 1" chicken wire running 1' up the sides of the fence. I understand quail need a 1/2" mesh around the bottom to be secure? Do I need this small of a mesh/wire for just adults? I have a 1/4" loose weave burlap I could line the sides with, and I can do the same material for the 'roof' (or use bird netting or chicken wire, whatever works). It would be entirely enclosed. It has a shallow reservoir where the irrigation water flows in for live water, and there's some grass growing, a wooden shelter (24''x15"x10"), some large river rocks and a brush pile. The roof would be somewhere around 7' tall with the supports I am adding. Obviously I would offer additional water and food I have an incubator and would hatch them myself, as I understand domesticated quail don't really go broody.

How many adults could the 10x10 pen house comfortably?
What varieties are hardy enough to live outdoors year-round? (they will have shade, shelter, and hiding areas in the pen, and I can add a 'mini quail 'greenhouse'' if need be in winter)
I can add a 12'x4' run next to the main pen for grow-outs. Does it need a tall roof as well, or can the top just be 4' tall?
What age do you put baby quail in the grow-out pen? What ages do you add young ones with adults?

Any other thoughts?

 

[dc3085]

Howdy! Thinking (again) of starting quail. My interest is in raw cat food, not pets. The dogs and I might nibble a few too though I've been on and off with the thought for years but got re-inspired today and am searching for hatching eggs.

Coturnix are your best bet for a quick turn around meat bird

So I have a 100~ sq ft pen I secured for rabbits earlier this year. The rabbits were rehomed- dispatching bunnies isn't quite my forte. So the 10x10 pen remains. It's got 2x4" wielded wire fencing (4' high), the entire ground has had fencing buried and there's 1" chicken wire running 1' up the sides of the fence. I understand quail need a 1/2" mesh around the bottom to be secure?
The half inch mesh is so raccoons don't pull your quail out of your cage in pieces. If you fit a nickel through it a predator can fit a whole bird through.

Do I need this small of a mesh/wire for just adults? I have a 1/4" loose weave burlap I could line the sides with, and I can do the same material for the 'roof' (or use bird netting or chicken wire, whatever works). It would be entirely enclosed. It has a shallow reservoir where the irrigation water flows in for live water, and there's some grass growing, a wooden shelter (24''x15"x10"), some large river rocks and a brush pile. The roof would be somewhere around 7' tall with the supports I am adding. Obviously I would offer additional water and food I have an incubator and would hatch them myself, as I understand domesticated quail don't really go broody.

Coturnix or most domestic quail really, probably aren't smart enough to be given access to open flowing water. Assuming they don't drown in it, they're just going to fill it with feces.

How many adults could the 10x10 pen house comfortably?

Unfortunately it doesn't really work that way. If you have multiple males in the same enclosure you'll have fighting and overbreeding both of which are stressful to hens and bring down production. Coturnix thrive in small coveys of 1 roo and 5-7 hens. That ratio will generate 90% or higher fertility while providing the roo with enough hens to breed that he doesn't overbreed one or two and potentially damage or kill them.


Coturnix can be kept 1 sq ft to the bird and still do well. They've been domesticated so long they really don't care much about environmental conditions as long as theyre clean and food/water are always full. In your situation it would be best to segment the pen into multiple enclosures if thats possible.


What varieties are hardy enough to live outdoors year-round? (they will have shade, shelter, and hiding areas in the pen, and I can add a 'mini quail 'greenhouse'' if need be in winter)

All quail except button quail are hardy enough to live outdoors anywhere in the US.

I can add a 12'x4' run next to the main pen for grow-outs. Does it need a tall roof as well, or can the top just be 4' tall?
What age do you put baby quail in the grow-out pen? What ages do you add young ones with adults?

Quail are too territorial to just add quail to a group. You have to go through a couple weeks of integration (place the birds side by side in full sight of each other) before you can mix them and when that happens you'll have to mix them all in a cage none have ever been in. Even that isn't a fool proof method and often some quail just will not mix.

Any other thoughts?

 

[Jrose]

Wow, thanks DC!

What about the sleeping habits of the quail? Are they like clueless baby chickens and just pile into a corner to sleep?

Good point on the water, I'll consider that.

A small set of 5-10 females and 1 male would be fine for starters, really. I just want to get my feet wet If I fancy quail keeping I'll start adapting naturally.

The 'grow out run' I'm setting up shares a wall with the big pen, so they will be in full view of the adults, so hopefully that will help with integration.

I read a bantam hen works well for brooding quail chicks. Anyone have experience with this? I would LOVE to let a broody do the work!

It will probably have rough edges to start, but you learn as you go! I like to do things out of the box. With enough tweaking it usually works

 

[Sill]

Wow, thanks DC!

What about the sleeping habits of the quail? Are they like clueless baby chickens and just pile into a corner to sleep?

Good point on the water, I'll consider that.

A small set of 5-10 females and 1 male would be fine for starters, really. I just want to get my feet wet If I fancy quail keeping I'll start adapting naturally.

The 'grow out run' I'm setting up shares a wall with the big pen, so they will be in full view of the adults, so hopefully that will help with integration.

I read a bantam hen works well for brooding quail chicks. Anyone have experience with this? I would LOVE to let a broody do the work!

It will probably have rough edges to start, but you learn as you go! I like to do things out of the box. With enough tweaking it usually works

Pretty similar to chickens as chicks. Make sure they have pebbles or marbles in their water source to prevent drowning. Make sure if you want to integrate youngsters into an established group that they be the same size, but even then be cautious.

No to the bantam hen! Not only are they too big in most cases and can smash the quail chicks, they carry diseases that will kill your quail. It's just not worth the risk. There are multiple threads here about why chickens and quail should never mix.

 

[Jrose]

Alright, I've got 11 chicks *ahem* suddenly... out of no where *cough* somehow... last night... They just showed up, okay?

I was also gifted hatching eggs... which are in the incubator...!

The seller said they were between 2-3 weeks old. They are a mixed variety of coturnix. They're probably 60% feathered out, BUT SO TINY! I'm used to larger poultry, so a 2-3 week old chick the same size as a fresh hatched chicken is crazy! He said they were still on the lamp in his brooder. They spent the night in my tote-brooder in the bathroom. I monitored them last night and no one cheeped or complained or shivered through the night, so I let them go without the lamp. I use hay for bedding and made a little hay-hollow that they cuddled up in, it was quite warm in there!

This morning I moved them to an adapted rabbit hutch outside to get some morning sun. So far so good. I see just how much I will need to better secure my runs though. These guys are so stinkin' tiny!

I think I will use the smaller 12x4 run for this lot. If things really get crazy with quail numbers I'll put the 10x10 pen to use.

The eggs I was gifted are a variety of mottled shades, but there's one cream egg with no spots. I'm just curious what variety this egg may have come from? Just curious

 

[dc3085]

They need a constant heat source until four weeks of age. They cant generate or retain their own heat until then. The first week they should be brooded at 95* and the temp lowered by 5 degrees each week.

 

[moreland]

I made a 10x4 wide and 5 high and 3 1/2off the gowned the have many hiding places and many nest with mirrors so they always see other in there with them I have baby's coming in 5 days and plan on keeping them in side until they are 5 weeks old be for in tor due sing them I have made small pins to put them in side the bigger one and after a week or two open the doors and see what happens I have lights and a wooden shelf and many treat spots so none of them have to fly but they can if the wood like what else can I do to make them happy I have 4 male and 4 female had to pull 3 male I put them in a male pin they seem to be good so far