The Front Porch Swing

[Beekissed]

Has anyone here raised quail? My postman knows I have chickens and an incubator. A few weeks ago he dropped off 24 quail eggs with my husband. I don't even know what kind they are. Well, to humor everyone I popped them in my still air incubator, kept a few wet sponges in there, because I did read that they need more moisture than chicks. I came in this afternoon to 3 hatched now I am up to 7 bouncing, cheeping, tiny birds. Both of my brooders are full, my husband just reminded me that the Buckeyes he ordered for me as a surprise should be in tomorrow. And my daughter and granddaughter are on their way from MO and should arrive tomorrow night or Tuesday. I have no idea what I am going to do with all these chicks. I read that quail are very sensitive to cold and I need to step down their heat over a period of time. If any of you has any experience with quail please help. rrrmamma is feeling slightly overwhelmed tonight. Hubby has been working on the new coop for two days and all that is "almost done" is the overlay on the floor. I will be on the quail site tomorrow if I have time, but still have a lot to do with to get ready for my granddaughter!

This forum right here is the place to go for all things quail...these guys are serious about their quail! Congrats on the new additions!!!

I don't know a single thing about quail but I wish I did if only to help you in your time of need. Tell those guys that Bee sent you.

http://flock-u.org/forum/index.php?sid=15c84d1448e65e17ece1199f5d0bba56

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

I keep wanting to have quail. The guys here want quail eggs. Quail eggs are adorable! But I'm a leeeeeeeeetle busy trying to figure out how to keep chickens & ducks.

 

[Oldmomma]

Oh Bee, that story was hilarious! Made my morning after a long day yesterday. Far as I can tell Tripoli is quiet and people will be waking up soon enough. 2 people died and think around 50 injuries. My fil was taken 2x to the local hospital last night and most of the family was sitting downstairs on death watch. Hes 97 so any day God sees fit will be his last. Wish my husband was here but knowing he got to see his father again help easy my heart. Money came finally now I need to go take it out over a few days cause I dont trust banks. When you need your money they got rules but when they need from you its another story. But its my morning and youve lightened my heart. Take care all.

 

[LBejaran]

Has anyone here raised quail? My postman knows I have chickens and an incubator. A few weeks ago he dropped off 24 quail eggs with my husband. I don't even know what kind they are. Well, to humor everyone I popped them in my still air incubator, kept a few wet sponges in there, because I did read that they need more moisture than chicks. I came in this afternoon to 3 hatched now I am up to 7 bouncing, cheeping, tiny birds. Both of my brooders are full, my husband just reminded me that the Buckeyes he ordered for me as a surprise should be in tomorrow. And my daughter and granddaughter are on their way from MO and should arrive tomorrow night or Tuesday. I have no idea what I am going to do with all these chicks. I read that quail are very sensitive to cold and I need to step down their heat over a period of time. If any of you has any experience with quail please help. rrrmamma is feeling slightly overwhelmed tonight. Hubby has been working on the new coop for two days and all that is "almost done" is the overlay on the floor. I will be on the quail site tomorrow if I have time, but still have a lot to do with to get ready for my granddaughter!

I have quail!

I'm guessing you have Coturnix or A&M quail. They are the most common types and are most likely to be used for quail eggs. The good thing about quail chicks is that they are tiny and abnormally easy to take care of. I took care of mine about the same way I cared for my chicks. I think the biggest difference was that I ground up their high protein feed so they didn't have as much trouble eating it. Their beaks were just way too tiny for the normal crumbles. Oh, and I got quail water bases specifically for them. I didn't trust them not to drown in the normal waterers until they were about 4 weeks old. As it turns out, that was a good move because once I put that waterer into their brooder, one of them hopped on over and promptly landed on his backside directly in the water. It was hilarious...and sad. So very very sad.

Once you get past the worst of their sensitivity (I'd say they are pretty safe after two weeks), you can go ahead and ease your mind just a bit. At that point, they should be able to eat normal sized crumbles. When brooding the quail chicks, I just put a light in with them and gave them plenty of space so they could decide how much heat they needed. I wasn't incredibly careful with them and I only lost 2 (both of which died after a 5 hour long drive where they had no proper heat source). The rest did pretty well until human carelessness occurred. Or the dog got them. I really should have known having rat terriers would come back to bite me. Seeing little quail bobbing around the tall grass was just too tempting for these dogs, apparently.

I'd just set them in a storage tote with a single heat lamp and plenty of room to get away from the heat if they need to. After a couple weeks, put them wherever you plan on keeping them and just go with a smaller bulb. They'll get used to it and by 6 weeks, they'll be done with all heat sources.

I love my quail. Once they got used to me feeding and watering them, they just started to seem like playful little birds that love to hop around. I put them in with my chicks in their grow out pen and they teach the other chicks how to scratch through the hay for feed/bugs. Don't know how the heck these little guys learned so well, but they've begun to burrow in the hay and they find any crumbles that have fallen in the bedding.

One of the great things about quail is also their feed-to-meat ratio. You get the biggest bang for your buck with the Coturnix and A&M quail when it comes to meat because they do mature so quickly. If you end up with a bunch of males, you'll want to weed them out so they don't over-mate the females. The good thing is that quail reach maturity at about 6 weeks. At that point, you'll have a decent sized quail that can be used as a tiny meat bird. I probably would have done that with my extra males, but I got attached to them. Now they actually serve a purpose and they make sure there isn't any food waste. Having a bunch of tiny birds digging through your DL is great, too. They sure do make it work faster, haha!

 

[rrrmamma]

The quail are hatching like crazy. I had 7 when I went to bed last night. Woke up to 10 this morning and more pipping and zipping. I'm off to find a tote. These may be bob white quail. Got to find the postman and ask him. These little brats move fast. Can't open the bator without at least one jumping out. I am trying to keep the humidity up for the remaining eggs. Guess I had better set up a brooder. Wish me luck. Thanks for the info Laura.

 

[enola]

I have had the most devastating news this morning. My youngest daughter is three months along in pregnancy. Her ultra sound done yesterday shows the baby is alive with normal development; however the child has no brain.....

It is hard to see the keyboard while crying uncontrolably.

Please pray for her......her name is Brandi......she is going to be faced with some horrible decisions in her near future.

 

[bruceha2000]

Quote: What happened to the "multi" and why is my editor in source code mode? And no smilies or text mods shy of knowing HTML? Well, sorry for the many posts that will happen as a result as I sit here waiting for my car's alignment and brake cleaning. SURE! I bet you and Rebekah would get along fine and there is WAY too much to do on this old house. How are you are fixing 160+ year old post and beam barns? Besides that, given your ancestry, we are probably related. Well, VERY DISTANTLY related. You'll have to skip the tropical flowers though, unless you want to pay a FORTUNE to heat a hot house. They don't grow well up here.

 

[bruceha2000]

Quote: Just don't use Gorilla Tape, I don't think that stuff would come off in a year! The cheap silver stuff rots in the sun.

 

[lovingmyhens]

I have had the most devastating news this morning. My youngest daughter is three months along in pregnancy. Her ultra sound done yesterday shows the baby is alive with normal development; however the child has no brain.....

It is hard to see the keyboard while crying uncontrolably.

Please pray for her......her name is Brandi......she is going to be faced with some horrible decisions in her near future.

I have no words, but I am praying. Whatever is decided, this is not our home. This baby will meet us in a place more extraordinary than our minds can possibly imagine. And this baby will be whole when we meet!
Again, those seem like platitudes, so I will just say that I will be praying. I just can't imagine.
Melanie

 

[Blooie]

Has anyone here raised quail? My postman knows I have chickens and an incubator. A few weeks ago he dropped off 24 quail eggs with my husband. I don't even know what kind they are. Well, to humor everyone I popped them in my still air incubator, kept a few wet sponges in there, because I did read that they need more moisture than chicks. I came in this afternoon to 3 hatched now I am up to 7 bouncing, cheeping, tiny birds. Both of my brooders are full, my husband just reminded me that the Buckeyes he ordered for me as a surprise should be in tomorrow. And my daughter and granddaughter are on their way from MO and should arrive tomorrow night or Tuesday. I have no idea what I am going to do with all these chicks. I read that quail are very sensitive to cold and I need to step down their heat over a period of time. If any of you has any experience with quail please help. rrrmamma is feeling slightly overwhelmed tonight. Hubby has been working on the new coop for two days and all that is "almost done" is the overlay on the floor. I will be on the quail site tomorrow if I have time, but still have a lot to do with to get ready for my granddaughter!

Well, the Lord does work in mysterious ways! Can you think of anything teen-aged girls like to ooooh and awwww over more than tiny little furry creatures? Sounds to me like the postman was the delivery man for the Good Lord "hatching" a plan to help you over the rough spots of the next couple of weeks. So be honest with her - tell her you are SO glad she's there because with the chickens you already have, the new ones coming, and now these quail, you really could use her help. Send her to the quail forums and turn those little dudes over to her. Let her know they have become "hers" and you trust her with them completely. Then you can use that as a stepping off point for how difficult it can be to parent....how decisions made are easy but living with the consequences is the tough part, loving and caring are full time jobs...you get the idea. And she'll just adore the little stinkers. Worth a shot, and seems like a win-win-win! You win because you can use the help, she wins because she'll be busy from day one, and the quail win because they have someone's undivided attention!

I know, I know....back in the corner, Blooie. <sigh>