Thinking of getting into quails any tips?

[Mysimplewyominglife]

I love ducks. So much personality. I describe them as chickens with ADHD. They can be messy because they love water so much but I think they’re worth it. And the eggs are amazing for baking.

Lol that made me laugh. Im tempted to get some but have no clue what i need for them or how much their feed would be. But now ya got me thinking about ducks. I hear their poo is good fertilizer wonder if thats true.

 

[Mysimplewyominglife]

Well just checked this morning we have 12 chicks. 2 are wild colour the rest are golden

 

[Mysimplewyominglife]

Well i decided to help a chick that i had my eye on since yesterday as there was no pipping the egg only the air sac. I wish i would have listened to my gut and helped ealier cuz i had a feeling something was not right. An i was right this poor little chick unfortunately had the most severe cross beak i have ever seen in person, was missing a eye and part of their skull was smaller then the other. I did what im sure most people would agree was the right thing and culled it. It sucks having to do it but it would be wrong of me not to for the poor things sake.

On a brighter note so far 17 eggs have hatched i have 3 wild coloured ones and the rest are golden. I really hope i dont lose any more specially to deformities. Im going to go kill the pain with a greasy pizza an a coke and maybe binge watch some of my fav youtubers.

 

[Mysimplewyominglife]

Well yesterday morning i found that one of the late hatching chicks had died in the incubator it sucked but it happens.

Now tho i have a serious issue my first quail hatch babies are now 3 weeks old they have completed almost 1 week outside in their cage.
It has been in the 20s the last 3 days at night and early in the morning but thats not the issue. The issue is i thought these birds were skittish for the most part but these lil idiots mob the front of their cage and do everything they can to get out onto me, seriously they dont run away they stay close to me which is not bad but 4 ended up hurting their lil feet and i have them penned up in the other cage.

How do I stop them mobbing the front of their cage?

On sad note I lost one of my leghorn chicks it just stopped growning at some point. But on a bright note my 2 french wheaten marans hatched yesterday morning and last night and 4 leghorns im just waiting for them to come fully out of their shells.

 

[Emma-Daisy]

Can't wait to see some pics

 

[Nabiki]

Well yesterday morning i found that one of the late hatching chicks had died in the incubator it sucked but it happens.

Now tho i have a serious issue my first quail hatch babies are now 3 weeks old they have completed almost 1 week outside in their cage.
It has been in the 20s the last 3 days at night and early in the morning but thats not the issue. The issue is i thought these birds were skittish for the most part but these lil idiots mob the front of their cage and do everything they can to get out onto me, seriously they dont run away they stay close to me which is not bad but 4 ended up hurting their lil feet and i have them penned up in the other cage.

How do I stop them mobbing the front of their cage?

On sad note I lost one of my leghorn chicks it just stopped growning at some point. But on a bright note my 2 french wheaten marans hatched yesterday morning and last night and 4 leghorns im just waiting for them to come fully out of their shells.

My youngsters do that too. I had a bunch in a temporary pen once, and the bottom wasn't quite flush with the ground, and a bunch got out. When I came out with the food, a bunch of them started running across the yard towards me. This usually happens when they run out of food. Make sure they always have food available.

If they are seriously crowding the door, I throw some feed towards the back of their pen, and they all run there. Unfortunately, this only works if you keep them on the ground or on a solid bottom cage.

 

[Mysimplewyominglife]

My youngsters do that too. I had a bunch in a temporary pen once, and the bottom wasn't quite flush with the ground, and a bunch got out. When I came out with the food, a bunch of them started running across the yard towards me. This usually happens when they run out of food. Make sure they always have food available.

If they are seriously crowding the door, I throw some feed towards the back of their pen, and they all run there. Unfortunately, this only works if you keep them on the ground or on a solid bottom cage.

Thank you for the advice i greatly appreciate it. Today i sorted out 12 females (or at least looked like females) and 3 males and moved them to one of the other cages in my tiered cage system.

Unfortunately 4 of them knocked over their water and got wet and stayed out this afternoon and sadly we got back to late. They do have heating elements and they all know were it is. However i now have better heating elements and they are being installed..

Heated quail house anyone? Oh and to those that want pictures ill see about adding some up later today or tomorrow.

 

[Mysimplewyominglife]

Ok for anyone wanting pics i got some. one of my French Wheaten Maran chicks who is a day old and one of my Golden Giant quail chicks who is about 3 days almost 4 days old.

 

[Mysimplewyominglife]

Right i think i have a issue. I just bought another 4 dozen quail eggs this time its mixed feather like tux,fawn,silver, rosetta etc and 2 dozen of them are celadon eggs.

I also bought 6 serama egg with the thought that i might raise those to act as incubators for quail eggs as they are like the smallest chicken i know of.

Also anyone know of a thread, a book etc on colour and genes for quail? I was in a facebook group but one of the admins ended up tagging the seller/business i bought my golden giants from and IMHO was being aggressive towards the seller and i did not like it and when called out said i was being shameful what the heck? I ended up talking to the seller and from what I understand that admin apparently has been bugging them so i left the group dont want to be part of a group with what appears to be a unstable admin.

 

[Ted_Harrell]

The thing I like about quail is that you don't have to wait as long to see eggs and for the hatching to begin(confessed hatchaholic). And their housing is more compact, unless you make them a full aviary. Good luck with your decisions and let us know with pics of you quail when you get them...