Thinking of getting quail

[BReeder!]

Started to build my first quail cage. I will have 4 ultimately and stack them on two racks. I intend to be able to move them so I can house the quail in my shed or garage over winter for protection from the harsh cold we can get. I have framed most of it out and put the wire floor in. The small section will be a coop/large bird house measuring a 2'x3' footprint. I intend to put a solid roof across the entire cage. I slanted the floor towards the front so I can collect eggs without opening the cage, just like roll away bearing boxes for chickens. When I build the breeder cage it will have a flat floor to lessen the risk of damaging the eggs or their contents.

 

[BReeder!]

80% humidity is excessive for lockdown. 65 to 70% is better. That WILL spike as they hatch.

Have a hygrometer handy and be sure to calibrate with a salt test first while the incubator warms up and the air cells settle. Mine was off by 7% and too much humidity can kill the embryos.

You might need a lid for your brooder, the little buggars will fly in short order.

If you're going to brood in the house, quail are stinky. Worse than chickens. Trust me.

Good luck!

I appreciate your input. That's helpful. I read in several places that lockdown humidity should be over 70 for coturnix quail. Many said they set the incubators to 80 at this time. Not sure of the reasoning behind it. That's why I was shooting for 80 though. I will keep researching that for sure.
I haven't heard of a salt test. That's something else I will research. I intended to test the built in hygometer bu running the incubator empty and setting it to a specific humidity and then checking it against a separate hygrometer that I have. I would do same test with temp. The question I now ask myself is what if my other hygrometer is not calibrated properly. Sounds like this salt test is a possible solution to help me out.

As for brooding location, I intend to brood in my garage. Its an attached garage and it is heated, but hopefully and odor will stay in the garage and not get into the house. We brooded chickens twice in the garage this year - but in final numbers.
As for covering that brooder, I hear ya there. I intend to just built a frame from some scraps of wood and cover it with hardware cloth or chicken wire. That's what we'r did with the chickens and it worked fine.

 

[igorsMistress]

I appreciate your input. That's helpful. I read in several places that lockdown humidity should be over 70 for coturnix quail. Many said they set the incubators to 80 at this time. Not sure of the reasoning behind it. That's why I was shooting for 80 though. I will keep researching that for sure.
I haven't heard of a salt test. That's something else I will research. I intended to test the built in hygometer bu running the incubator empty and setting it to a specific humidity and then checking it against a separate hygrometer that I have. I would do same test with temp. The question I now ask myself is what if my other hygrometer is not calibrated properly. Sounds like this salt test is a possible solution to help me out.

As for brooding location, I intend to brood in my garage. Its an attached garage and it is heated, but hopefully and odor will stay in the garage and not get into the house. We brooded chickens twice in the garage this year - but in final numbers.
As for covering that brooder, I hear ya there. I intend to just built a frame from some scraps of wood and cover it with hardware cloth or chicken wire. That's what we'r did with the chickens and it worked fine.

https://www.neptunecigar.com/tips/how-to-calibrate-your-hygrometer

This is how to calibrate your hygrometer.

Good luck with your hatch.

 

[BReeder!]

Shout out to @Bamboohens . You started this forum. I hope you are still with us and finding as much help as I am. I am curious to know if you choose a quail species and thought about a setup yet? Seeing that you are just as new to quail as me, it would be nice to hear what your research has led you to.

 

[BReeder!]

There are others that are much more experienced than I do you should wait for there reply’s. I would defiantly let the eggs sit for a day after being shaken up in the mail. Incubation will be from the day you put them in your incubator. I do humidity at 45 to 50 then 60 to 65 at lockdown but I have a Genesis Hova Bator 1588 circulated air incubator. I have good hatched but I no nothing about your incubator.

Not sure if I wrote what incubator I have. It is a harris farms still air incubator. Similar in design to a hovabator, without the price tag and likely lower quality - I get that you get what you pay for but I could only get what I could pay for. It is upgradable to a circulated air incubator with a fan kit they sell. I hope to get the upgrade kit in the future. I found out the risky way that Little Giant quail trays fit into the Harris Farms egg turner which was a huge win allowing me to incubate up to 120 eggs in an auto turner. The incubator and turner are brand new. I checked the turner's operation already. I will test the incubator and try to calibrate the hygrometer and thermometer later today.

 

[BReeder!]

A bit more progress on the first quail cage. I just need to add doors across the front (2 across the wire section and 1 across the coop section) and put roofing material over the wire section. I have some clear twin wall poly sheets I am going to use for that.

My little guy helped out today, at least he thinks he was helping. He is 2 and decided that he would bang on everything with his hammer and use its drill any time I was drilling.

 

[BReeder!]

I have to share more pictures. My little guy was working hard this morning. Headed out to find some locks that I will actually trust around this little guy as well as the local wildlife to keep the quail safe.
This first quail cage build has taken longer than I expected, but I worked out just about all the details. I realized I made one mistake that will likely bother my later - I layed the hardware cloth floor upside down. I should have had thre wires runn in running front to back on top and I have the wires running side to side on top. These are going to be like little speed bumps for the eggs as they roll forward now and may be enough to prevent the eggs from rolling. I am tempted to remove it and flip it over, but I used fence staples to install it, which are a real pain to remove. I would end up generating the hardware cloth, which is needed cheap at $30+ for a 3'x25' roll.

 

[Button Quail 123]

I'm also kind of a newbie to quail, but I have been doing some research and if you're thinking of keeping button quail (smallest species), especially indoors, then you could check out this good care guide on youtube: https://wwwyoutube.com/watch?v=gZYyzCbZF90, although Button quail should only be kept in pairs.

 

[BReeder!]

I'm also kind of a newbie to quail, but I have been doing some research and if you're thinking of keeping button quail (smallest species), especially indoors, then you could check out this good care guide on youtube: https://wwwyoutube.com/watch?v=gZYyzCbZF90

Great info.
I am doing the exact opposite though. I am hatching, at least attempting to hatch, Jumbo Brown and TX A&M White. Both are coternix and some of the largest quail.

 

[RUNuts]

I will also be getting quail in the new year. Your layout looks good. Thank you for sharing. My layout is set and just need time to play in the garage. But my helpers won't be with me. Something about college & a job. Enjoy the time, if not all the help! Cat's in the cradle and all that.

I elected not to stack cages and let the manure hit the ground. Quail outdoors year round since we tend to have milder weather. Details on watering & feeding still in the air. Cup waterers in the lead with no mess homemade feeders. see slightly redneck on utube for details. Looks like he has a decent set up. He keeps his outside also. Missouri - so between us weather wise.

Purpose is meat and eggs and Jumbo Browns are my choice for the feather sexing. If the chickens have competition, will they lay more?